BusinessWeek’s 2010 Ranking of Best B-Schools

BusinessWeek reported that even at the top schools in its survey, it has become increasing difficult to find jobs. “More than 40 percent of B-school career services officers saw a decline in on-campus visits this spring,” reported the magazine, citing statistics the MBA Career Services Council. “And when companies do come to campus, instead of having a dozen positions to fill, they might have two or three. Starting salaries among all MBAs surveyed by Bloomberg Businessweek have dropped nearly 6 percent, from an average of $104,500 in 2008 to $98,400 this year. And students’ plans are changing, with many settling for lesser positions. More than half of those surveyed expressed concern about the job market.”

To maintain it’s number one position, Chicago took the economic downturn seriously. According to BusinessWeek, the school tripled the size of its employer outreach team from two to six in the past two years. Last summer the team met with more than 350 companies, up from 100 in 2007. “We definitely have more corporate relationships now than we did a few years ago,” Julie Morton, associate dean of career services, told BusinessWeek. “We used to assume the relationship began when a company recruited on campus. Now a strong relationship is one where a firm thinks of Booth in terms of sourcing talent–posting a job, coming to campus, or simply interacting with students.”

Besides the four business schools which dropped out of the top 30, other big losers in the 2010 ranking by BusinessWeek included New York University’s Stern School of Business and Brigham Young University’s Marriott School. Both institutions dropped five full places: NYU to 18 from 13 in 2008, and BYU to 27 from 22. The drop for the Stern School nows put it nine places against its New York City rival, Columbia University, which placed ninth, a drop of two places from its seventh-ranked post in 2008.

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