MBA Rankings

Class Location: The Internet.

Description: This course shows students how important rankings are, and who ranks them.

Objective: Learn who has the top MBA rankings.

Below is a chart of business school rankings from BusinessWeek magazine and U.S. News and World Report. Use magazine rankings with caution though. They change their rankings from year to year in order to sell copies of their magazine, not because the quality of the schools fluctuate that severely. The top schools will very likely remain the top schools, but a school moving up in rank by several positions could be an up-and-comer that is working intentionally to improve their school and earn more respect in the business school community. But a school in the very top that moves down by a few slots according to a magazine is not likely to have made any substantive negative changes to its program.

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BusinessWeek magazine lists schools that are highly ranked but fall after their top 30 are in alphabetical order. These are known as "runner-ups" and one listed above another does not mean anything about the strength of the business school. These schools are also referred to as 'second tier' business schools and hold the 30 to 50 ranks in BusinessWeek. These are schools that may not have the name recognition of the top 30, but they are excellent schools and may be worth considering especially for MBA candidates who cannot relocate to attend school, or who plan to work in a business within a particular geographic area.

There will probably always be debate about which magazine's rankings are more accurate. Both have their own merits. The view here at MBA Admission 101 is that the most important ranking factors are ones that pay off for students and graduates in the form of job interviews and offers. Because of this, we will say that more American recruiters rely on BusinessWeek's ranking system than others.

The most important thing to remember when choosing a school is that your MBA education is 2 years of your life. Choose a school where you will be happy and get the most out of your 2-year investment.