Top students graduating from New York's top quant course are on $300k, down from $350k
The Masters in Financial Engineering (MFE) at Baruch College in New York has long been in the sweet spot of a Venn diagram combining value for money with high starting salaries and top employers. All of those things still apply, but it's worth observing that at the highest levels, pay doesn't seem to be as healthy as it was once.
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Figures released by Dan Stefanica, director of Baruch's MFE, show that the highest earning Baruch MFE graduates are on guaranteed compensation (including salary, sign-on bonus and first year bonus) of $300k this year. This isn't bad - except that last year they were on $350k+.
The fall is a possible sign that the highest paying hedge funds and electronic trading houses are becoming more circumspect about handing out enormous packages to junior talent as competition for jobs increases. Stefanica says it's been a time of "difficult market conditions."
Despite this, all of Baruch's MFE students found jobs this year, and average MFE graduate pay actually rose 17% to $227k. Employers included hedge funds like Millennium, AQR and Point72, and banks like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
In the circumstances, it's unsurprising that Baruch's MFE remains heavily oversubscribed: Stefanica says 533 people applied; only 30 were admitted.
Students on the course can start earning money before they graduate. This year, 24 Baruch MFEs completed internships. They were paid an average of $16k a month.
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