2021 US News Best Business School Ranking (Analysis)

Stanford moved three places to take the lead in the US News Best Business School Ranking for 2021, where 486 schools were surveyed. Wharton, Chicago Booth, and Kellogg remain unchanged in second, third, and fourth places respectively, while Harvard and MIT Sloan fell, the former from first and the latter from fourth, both tied in at fifth place. Due to the pandemic and the additional demands on the administration, Wharton and MIT Sloan couldn’t share the latest data. The ranking evaluation was based on the 2019 survey responses.

2021 Ranking Methodology – US News Best Schools

US News Best Schools ranking methodology gives peer ranking the highest weightage, bringing a qualitative ranking factor - the perceived value of institutions among deans and directors of AACSB accredited institutions, into the ranking.

Mean GMAT and GRE scores are given the second-highest weightage. The third factor contributing to the rankings is the recruiter’s assessments based on the institution's employability.

See our MBA Ranking Comparison - Analysis

The fourth factor is the employability rates of graduates from the institution after 3-months of post-graduation and the salaries (including sign-on bonuses acquired by graduates). The fifth factor was the required undergraduate GPA. The sixth factor - employability immediately after graduation had half the weightage of 3-months post-graduation employability.

For institutions whose data was based on last year’s responses, the weightage was reduced based on statistical methods of regression. Lastly - the acceptance rate contributed to only 1.25% of the entire score, mitigating any risks of selectivity manipulation that schools could adopt to boost their rankings.

MBA Rankings by Specializations

Executive MBA

Ranking in Executive MBA programs has a close correlation to the full-time MBA ranking, with the only exception that Stanford and Harvard don’t feature in the ranking since they don’t offer an executive MBA program. Keeping aside this variation, Booth overtook Wharton, Kellogg, Columbia, and Ross to top the Best Executive MBA ranking for 2021.

Part-time MBA

The part-time MBA program also has a close correlation to the full-time MBA program, with the age group typically in the 35-40 range and class composition clearly skewed towards local candidates. For those who already have a clear career progression but need the ‘MBA’ brand to boost their chances for a promotion or gain cross-functional exposure, Booth, Haas, Kellogg, Stern, and UCLA Anderson’s unique location advantages and functional ranking will play into the overall value.

Accounting

Core Accounting is a dying function with tools and processes already taking over a chunk of the due diligence process. However, accounting at the edge of financial analysis and strategy is an extremely relevant function for businesses. For those who don’t want to enter Investment Banking and continue to gain specialized skills for Corporate Finance roles, a Master’s in Accounting is the best path for the candidate. McCombs, Urbana-Champaign, and Wharton feature in the top 3 list, with Booth continuing to feature in any function remotely related to Finance, clearly reiterating its position as a ‘Finance’ school.

Business Analytics

From the hype of Big Data, Business Analytics have evolved to compete with the full-time MBA program, taking the career switchers into leadership roles that requires a strong understanding of analytics, machine learning, and Business intelligence – a trifecta of skills not required a decade or two ago. MIT Sloan and Tepper continue to attract the Product Engineer and Data Scientist cohort into this specialist program with Wharton featuring at 3rd, Georgia Institute of Technology at 4th ,and McCombs at 5th.

Entrepreneurship

Unless you are planning to go full-on start-up mode or raise funds through the school’s network, an MBA is not the ideal path for Entrepreneurship. Read my case against MBA for Entrepreneurship. Also, read about the broader definition of Entrepreneurship. However, schools with a specialized curriculum like Babson and Stanford with a legacy of attracting truly entrepreneurial candidates will offer value for those who couldn’t cross the hurdle of transitioning from a start-up to a growth company.

Finance

Harvard was simultaneously in the top 5 schools producing investment bankers and private equity professionals, taking the lead in private equity with the highest percentage of graduates opting for the profession. However, it doesn’t feature in the US News top 5 best business schools rankings for Finance.

Columbia Business School graduates – earning the distinction of graduates with the largest bonuses features in the fourth place.

Wharton, Chicago Booth, and NYU Stern dominate the US News’ top 5 best business schools rankings for Finance with first, second, and third place, respectively.

MIT Sloan was in fifth place.

Information Systems

Tepper, MIT, and Georgia Institute of Technology’s position in the top 5 schools with strength in Information Systems wasn’t a surprise. However, McCombs’ incredible performance in Information systems, Accounting and Business Analytics attracts a cross-section of engineers and finance professionals to the cohort, making the program a hidden gem among the top 20 schools.

International Programs

International program classification is a bit tricky as US schools traditionally limit the international student intake to 35%. For international applicants with the determination to relocate regardless of the admissions outcome from the top 10 schools, this ranking is extremely crucial for building a backup school list as apart from Harvard and Stern, the rest of the schools don’t feature in the top 20 list, but feature in the 20-30 ranked list sufficient to hit the $130,000 median salary threshold that applicants evaluate before shortlisting schools.

Management

Harvard University leads US News’ top 5 best business schools rankings for General Management. The case study method plays an important role in dissecting the problem from multiple angles and presenting the problem statement as a whole instead of its functional challenges. A general management approach is also present even when covering the Marketing and Finance core, clearly demonstrating the school’s belief that to expand the influence of the candidates in the global economy, they should be capable of understanding cross-functional challenges over functional expertise. The 30+ electives in general management present the students an opportunity to dive deep into topics in Strategy, Change Management, Communication, and Leadership. Stanford, Kellogg, and Wharton also come close with this approach, although Wharton and Kellogg are still trying to get rid of their ‘Finance’ and ‘Marketing’ school tags, respectively.  

Marketing

Kellogg leads in first place for Marketing, followed by Wharton, Stanford, Michigan Ross, and Duke Fuqua. Kellogg offers a marketing pathway as part of its MBA where students are required to gain 4 credits from 25 different electives spanning from Marketing Research & Analytics, Critical thinking in Digital & Social Media Marketing, Biomedical Marketing, Marketing Consulting Laboratory, and Product Management for Technology Companies. The top 5 also features the competitors – Duke Fuqua, Ross, and Stanford, although Wharton’s foray into Marketing title is a new development.

Non-Profit

Non-profit continues to be the industry with the largest attrition rate. Candidates switching careers with an MBA are considering schools with strong brand recall (Harvard, Yale, Stanford) or Network (McDonough – the DC connection). Haas, with its affinity for engineers, was the only surprise in the ranking.

Production/Operations

Krannert, MIT, and Tepper’s leadership in Operations was evident this year, too, with Sloan taking the lead. Stanford and Wharton, with their consistent performance in niches beyond Finance and Consulting, solidify the two school’s ranking among the top 3 schools in the world.

Real Estate

Wharton takes the lead in Real Estate rankings, followed by NYU Stern in second place. Berkeley Haas takes third place. Columbia University is at fourth, and Madison completes the top five list.

Wharton’s MBA in Real Estate program helps students specialize in the acquisition, real estate appraisal and development, and financial analysis of deals. The curriculum also includes urban economics, adding value for those interested in community and economic development. NYU Stern and Columbia University, with their presence in New York, both have Real Estate specialization in their full-time MBA program. Stern and Columbia, true to their Finance focus, dive deep into real estate financing, with emphasis on investment strategies for commercial properties.

Supply Chain/Logistics

Michigan State University (Broad) leads the top Business School with a Supply Chain focus, followed by MIT Sloan, the only Ivy League school in the US News’ top 5 best business school rankings for supply chain/logistics. Arizona State University’s Carey features third place, followed by Fisher in fourth place and Pennsylvania State University - University Park (Smeal) in fifth place.

2021 - Best Business School (US News)

Wharton was the most featured school across all the specializations (9 times), followed by MIT Sloan (8 times). Stanford featured 6 times and Harvard 5 times. Since the weightage on the perceived value of the school according to peers (represented by the Deans) is significant, institutions that specialize in leading research and work diligently on building student satisfaction might not be accurately represented in US News ranking. Nevertheless, the ranking by specialization offered by US News is a great tool to understand the strengths of each school and to get an overview of top Business Schools that continues to excel in multiple specializations.

Top 4 Business Schools – All-Round Performance (According to US News Business School Rankings 2021)

1.    Wharton
2.    MIT Sloan
3.    Stanford
4.    Harvard

Related Service

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Related Books
•    F1GMAT’s Wharton MBA Essay Guide
•    F1GMAT’s MIT Sloan MBA Essay Guide
•    F1GMAT’s Stanford MBA Essay Guide
•    F1GMAT’s Harvard MBA Essay Guide

Reference
US New Best Business School Ranking