US Schools are Back - The Economist MBA Ranking 2022 (Analysis)

Harvard at #1, Wharton #2, and Kellogg at #3 marked the return of M7 schools to The  Economist’s 2022 rankings. The clean sweep of American schools - 90% of the top 10 spots with just HEC Paris – the only European School at #7 should be considered with one big caveat. Like the US schools opting out – strategically or due to the administrative challenges of COVID-19, this time around, four top European schools - INSEAD, London Business School, Imperial College London, and Oxford’s Said Business School were amongst those not ranked.

Top 10 MBA - The Economist 2022 MBA Rankings

The Economist - Quantitative (80%) Ranking

For the 2022 The Economist Full-time MBA rankings, 172 schools were invited to participate, of which 42 schools were not eligible or declined participation. INSEAD and London Business School were the two prominent schools that declined to participate.

The quantitative versus qualitative weightage split of the rankings is 80/20. The quantitative evaluation relies heavily on the pre-MBA salary of graduates, their GMAT score, and the number of registered alumni.

The qualitative factors assessed through student surveys of the most recent graduating class included the quality of the faculty, facilities, and career services.

The student surveys also captured student salary data. They were verified with the school data or considered as a substitute for data not provided by the school.

50-30-20 Rule

The Economist’s 50-30-20 rule was followed this year, where 2022’s performance only contributed 50% towards the rankings. The remaining 50% was attributed to prior years.

Related: US News vs. Financial Times MBA Rankings vs. The Economist Rankings

The weightage of the different ranking criteria has been designed based on previous student surveys. There were four primary factors that were analyzed:

1. Opened new career opportunities – 35%
2. Faculty quality – 35%
3. Salary – 20%
4. Potential to network – 10%

The highest weightage, at 70%, went to opening new career opportunities, personal development, and educational development.

Considering that most MBAs enroll in programs to gain the flexibility to change career paths and locations, the rankings are extremely relevant for value-conscious applicants.

Networking and the legacy of alumni was the least contributing factor to the rankings.

Top 10 MBA Programs - Post-MBA Salary

Harvard tops the list with the highest post-MBA salary in The Economist’s 2022 ranking, at $184,233. According to the Financial Times 2022 rankings, Harvard ranked third. In F1GMAT’s analysis of the top 30 US programs based on the most recent salaries from school employment reports, Harvard was #5th.   

Stanford ranked second in the Economists 2022 ranking with a post-MBA salary of $161,831. According to the Financial Times 2022 rankings, Stanford also ranked sixth, and in F1GMAT’s top 30 US programs, the school was at #2.

In third place was Wharton (FT Rank -1, F1GMAT US rank – 3), followed by Chicago Booth in fourth place (FT Rank – 4, F1GMAT US rank 1). In fifth place was MIT Sloan (FT Rank – 11, F1GMAT US rank – 6).

Top 5 MBA Programs with Highest Salary Increase

US schools marked their dominance by taking 60% of positions in the top 10 of The Economist’s 2022 rankings for the programs with the highest salary increase in percentage points.

Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Rochester - Simon Business School, Washington University in St Louis - Olin Business School, and Pennsylvania State University - Smeal College of Business were among the top US schools with over 170% increase in salary, while Tilburg University - TIAS School for Business and Society from the Netherlands was the only International School with an impressive 191.8% increase in salary.

Top 10 MBA Programs - Opening New Career Opportunities

Top 10 MBA - Personal Development and Educational Experience

Reference

The Economist - Which MBA 2022 Rankings