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(Adds survey methodology)
By Olivia Oran
June 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street banks remain the employersof choice for new business school graduates, despite competitionfor talent from Silicon Valley, hedge funds and private equityfirms, according to a study released on Tuesday.
More than a quarter of those surveyed by Wall Streettraining firm Training the Street said they were looking to joinlarge banks upon receiving their MBAs, followed by 17 percentwho chose consulting firms. Only 7 percent of business schoolgraduates chose start-ups as their top employment destination.
The results come as Wall Street banks are taking more activesteps to both retain employees and attract new types ofcandidates.
Barclays PLC said earlier this month it waslaunching an internship program in New York to target people whohad taken a career break from the finance industry. The Britishbank also said it is letting U.S. staff take more time off afterhaving a baby.
In the last several months, Credit Suisse AG established a fast-track program for top performing juniorbankers, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc made changesdesigned to retain younger staff, including promoting them morequickly.
Although the majority of MBAs said they were positive ontheir job prospects after school, a smaller percentage areearning an annual base salary of $125,000 or more compared tolast year.
Forty percent of respondents will make $125,000 or more,down from 43 percent last year, the survey found. Training theStreet said it conducted the survey by email in the spring with300 respondents. (Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by CynthiaOsterman)
