Business School Ranking

If we must find the most lasting business school rankings, Financial Times (FT), US News, and The Economist feature in most consultant’s decision-making tools.

In a span of just 10 years (1999 to 2009), the US Economy went through two booms and busts. The 2001 bust was the result of irrational exuberance that you see when new technology has not found a foothold on the market. Speculators jack up the price. Real investors play along. And then all go to the dust.

After evaluating 417 MBA programs, US News has released the 2018 Business School ranking. The top spot is a tie between Harvard and Wharton – both enrolling over 1700 full-time students. Booth took the third position while for the fifth position there is a three-way tie between MIT Sloan, Kellogg School of Management and Stanford.

Insead was #13 in the latest Economist Global MBA rankings, but the school is the #1 Business School in FT Global Ranking for 2017, first taking over the position from Harvard last year. Stanford and Wharton took the second and third positions respectively.

Analysis: Financial Times Global MBA Ranking (2017)

Harvard has finally lost the 6-year consecutive run as the top Business School in the 2016 Financial Times Global MBA ranking. Insead, which has been downgraded by The Economist (#13), is the #1 Business School in FT Ranking, taking over Harvard, which is at #2. The third position is held by London Business School, which lost one position in this year’s Global MBA ranking.

FT Global MBA Ranking 2016

The Economist MBA Ranking has become a punching bag for the experts seeking status quo and those applicants who don’t want to see volatility. We reviewed the ranking methodology from the time The Economist began ranking Full-time MBA programs. As we have warned earlier, ranking is a reflection of what the publication finds valuable for the MBA applicants, not an absolute truth about the Business School and the MBA programs.

The Economist 2016 Full-time MBA Ranking: Analysis

Bloomberg BusinessWeek full-time MBA ranking is perhaps the most influential ranking in MBA Admissions. After the publication discontinued their biennial rankings for the more current annual ranking, the influence of current students on the rankings have taken up 15% of the total score.

Read: BusinessWeek MBA Rankings 2016

US News has published the Best Business School ranking for 2016-17 for full-time MBA programs. As predicted, Harvard is #1, followed by Stanford, but Chicago Booth moved two places to tie with Stanford.

Despite what critics complain, the fluctuation in ranking is not the result of considering just one-year’s data. In fact, the Economist takes the weighted average of the last three years: 2014 (50%), 2013 (30%) and 2012 (20%). When schools fail to provide at least two consecutive year’s data, they are not considered for the ranking. That is why, you will see renowned programs like CEIBS, UC Davis and Aston missing from the ranking.

Complete Analysis: The Economist Full-time MBA Rankings 2015-16

What is interesting this year is that for the first time in BusinessWeek MBA Ranking, Alumni Feedback (35%) has been included as part of the ranking. BW took inputs from Alumni, who have graduated in 2007, 08 and 09. The ranking has done away with the research papers published by the Faculty as one of the ranking factors. Instead, the focus has been exclusively on the post-MBA salary increase, placement trends, and brand value of the Business School.

Read the Complete Analysis

No matter what experts say about FT Global MBA Ranking, the publication gives a global perspective on Top MBA programs in the world. US News MBA Ranking gives a myopic view about Management Education with US as the central focus. Agreed, US hosts most top MBA programs but there is a world outside the US – a much economical, faster and cost efficient way to upgrade your skills and associate yourself with a worthwhile brand.

Read: Review FT Global MBA Ranking 2015

Harvard is the school to beat in the Financial Times Global Business School Rankings for 2015. The School has taken the top spot for the sixth consecutive year, beating the rivals Wharton, Stanford, and London Business School. ESMT and Duke Fuqua: the big surprise winner in BusinessWeek MBA ranking is featured at 63rd and 21st positions respectively.

Read 2015 FT Global MBA Ranking (Analysis)

2014 has been the most volatile year for Business Schools and Full-time MBA Ranking. US News gave #1 rank to Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton; Financial Times ranked Harvard in the top position, The Economist rewarded Chicago Booth, and Businessweek interestingly chose Duke Fuqua School of Business.


To make it easier for you to analyze top MBA programs, we have created an aggregate ranking list for top MBA programs (With Total Cost, Salary & Debt Data)

Fuqua School of Business has replaced Chicago Booth to top the 2014 Bloomberg Businessweek Business School ranking - a 5-position jump from the 2012 ranking. Booth lost two positions and ranks at #3. Wharton moved one position up and ranked at #2.

Remember, Businessweek Business School rankings are a biennial ranking with 25% of ranking points influenced by the 2012 survey data and 75% by the 2014 data.

Complete Summary of 2014 Businessweek Business School Ranking

Financial Times Global Business School Rankings for the year 2014 has been announced. Harvard has retained the top spot for the fifth consecutive year beating Stanford Graduate School of Business to 2nd, a repeat of the previous year’s ranking. Third position is occupied by London Business School taking pushing Wharton to fourth place. Insead and Columbia Business School are tied at 5th place.


Read the summary of Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2014

BusinessWeek Part Time MBA ranking for 2013 has been published. Tepper School of Business has overtaken Elon’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business this year to rank #1. The later has moved down four places to rank at #5.

Evaluate the Summary of the Top 10 Part Time MBA Rankings

Business School rankings are biased. The preference that publications give for one ranking factor over the other is often based on these biases. MBA Aspirants should evaluate each ranking based on the methodology, and that is why we have started this series about the ranking methodology adopted by different Business School ranking publications.

The release of The Economist MBA ranking was faced with several backlashes from experts around the world for its unpredictability citing that The Economist ranking was the most unstable ranking with the big three – Harvard, Stanford and Wharton losing their positions. That in itself is not an argument to disregard a ranking.

Find out more about The Economist Full-time MBA Ranking - Methodology

The Economist Full-time MBA ranking for 2013-14 has been released. Chicago Booth has retained the top spot for the 2nd consecutive year. Tuck and Haas takes the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.

Haas School of Business made an impressive jump from 6th position to 3rd position. Read the complete analysis of The Economist MBA Ranking 2013

Financial Times have announced the Global Masters Ranking for 2013. University of St Gallen, Switzerland, ESCP Europe and WHU Beisheim, Germany have taken the top three positions. The three-year average ranking places HEC Paris in third position in place of WHU Beisheim, Germany.

The methodology used to evaluate the top Global Masters program considered various factors including Weighted salary, International mobility, International course experience, Faculty with doctorates and Value for Money.

Get the complete ranking list

Although Europe as a region is going through one of the worst recessions, the demand for MBAs has stabilized over the past four years. IE, IESE and London Business School are three examples of top MBA programs that have kept their reputation intact despite being part of two worst hit economies.

To give you a direction on picking the best MBA programs, we have created a ranking list based on the latest Full-time MBA ranking published by top publications.

Find out the top European MBA Programs for 2013

When you look at the percentage increase in Salary, schools from China, India, Brazil and Spain takes the top spots. US Still dominates in Weighted Salary Ranking. Find out details.

Harvard has finally taken over the reins from Stanford Graduate School of Business and Wharton.  There has been a slight shift in the ranking. In 2012, Stanford took the spot from London Business School, while in 2013, Harvard has displaced London Business School to 4th rank. Hong Kong UST Business School has maintained 8th position for the 2nd consecutive year.

Find out the rest of the trends - Best MBA in Terms of Value for Money, Increase in Salary and Rising Geographical trends.

Kellogg’s performance over the last year have fluctuated both ways – a large improvement in one ranking, and lower declines in the other three. BusinessWeek and US News both registered a 1-place slide, from 5 to 4 and 4 to 3 respectively. The Economist saw a two places slide from 18 to 20. However, Financial Times was the only publication that showed marked improvement in ranking from 21 to 16. Overall, Kellogg has maintained a good position among the best Business Schools. Only time will tell whether the minor slides are just hiccups and not the start of a trend.



Average Rank: 11.25

Note: All the below data includes 2-year, 1-Year, MMM and JD-MBA taken together

Kellogg MBA Class Profile – Nationality



Kellogg MBA Salary - 2012

Overall annual median salary:  $117,800

Kellogg MBA Jobs 2012 - By Sector




Kellogg MBA Jobs 2011 - By Function

For Ross MBA, the rankings have fluctuated across publications. Both Economist and FT have ranked Ross in the 20s and Businessweek at 8. With FT ranking, Ross has fallen from 24 to 29. The Economist saw the school’s ranking rise from 30 in 2011 to 24 this year. Similarly, US News saw a marginal rise in the ranking from 14 to 13. Businessweek though, saw a drop of one place from 7 in 2011 to 8 in 2012. These extreme fluctuations make it difficult to assess Ross’ standings as a whole. Similarly, it is impossible to predict if Ross is on an upswing, or a downswing.



Average Rank: 24.67

Ross MBA Class Profile – Nationality



Ross MBA Class Profile - Undergraduate Degree




Ross MBA Employment Profile

Ross MBA Salary - 2012
Salary range :  $30,000 - -$145,000

Ross MBA Jobs 2011 - By Sector