Sloan School of Management - MIT
The MIT Sloan School of Management is the business school for the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, close to Harvard and fifty-nine other colleges in the Boston area, Sloan is surrounded by an ardent academic community.
The MIT Sloan School of Management began as one course: Course XV, Engineering Administration at MIT. It was added in 1914 under the
department of Economics and Statistics. Keeping with MIT’s objective to develop leaders in the field of science and technology, the course was intended to be taught in conjunction with engineering courses. In 1925, MIT began offering a Master’s Degree in Management. Course XV later expanded and became the Department of Business and Engineering Administration.
In 1931, MIT Sloan launched a program for executive development, now known as Sloan Fellows. The program was the first of its kind, providing one year of graduate study to mid-career professionals. The program was also highly competitive, only accepting managers nominated by employers. Alfred P. Sloan, MIT graduate and CEO of General Motors at the time, provided financial backing for the program in 1938.
MIT provides an incredible foundation for the Sloan School of Management. MIT is known for its highly selective degree programs and is considered one of the top institutions in the world. The school has been at the forefront of some of the most influential ideas in management and finance. Sloan stays closely connected to MIT, offering dual degree programs and conducting research in the same space.
MIT Sloan School of Management Overview
The MIT Sloan School of Management values hands-on experience and a global perspective. The program consists of one semester of core curriculum and three semesters of electives. Action Labs provide opportunities for students to work with companies in the U.S., India, and China to solve real-world problems.
See below for an overview of MIT Sloan School of Management including ranking, course information, and tuition cost.
| School Rank: | #5 for Business Schools |
| Course Duration: | 2-year full time program |
| Median GMAT: | 730 |
| GMAT Range: | 690-760 |
| Approx. Class Size: | 416 |
| Avg. Work Experience: | 5 Years |
| Tuition Cost (per year): | $78,954 |
| Average Salary: | $148,075 |
| Average Salary for Consultants: | $157,572 |
| % Employed after 3 months: | 94.8% |
| Location: | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Degrees Offered
- Accounting
- Economics
- Entrepreneurship
- Finance
- General Management
- Healthcare Administration
- Human Resources Management
- Industrial Management
- International Business
- Leadership
- Manufacturing and Technology Management
- Marketing
- Management Information Systems
- Production/operations Management
- Organizational Behavior
- Supply Chain Management/logistics
- Quantitative Analysis/statistics and Operations Research
- Tax
- Technology
Specialty Masters:
- Business Analytics
- Finance
- Executive MBA
- Sloan Fellows MBA
Program Details
Are you divided into cohorts? Yes
MIT Sloan School of Management emphasizes hands-on learning and the school provides ample opportunities for students to apply concepts taught in class to real-world business settings. Sloan uses the Case method, which consists of lectures, team projects, and hands-on Action Learning Labs. Like the rest of MIT’s degree programs, the workload for MBAs at Sloan is very demanding, even by business school standards.
The first semester at Sloan covers the school’s core curriculum and is the most difficult. Core classes include:
- Economic Analysis for Business Decisions
- Data, Models, and Decisions
- Communication for Leaders
- Organizational Processes
- Financial Accounting
The remaining three semesters are dedicated to students choosing electives (144 elective units total) that fit their desired focus. Electives are designed to be real-world learning opportunities.
At the start of the first semester, students are grouped into six cohorts with people from different backgrounds, interests, and experiences. Cohorts are named after bodies of water: Atlantic, Baltic, Caribbean, Indian, Mediterranean, and Pacific. Cohorts are then divided into smaller teams which move through the core semester together. Cohorts and teams lend themselves to connections that last beyond the MBA experience – part of the value prop of getting an MBA, after all.
Courses are graded using letter grades and on the five-point MIT scale. Graduate students must maintain at least a 4.0 or B average in order to graduate. Sloan does not award students with academic honors at graduation, which is consistent with all of MIT’s programs. The “honor” is being a graduate of MIT.
MIT values the exchange of ideas across degree programs and even universities. Sloan has a unique partnership with Harvard Business School where students are allowed to take classes at both schools. Students may take up to three approved graduate-level MIT or Harvard courses outside of MIT Sloan.
Sloan also offers a few joint degree programs. Together with the School of Engineering, Sloan offers an MBA and Master of Science in Engineering through a program called Leaders for Global Operations. With the MIT Department of Urban Studies, Sloan is able to offer an MBA and a master’s degree in city planning. With the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, the school offers an MBA and a Master’s in Public Administration or Public Policy.
Can you do a joint degree while at the school? Ex: MBA/MD between HBS and Harvard Medical School: Yes
What Makes MIT Sloan Unique?
MIT Sloan students can join any of the 450 clubs offered by MIT (that’s a lot of clubs!). Sloan also has 80 of its own clubs, ranging from Industry-focused to Sports & Recreation Clubs. Some popular clubs include the Sloan Women in Management, Management Consulting, and Technology clubs. Clubs range from 12 to over 400 members. Sloan students also regularly participate in a number of competitions such as the 100K Entrepreneurship Competition.
In addition, students plan and host multiple conferences throughout the years, often with a particular region, industry, or theme in mind. These conferences attract leaders from around the world, enabling students to network and develop leadership skills. Some major conferences include: MIT Sloan Investing Series, Hack for Inclusion, Retail Conference, FinTech Conference, Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Summit, Investment Conference, Technology Conference, and New Space Age Conference.
What is the MIT Sloan campus like?
MIT Sloan is in the middle of Cambridge’s thriving Kendall Square Neighborhood. The square is home to multiple biotech companies, tech giants, startups, and research labs. In addition to being a business hub, Kendall Square is a hotspot for restaurants, outdoor activities, arts, music, and culture. MIT is one of sixty colleges in the Boston area, giving it an air of creativity and academic refinement.
Sloan is located on the east side of the MIT campus. Since MIT buildings are named by location and number, the five Sloan buildings are known as E62, E60, E52, E51, and E40. Sloan’s main building, E62, is where a lot of the excitement happens. On the first floor is the E62 café where students and faculty alike meet to socialize or collaborate on projects. The second floor has classrooms, study rooms, offices, and an Executive Education Suite.
At one point or another, MIT Sloan students will likely find themselves in MIT’s Infinite Corridor, running 825 feet through five buildings on MIT’s main campus. Sloan events are held at the Samberg Center on campus and the MIT Endicott House, 12 miles away.
Notable Alumni
Sloan alumni have started companies, run companies, lead countries, and, in short, done a whole lot of good. A 2015 study reported that companies from MIT Sloan alumni provided millions of jobs and generated annual revenues of almost 2 trillion dollars.
To give you an idea of the kind of impact graduates have had, here is a list of MIT Sloan notable alumni:
- Carly Fiorina, Former CEO of Hewlett Packard
- Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary-General
- Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel
- William Clay Ford Jr., Executive Chairman of Ford Motors
- Alan Mullaly, Former CEO of Ford Motors
- John W. Thompson, Chairman of Microsoft
- John S. Reed, Former Chairman of New York Stock Exchange and Former CEO of Citicorp
MIT Sloan Employment Report
The MIT Sloan Employment Report gives compensation data from the 2020 graduating class by industry, function, and location. Consulting was the top industry for graduates to go into. Below are a few notable statistics from the Employment Report:
- % of grads employed after 3 months: 95%
- Average overall salary (USD): $148,075
- Median Signing Bonus: $30K
To find out what the prospects are for you to break into consulting from Sloan, see our breakdown of the MIT Sloan Employment Report here.