The Darden community celebrated hundreds of new graduates on 22 May, as the largest graduating Class received their diplomas during commencement celebrations on Sunday. Read the full story on the Darden Report.
Congratulations, Class of 2022!
The celebrations represented the first fully in-person graduation on Darden Grounds since 2019. The newest ranks of Darden alumni include 537 MBA graduates, 362 from the Full-Time MBA program and 147 from the Executive MBA program.
The Full-Time MBA Class of 2022 included a unique group of “Section J” students who began their Darden careers in January 2021 due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 28 dual degree students were also represented in the Class.
Elected Executive MBA speaker Joe Stanley (EMBA ’22) spoke of the deep bonds formed by the Class of 2022, calling the power of the new relationships as important as the skills developed in the classroom.
The diversity of experiences and perspectives within our class of working professionals, filtered through the case discussions of our academic work, was a sum greater than the parts and a testament to the value of executive education programs. You have all fundamentally changed my life, and I thank you for it.
At a separate evening ceremony for the Full-Time Class of 2022, Alex Smith (MBA ’22) encouraged graduates to “run through” fear and discomfort rather than retreat. Embracing what frightens you frequently leads to greater fulfillment, Smith said.
The next time you are faced with this dilemma, I hope you remember how bold you can be. You took a chance on yourself and wrote that Darden application, and look at you now,” Smith said. “We are all living those dreams that we had years ago, and we are on the precipice of achieving the dreams we carry with us now.
Darden Career Center Shares Preliminary Career Outcomes
As the Darden Career Center analyzes initial employment outcomes for degree programs, preliminary data indicates impressive results and year-over-year trends for graduating Full-Time MBA and Executive MBA students.
Full-Time MBA Class of 2022
Preliminary results
- Median base salary of $175,000, a 21% increase from the Class of 2021
- 92 percent received full-time job offers by graduation
- 89 percent accepted a full-time job offer by graduation
- Top companies (in order of most graduates)
- BCG
- Bain
- McKinsey
- Microsoft
- Dell
- JPMorgan Chase
- Deloitte
- Amazon
- Bank of America
- Credit Suisse
- Most popular industries
- Consulting
- Finance
- Technology
- Consumer packaged goods
- healthcare
Executive MBA Class of 2022
Preliminary results
- 20 percent increase in salary over the course of the two-year program
- Average base salary of $180,546 by graduation
- Over 80 percent were promoted of accepted a new job by the time of graduation
- 43 percent accepted a role at a new company
- 40 percent received a promotion at their current company
- Top industries
- Technology
- Consulting
- Financial services
- Government or military
- Health care
The Career Center plans to release a comprehensive employment outcomes report for Executive MBA, Full-Time MBA and Master of Science in business analytics graduates later this fall.
Also, see UVA’s full coverage of Final Exercises 2022, including keynote remarks from Dr. Taison Bell (EMBA ’20).
Graduation on the UVA Lawn
View More Scenes From the Lawn in the Darden Flickr Gallery
Executive MBA Graduation
View Scenes From the Executive MBA Graduation in the Darden Flickr Gallery
Full-Time MBA Graduation
View Scenes From the Full-Time MBA Graduation in the Darden Flickr Gallery
