In a lot of cases, a higher education can mean a higher salary or even a better job. That's why we found out the best colleges for consultants. We based this list on these metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of students working, ratio of working vs. non-working students 10 years after admission, average cost of attendance and median debt for graduates.
Best Colleges And Majors For Consultants
Best Colleges For Consultants
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-State Tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
3. New York University
New York, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,828
Enrollment
26,339
4. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
5. George Washington University, The
Washington, DC • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,230
Enrollment
12,161
6. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$18,454
Enrollment
40,108
7. Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$52,930
Enrollment
5,030
8. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
9. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
In-State Tuition
$11,830
Enrollment
29,474
10. Ball State University
Muncie, IN • Private
In-State Tuition
$9,896
Enrollment
15,529
Consultant Education Requirements
The education needed to be a consultant is normally a bachelor's degree. Consultants usually study business, computer science or accounting. 64% of consultants hold a bachelor's degree and 17% hold a master's degree. We found these by analyzing 265,015 consultant resumes to investigate the topic of consultant education more precisely.
The most common colleges for students to pursue their goal of becoming a consultant are University of Phoenix and New York University. We also broke down what colleges provide the best overall education for a consultant. Students have a great path to earning their consultant qualifications at the following schools:
- Northwestern University
- University of Pennsylvania
- New York University
If you're interested in getting a college degree in an affordable college for consultants - Baruch College of the City University of New York is an excellent option for you. If your SAT or ACT score aren't as high as you'd like, you can look at Notre Dame de Namur University, as the admission requirements aren't too selective. On the other end of that spectrum are the Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania and University of Southern California.
For those who would rather stay in your pajamas during the day, we prepared some online courses that can help in consultant education paths.
We prepared a list of a consultant certifications that you should consider. The necessary certifications that consultants must have to succeed are Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and Program Management Professional (PgMP).
What Education Do You Need To Become a Consultant?
What degree do you need to be a Consultant?
The most common degree for consultants is bachelor's degree 64% of consultants earn that degree. A close second is master's degree with 17% and rounding it off is associate degree with 9%.
- Bachelors, 64%
- Masters, 17%
- Associate, 9%
- High School Diploma, 3%
- Other Degrees, 7%
What Should I Major in to Become a Consultant?
Most consultants, 24% to be exact, major in business. Some other common majors for a consultant include computer science and accounting majors.
- Business, 24%
- Computer Science, 9%
- Accounting, 8%
- Psychology, 6%
- Other Majors, 53%
Most Common Colleges For Consultants
Here are the most common colleges for a consultant career in the US based on their resumes. Advocates often get their degree in University of Phoenix, New York University, and University of Maryland - College Park .
| Consultant Common College | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of Phoenix | 11.47% |
| New York University | 8.00% |
| University of Maryland - College Park | 6.83% |
| Pennsylvania State University | 5.99% |
| Ohio State University | 4.93% |
Best Majors For Consultants
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Business | 24.3% |
| 2 | Computer Science | 9.4% |
| 3 | Accounting | 8.1% |
| 4 | Psychology | 6.4% |
| 5 | Finance | 5.6% |
20 Best Online Courses for Consultants
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1. Data Analysis Immersive (Full-time)
Learn to problem solve, and effectively communicate, like an analyst. This course teaches you to use industry-standard tools to make ethical, data-driven decisions. Experience hands-on training to master SQL, Excel, Tableau, PowerBI, and Python – tools listed in virtually every data analytics job posting across industries...
2. Data Analytics (Part Time)
Harness Excel, SQL, and Tableau to drive powerful analysis and insights. Build confidence and credibility to apply this versatile skill set to countless jobs. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting...
3. Intro to Statistics
Statistics is about extracting meaning from data. In this class, we will introduce techniques for visualizing relationships in data and systematic techniques for understanding the relationships using mathematics...
4. Data Visualization with Tableau
Learn the fundamentals of data visualization and practice communicating with data. This course covers how to apply design principles, human perception, color theory, and effective storytelling with data. If you present data to others, aspire to be a business analyst or data scientist, or if you'd like to become more effective with visualization tools, then you can grow your skills with this course...
5. Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants
A practical guide with cases studies how to analyze and improve a retail business during management consulting projects...
6. Consulting Startup How to Start a Consulting Business Fast
Consulting Business Startup Plan Simplified You Learn the Exact 90 Steps and 5 Phases to Startup a Consulting Business...
7. Intro to Data Analytics
Discover if data is a career fit for you Regardless of your industry or role, fluency in the language of data analytics will allow you to contribute to data driven decision making. In this free, two-hour livestream, you’ll learn to understand, analyze, and interpret data so you too can join the data conversation. We’ll cover how to ask the right questions of your data and basic analytic functionality. Then you’ll apply your new found data analytic skills to a real-world dataset, allowing you...
8. Intro to Data Analysis
This course will introduce you to the world of data analysis. You'll learn how to go through the entire data analysis process, which includes posing a question, wrangling your data into a format you can use and fixing any problems with it, exploring the data, finding patterns in it, and building your intuition about it, drawing conclusions and/or making predictions, and communicating your findings. You'll also learn how to use the Python libraries NumPy, Pandas, and Matplotlib to write code...
9. Strategy for Management Consultants & Business Analysts
Top advices from consulting practice with examples and case studies...
10. Consulting Business Masterclass: Start A Consulting Business
The Complete A-Z Consulting Course for Everyone Who Wants to Become Location-Independent...
11. Supply Chain for Management Consultants & Business Analysts
A practical guide how to improve supply chain in a firm and analyze potential savings in Excel during consulting project...
12. Business Analysis: Developing Irresistible Business Cases
Building the business acumen you need to promote your projects to management...
13. Start and Run a successful consulting business
The ultimate guide how to build and run a consulting firm...
14. Practical Project Management for Management Consultants
How to manage successfully a consulting project - a practical guide for Project Managers...
15. Performance Improvement Projects for Management Consultants
A practical guide on how to conduct consulting projects on the level of McKinsey, Bain, BCG, PwC...
16. Management Consulting Essential Training
Everything you need to know about the techniques of worlds top management consulting firms to land 6-figure job offer...
17. Production for Management Consultants and Business Analysts
Practical guide on how to improve production and operations in a firm and analyze potential savings in Excel...
18. 12 Steps Business Case Development
The Compact Guide of Business Case Development Success. Be Ready to Present your Case and Win...
19. Financial Modeling for Business Analysts and Consultants
Learn Financial Modeling in Excel that will allow you to participate in due diligence, strategy or turn around projects...
20. Audit - Financial Statement
Learn the audit process from planning to audit report form a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)...
Top 10 Affordable Universities For Consultants
If those top 10 were a bit out of your price range, you might want to check these schools instead. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price and mean earnings after 6 years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for consultants.
1. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$7,262
Cost of Attendance
14,046
2. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,381
Cost of Attendance
21,034
3. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$8,306
Cost of Attendance
16,091
4. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-State Tuition
$5,620
Cost of Attendance
18,136
5. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-State Tuition
$5,656
Cost of Attendance
21,623
6. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$7,309
Cost of Attendance
16,714
7. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,410
Cost of Attendance
20,456
8. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,798
Cost of Attendance
18,306
9. USF Sarasota-Manatee
Sarasota, FL • Private
In-State Tuition
$5,587
Cost of Attendance
13,043
10. University of Houston - Victoria
Victoria, TX • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,491
Cost of Attendance
19,075
Top 10 Hardest Universities To Get Into For Consultants
Some people like a challenge. Well, we challenge you to get into one of these schools. It's not going to be easy. We know this based on these institutions' admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted and mean earnings of students 6 years after admission.
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions Rate
8%
SAT Average
1,508
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions Rate
8%
SAT Average
1,492
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions Rate
13%
SAT Average
1,445
4. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Admissions Rate
20%
SAT Average
1,419
5. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Admissions Rate
5%
SAT Average
1,520
6. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions Rate
11%
SAT Average
1,513
7. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
Admissions Rate
15%
SAT Average
1,506
8. Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA • Private
Admissions Rate
22%
SAT Average
1,380
9. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions Rate
22%
SAT Average
1,420
10. University of Rochester
Rochester, NY • Private
Admissions Rate
29%
SAT Average
1,422
Top 10 Easier To Apply Universities For Consultants
Why make getting a job harder on yourself than it has to be? With these colleges, you're sure to be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores and average salary of students 6 years after graduation in order to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into.
1. Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA • Private
Admissions Rate
82%
SAT Average
983
2. Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX • Private
Admissions Rate
98%
SAT Average
1,003
3. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK • Private
Admissions Rate
68%
SAT Average
964
4. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions Rate
84%
SAT Average
1,031
5. Felician University
Lodi, NJ • Private
Admissions Rate
81%
SAT Average
999
6. Holy Names University
Oakland, CA • Private
Admissions Rate
70%
SAT Average
849
7. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions Rate
88%
SAT Average
1,044
8. University of North Texas at Dallas
Dallas, TX • Private
Admissions Rate
83%
SAT Average
992
9. Life University
Marietta, GA • Private
Admissions Rate
94%
SAT Average
979
10. University of Baltimore
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions Rate
78%
SAT Average
1,020
Average Consultant Salary by Education Level
Consultants with a Doctorate degree earn more than those without, at $90,078 annually. With a Masters degree, consultants earn a median annual income of $86,138.
| Consultant Education Level | Consultant Salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $86,138 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $79,480 |
| Doctorate Degree | $90,078 |