[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/mba_students.jpg” caption=”MBA students work in a computer lab at the DeGroote School of Business. File photo.”]

DeGroote School of Business MBA graduates enjoy a triple-digit percentage increase in salaries upon graduating, leading all other business students across the country. A new survey by Canadian Business magazine shows DeGroote Co-op MBAs enjoying a 118 per cent post-graduation salary increase, allowing DeGroote to reclaim the top spot in the national study.

The annual survey examines MBA schools across Canada. The average entering salary for DeGroote Co-op students is $31,813 and the average starting salary upon graduation is $69,283.

Canadian Business also cited DeGroote's popular co-op program, which places students with top companies including the CPP Investment Board, GlasxoSmithKline, Research in Motion and dozens of others. Three four-month work terms allow students to gain work experience and earn as they learn–an average of $3,200 per month,
although some students earn as much as $5,000.

“DeGroote graduates are market ready, and by that I mean that they are able to enter the job, understand what's needed, make judgments and provide leadership, right from day one. This is what employers are looking for,” says Paul Bates, dean of the DeGroote School of Business.

DeGroote also received high marks for its international exchange program, Allen H. Gould Trading Floor and a new campus in Burlington set to open in 2009. The Burlington campus will offer interdisciplinary programs in business-community partnerships.

Explains Bates, “Part of our mission is to teach the “triple bottom line,” so that students are always considering the financial, environmental and social consequences of their business decisions. Our new programs in Burlington will help us to do that.”