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More grads are piling on high student MBA debt, a recently study found. The average debt held by MBA grads, according to SoFi, is $74,707, three years after graduation.  MBAs from the top 10 U.S. business schools graduated with a mind-boggling $317.4 million in graduate loans. And that sum is on top of whatever undergraduate debt MBA students amassed.

A recent Poets & Quants study shows that MBAs are graduating with +$100k debt loads from at least 13 prominent business schools, up from only two schools in 2011. The six-figure debt ranges from a high of $122,370 at the UPenn’s Wharton School to $100,083 at UVA’s Darden School of Business. For a Wharton MBA borrowing the money on a standard 10-year repayment plan, the debt amounts to about $1,408 in monthly payments, assuming a 6.8% interest rate and a total of $46,618 in interest charges.

More than two hundred thousand Americans have graduated from MBA programs in the US each year since 2010.  Those graduating from prestigious MBA programs like the Wharton, Columbia, Stanford, and HBS, stand ready to rake in salaries of well over $175,000 three years after graduation,

“Students are often surprised at how fast their money gets spent and how it will affect their job and life choices over the next 10 years,” says Betsy Massar, founder of Master Admissions, an MBA admissions consulting firm and a Harvard MBA graduate. “What people forget is how expensive the whole proposition is, not just tuition, room, and board.”

Below is a list of the 10 programs that have the best salary-to-debt ratio in the US:

1. University of Wisconsin-Madison: Avg. salary = $122,532; avg. debt = $52,568

2. Brigham Young University: Avg. salary = $114,559; avg. debt = $50,224

3. Harvard University: Avg. salary = $184,463; avg. debt = $83,337

4. Stanford University: Avg. salary = $186,534; avg. debt = $85,443

5. Villanova University: Avg. salary = $136,464; avg. debt = $63,014

6. University of Pittsburgh: Avg. salary = $149,157; avg. debt = $71,471

7. Loyola University, Maryland: Avg. salary = $122,915; avg. debt = $59,029

8. North Carolina State University: Avg. salary = $92,184; avg. debt = $46,140

9. University of Florida: Avg. salary = $110,942; avg. debt = $56,035

10. University of Houston: Avg. salary = $105,476; avg. debt = $54,308

As you can see, if you choose wisely and align that with your career goals, it does not have to be a life long burden, just a bump along the road.  You also should remember you do have options upon graduation.  Often times,  the private student loans you took out to fiance your undergrad and MBA education can be consolidated and/or refinanced at a much lower interest rate.  If you are looking for a private student loan consolidation option, Cedar Education Lenging is one such provider that has refinanced and consolidated many MBA grads’ student loan debt.

Resources: Best Online MBA Programs