Babson Undergraduates Earn Their Highest Starting Salary Ever
In an unexpected professional market, you need a toolkit full of marketable skills and a mindset that values tackling challenges over avoiding them.
Babson College undergraduates graduate with that combination, as their education and training are steeped in entrepreneurial leadership, business fundamentals, the liberal arts and sciences, and hands-on learning. The Class of 2022, only six months after graduating, are reaping the rewards of the specific toolkit they built while at Babson.
Specifically, the Class of 2022 earns the highest starting salary ever for Babson undergraduates at $71,385, a 14% increase over the previous year. That includes reported salaries across industries such as finance, technology, real estate, marketing, retail, education, and health care.
“Graduates from the Class of 2022 have had extraordinary success in securing their first job or pursuing graduate school,” says Wendy Murphy, associate dean of the undergraduate school and a professor of management. “Their Babson education prepares them to contribute from day one, as that is exactly what we expect from the time they arrive on campus.”
An Education Built to Last (and Grow)
The past few years have seen landmark changes in the professional landscape, from the rise in hybrid and work-from-home jobs to emerging markets in the technology, financial, and communication fields. They also have seen an ongoing global pandemic and a rise in societal issues that need strategic, nimble thinkers to address. Babson’s entrepreneurial leaders are trained to see opportunities where others see problems.
In the first year, the Babson curriculum has students use their diverse perspectives to develop their own ideas into businesses in the Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME) course. They simultaneously take liberal arts and sciences courses across an array of disciplines that foster development in critical inquiry, writing, ethical decision-making, and quantitative and scientific methods.
“Employers recognize that our students develop as entrepreneurial leaders and global citizens with essential competencies—critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills that are immediately impactful in the workplace,” Murphy says.
Real World at the Forefront
The Class of 2022 starting salary is also almost 18% above the projected average for business majors from the National Association of Colleges and Employers. That number speaks to the preparedness of Babson students.
As second- and third-year students, students in this class had the opportunity to explore how to solve the world’s biggest problems through systems thinking in Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) and engage in sustainable problem-solving solutions for some of the world’s biggest problems, such as food insecurity, climate change, and water scarcity.
“Employers recognize that our students develop as entrepreneurial leaders and global citizens with essential competencies—critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills that are immediately impactful in the workplace,”
Wendy Murphy, Associate Dean of the Undergraduate School and Professor of Management
That success includes 87% of the class that had at least one internship while at Babson—including during the summers of 2020, 2021, and 2022 when employers and students were finding the right balance between in-person and hybrid opportunities. Many students graduate with real, hands-on business experience from courses such as the Management Consulting Field Experience and the Babson College Fund, too.
“The Management Consulting Field Experience program my senior year provided me with a terrific transition into the real-world corporate world,” says Corey O’Neill ’22, who is now an investment banking analyst at Bank of America. “This project-based semester taught me about the power of a united team. There is no better educational experience than actually doing something.”
Resources to Prioritize Your Career
The students’ best partner as they take on these opportunities is the Hoffman Family Undergraduate Center for Career Development (CCD). As the recruiting landscape has shifted over the past few years, the CCD team continues to update its portfolio of career education resources, offering career fairs and recruiting events, résumé and interview workshops, and mentorship programs along with virtual tools.
“Students found success in their career outcomes across a diversity of employers by leveraging their deep preparation to create lasting value for themselves, their communities, and the world,” says Ann McAdam Griffin, the director of the undergraduate CCD. “Working with the CCD team enables students to augment the skills and capabilities developed in the classroom with the career readiness competencies sought by employers for early career opportunities.”
Those core competencies are what make up a Babson student’s toolkit—and are why they continue to see record starting salaries and why 98.7% of the Class of 2022 is employed, continuing their education, or involved in volunteer, military, or service programs only six months after graduation. It’s a well all Babson students—including the Class of 2022—return to as they grow in their careers.
“Experiential learning is embedded throughout the Babson curriculum, from creating a venture in FME to collaborating with companies and nonprofits around the world,” Murphy says. “Through their time here, they are challenged to innovate and adapt their ideas as they make data-driven and collaborative decisions to arrive at sustainable solutions to everything from dorm-room inconveniences to the world’s biggest problems.”
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