MBA in USA vs. MBA in Australia - Eligibility, Fees, Top Universities, Work experience

MBA in USA or Australia - Which is better?

Edited By Prabhjyot Kaur | Updated on Jun 21, 2024 05:58 PM IST

Is it worth to do MBA in USA or other countries like UK, Australia, Germany, etc? Yes, it is totally worth it. There is a reason why the MBA program is one of the most popular worldwide and in the USA and Australia particularly. Consider a Fortune study that estimates the graduate starting salary in the US to be USD 100,000. Even if not every MBA graduate will make that much money, it is enough to start the MBA movement in the right direction.

MBA in USA or Australia - Which is better?

Additionally, it's not always about the money because the degree's skill set opens doors in a variety of industries, including healthcare, government service, and consumer products. Another highly praised benefit of an MBA degree is that, in contrast to other courses, it provides excellent opportunities for networking, which has emerged as a crucial component of success in the twenty-first century.

However, the main question is 'Is it worth to do MBA in USA" or "Is Australia good for MBA". So, this article is all about MBA in Australia vs USA. Both the countries offer some of the best MBA courses in the world and these top universities are ranked highly as well by QS. To learn more about considering which country to pursue MBA and an overview of MBA in Australia vs USA, read the article.
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Moreover, there are many things to consider. According to statistics for MBA in Australia vs USA for international students, the USA has more highly regarded universities than Australia, yet this is far from the only factor that separates the two countries. Considerations regarding the admission cycle, cost, and required job experience must be made in order to reach an appropriate conclusion. Here we will analyze MBA in USA or Australia to help you make the right decision.

Cost of studying for MBA

An HSBC report shows that Australia is the costliest destination in the world with an annual cost of living of AUD 18,012. In comparison to the MBA in USA vs Australia fees, you need just USD 11,651 to get through in the US. Tuition fees in the two countries are almost identical: USD 24,914 and Australia AUD 24,081.

But these tuition fees are the average of an aggregate of different courses and are not an indicator of MBA tuition fees in Australia or for that matter MBA tuition fees in USA. So, let's take a closer look at the tuition fees for MBA in USA vs Australia for Indian students or international students.

Tuition fees at top Business schools for MBA in the USA 2024:

University	Duration	Tuition Fees (1st year in USD)
Stanford Graduate School of Business	2 years	76,950
Harvard Business School	2 years	73,440
Kellogg School of Management	2 years	76,580
Kellogg School of Management	1 year	111,731
Booth School of Business	21 months	72,000
Tuck School of Business	2 years	77,520

Tuition fees at top Business schools for MBA in Australia 2024:

University	Duration	Total Tuition Fees in AUD (Approx.)
Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne	1 year	85,470
AGSM MBA, University of New South Wales	16 months	66,780
College of Business and Economics, Australian National University	2 years	57,365
La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University	1.5 years	36,944
Monash Business School, Monash University	2 years	48,069

It is fairly evident from the above charts that among the MBA in USA or Australia fees, the USA tuition fees is much higher than MBA tuition fee in Australia. Take for example, by the time you complete your two-year MBA degree from Stanford, which has an annual fee of USD 66,540, you will have spent well more than USD 100,000; much more than what you will need for the one-year MBA degree at Melbourne Business School, which charges AUD 59,829 for the entire program. And this discrepancy isn’t just because of the difference in the duration of the two programs. Just check out our next example.

Read some more:

Kellogg School of Management, which offers a one-year program like Melbourne Business School, commands AUD 91,716 for the entire program, way higher than any one-year or two-year program offered in Australia. Even pitting a two-year program against its equivalent program in the two countries fails to buck the trend.

At Tuck School of Business, the annual tuition fee is AUD 66, 390, while all you pay is AUD 48,069 for a similar two-year program at Monash Business School. One interesting consequence of the low MBA tuition fee in Australia is that it more than nullifies the edge it cedes to the USA through its high cost of living. So, if the cost of studying is your only criterion when selecting a destination, Australia wins hands down in the game of MBA in Australia vs USA.

Top Business Schools For MBA in USA vs Australia

If there is one parameter that you simply can’t ignore when selecting a B-school for MBA in USA or Australia, it is its world ranking. It is because these rankings take into account key variables like university faculty, scope of research, international exposure, funding opportunities for students, and presence or absence of contemporary courses to rank a university.

In other words, it guarantees you some minimum quality that you can expect of a university based on its rankings. In the discussion of MBA in USA or Australia for international students or local students, now we find that the USA has four universities in the top ten, while Australia has none, in the QS list. Even if you take an overall count, the number of US universities far outnumbers Australian universities, a good enough reason to study MBA in the US.

Also, with so many universities making the list, studying MBA in USA or Australia for Indian students will have a range of specializations to pick from. One advantage of having a large pool of universities is they invariably offer many unconventional and contemporary courses, which is very evident in US universities. One can refer to the below QS World Universities Rankings 2025 for reference.

Top business schools in the USA 2024:

University	World QS Ranking 2025
Harvard University	4
Stanford University	6
University of Pennsylvania	11
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	1
University of California, Berkeley (UCB)	12
University of Chicago	21
New York University (NYU)	43
Columbia University	34
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)	42
University of Michigan	44

Top business schools in Australia 2024:

University	World QS Ranking 2025
The University of Melbourne	13
The University of New South Wales (UNSW Australia)	19
The University of Sydney	18
The Australian National University	30
Monash University	37
The University of Queensland	40
RMIT University	123
The University of Western Australia	77
University of Technology Sydney	88
Griffith University	255

List of scholarships to study abroad by country

What is the Application process for MBA in USA vs Australia?

The application process for an MBA in USA or Australia for international students is a bit different as can be seen from the following points-

Admission Cycle

The Application cycle for studying MBA in USA - MBA in USA or Australia

Universities in the USA don’t follow any common deadline for business courses and frequently have more than one deadline. The general trend is to have three deadlines, though universities like Dartmouth College – Tuck School of Business have as many as four deadlines.

MBA in USA Admission Cycle 2024:

Business School	Round	Deadline
Harvard Business School	ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3	Early Sep Early Jan Early Apr
Stanford Graduate School of Business	ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3	Late Sep Mid-Jan Early Apr
University of Chicago – Booth School of Business	ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3	Mid-Sep Early Jan Early Apr

The Application cycle for studying MBA in Australia - MBA in USA or Australia

In Australia, sessions usually start in February, and ideally one should start doing the necessary research a year in advance since the entire process may take up to 10-11 months. Importantly, the application window in a majority of universities in Australia generally falls between September and November, a departure from the trend seen in the USA. Nevertheless, there are a few exceptions that buck the trend and have more than one round, like the AGSM MBA which has three rounds. Also, in cases where universities fail to fill up their seats in the September and November window, they may invite another round of applications, usually in July.

MBA in Australia Admission Cycle 2024:

Business School	Round	Deadline
Monash Business School	Single round	4th December
UQ Business School	Single round	31st October
Sydney Business School	Single round	October- November
UWA Business School	ROUND 1 ROUND 2	4th May 29th June
AGSM MBA	ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3	1st June 1st August 1st October

What is the Eligibility for MBA in USA vs Australia?

To be eligible to study for an MBA in the USA, an applicant must complete 16 years of prior studies. In other words, after your 10+2, you must have completed at least 4 years of education (graduation or diploma). Students who have completed their Master’s degree are also qualified to apply for an MBA in the US.

In comparison to Australia vs USA for international students, the universities in the USA strictly demand that you complete 16 years of pre-MBA Study whereas a three-year Bachelor’s degree is enough to make you eligible for an MBA in Australia. The majority of Australian universities also demand work experience accompanying your academic qualification.

Top Business Schools for MBA in USA vs Australia

According to Financial Times, American universities lead the pack of business schools with the best ROIs. And that even after taking into account the high cost of pursuing an MBA degree in the USA. In consideration of the MBA in USA or Australia salary, the starting salary for a graduate from Stanford, or for that matter Harvard, hovers around USD 180,000.

Meanwhile, the average compensation of an MBA graduate in North America stands at an impressive USD 128,600. In comparison of an MBA in USA or Australia, the average compensation of an MBA graduate in Australia is USD 86,000, which is lower than those in the USA. But you can counter that by arguing that the cost of studying MBA in Australia is much less in the first place. So, whether you are studying MBA in the USA or Australia, would depend on whether you want to take calculated risks or put all your eggs in the same basket.

Top Business schools with the best ROI in USA 2024:

University	Rank	Duration	Tuition fee(annually in USD)	Salary (USD)
Harvard Business School	1	2 years	63,675	180,183
Stanford Graduate School of Business	4	2 years	66,540	178,929
University of Pennsylvania: Wharton	3	2 years	73,634	172,699
Columbia Business School	6	2 years	65,988	170,849
University of Chicago: Booth	9	21 months	66,540	162,791

Top Business schools with the best ROI in Australia 2024:

University	Rank	Duration	Tuition fee in AUD	Salary (AUD)
Macquarie Graduate School of Management	68	2 years	49,872(annual)	120,485
AGSM at UNSW Business School	75	16 months	57,153	109,794
Melbourne Business School	90	2 months	59,829	96,411

Work experience for MBA in USA vs Australia without GMAT

One major difference between studying MBA in USA or Australia is pertaining to work experience or GMAT requirements. In the USA, for example, students are expected to score in excess of 700 in their GMAT exams to stand any chance of getting into a top B-school in the country. In Australia, however, GMAT is not a mandatory requirement as universities pay more attention to the student’s prior work experience; also, even in those universities that require GMAT scores, it rarely goes beyond 600-650.

One major reason why GMAT isn’t mandatory for b-schools in Australia is they focus more on training students to be future managers and pay less attention to theoretical and academic aspects of management which only helps a student to take the first steps in an organizational hierarchy.

Also, many business schools, as part of work experience, require students to have at least 1-2 years of managerial experience. The approach seemingly has paid off, as MBA without GMAT in Australia is getting a lot of traction across the world with more and more students beginning to realize its usefulness and practicality.

Coming to the USA, even though GMAT is mandatory for admission into an MBA program, MBA without GMAT in the USA isn’t something completely unheard of. It is because, while GMAT is the traditional way to get into an MBA program, there are executive MBA programs that have embraced MBA without GMAT with open arms, a case in point being NYU Stern executive MBA and UCLA - NUS Executive MBA.

Top Business schools in Australia which offer MBA without GMAT:

B-school	Work experience (minimum)
Melbourne Business School	2 years
La Trobe Business School	3 years (managerial exp.)
UQ Business School	4 years (including 2 year managerial exp.)
Sydney Business School	3 years (both work and managerial exp.)

Top Business schools offering MBA without GMAT in USA:

University	Work experience (average)	Duration	Tuition fees in USD
NYU Stern	14 years (9 years managerial)	22 months	177,800
The Kellogg-HKUST	14 years	18 months	161,200
UCLA - NUS	12 -19 years	12 sessions (6 sessions in 2 weeks every 3 months)	112,940

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Which are the best MBA courses in Australia?

MBA in International Business
MBA in e-commerce
MBA in Strategy & Leadership
MBA in Finance
MBA in Human Resource Management

2. Which country is better for MBA degree- USA or Australia?

When it comes to tuition fees, it is higher in the USA, when we look at the cost of studying and living when we compare with Australia. However both these countries are among the top countries preferred for doing an MBA abroad.

3. Is it worth getting an MBA in Australia?

Career prospects for an MBA graduate in Australia are good. There are several top-ranked business schools in the country, and their graduates are in high demand by employers. Skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork that MBA students learn are in high demand in Australian companies.

4. Among the countries US or Australia which is better for IT jobs?

Both countries have a huge demand for IT jobs and pay the best salary in the market. But in Australia, there is a good work-time balance and work culture. The competition for jobs is less in Australia when compared to the USA, which gives an easy opportunity to crack the offer.

5. In the countries like USA or Australia which is better to live or for living?

Consider the living costs, standards, Australia is the better place to live. States likes Sydney, Melbourne and 2 other are ranked as most beautiful and livable cities. Whereas USA has dont have any cities or states ranked in any of the top lists.