2012 U.S. News Ranking of the Best B-Schools

HOW U.S. NEWS’ 2012 TOP 76 to 101 SCHOOLS STACK UP AGAINST EACH OTHER

School	Index	Peers	Recruiters	Selectivity	GPA	GMAT	Salary	Employed	Later
76. Claremont	42	3.1	3.0	55.5%	3.32	633	$77,000	29.0%	71.0%
76. Thunderbird	42	3.4	3.1	75.2%	3.30	618	$90,859	30.2%	51.7%
78. Miami Univ.	41	2.6	3.2	37.2%	3.20	581	$75,356	69.0%	86.2%
78. NC State	41	2.7	2.6	55.8%	3.40	592	$75,309	61.5%	86.5%
78. Alabama	41	2.5	2.2	39.3%	3.53	647	$63,075	57.6%	86.4%
81. La. State	40	2.7	2.7	45.8%	3.38	615	$57,044	60.0%	82.9%
81. Pepperdine	40	3.0	2.9	55.4%	3.14	660	$75,360	38.1%	67.0%
81. St. Louis	40	2.8	3.6	82.0%	3.36	582	$58,136	45.2%	77.4%
84. Colorado	39	3.1	2.7	57.2%	3.33	628	$71,518	34.2%	65.8%
84. Oklahoma	39	2.8	2.6	63.1%	3.40	604	$68,532	60.4%	72.9%
84. Utah	39	2.8	2.1	75.9%	3.44	610	$65,230	75.0%	77.8%
84. Virginia Tech	39	2.9	2.8	59.2%	3.39	625	$62,240	45.0%	67.5%
88. Auburn	38	2.8	2.9	52.0%	3.21	657	$59,775	39.1%	73.9%
89. Fordham	37	2.8	3.2	46.9%	3.39	625	$76,864	37.0%	48.6%
89. Buffalo	37	2.7	2.9	46.0%	3.39	615	$54,589	52.9%	70.6%
91. Howard	36	2.3	2.7	31.8%	3.25	539	$99,886	70.6%	82.4%
91. Houston	36	2.7	2.7	74.3%	3.25	582	$59,353	60.6%	87.9%
91. Oregon	36	2.8	2.4	39.5%	3.40	639	$58,821	37.5%	70.0%
94. American	35	2.8	2.7	43.9%	3.20	575	$79,921	56.5%	71.0%
94. Rochester IT	35	2.7	2.9	40.6%	3.36	565	$51,116	48.5%	80.4%
94. Kentucky	35	2.6	2.6	73.4%	3.34	616	$57,552	50.0%	75.0%
97. Chapman	34	2.3	2.4	47.6%	3.34	610	$64,253	63.6%	81.8%
97. Clarkson	34	2.2	2.8	82.0%	3.36	553	$58,750	72.1%	93.0%
97. Baruch	34	2.7	2.8	44.8%	3.22	627	$87,486	38.9%	51.9%
97. UC-Riverside	34	2.7	2.7	59.8%	3.35	585	$111,000	31.8%	45.5%
101. Rollins	32	2.6	2.3	41.4%	3.40	602	$53,140	34.5%	77.4%
101. Santa Clara	32	2.9	2.8	72.1%	3.19	614	$97,625	21.2%	46.2%

Source: U.S. News & World Report 2012 MBA Ranking

How to Read the Above Table:

School: To fit all the data in the table above, we used the shortest possible name of the school. That’s why some schools are identified by their university names and others by the name of the business school.

Index: The total score that U.S. News assigns to a school. U.S. News says the “data were standardized about their means, and school scores were weighted, totalled, and rescaled so that the top school received 100; others received their percentage of the top score.”

Peers: This is the peer assessment score (the highest possible score is a 5.0) that comes from U.S. News’ survey of “business school deans and directors” of accredited master’s programs in business. The magazine asks B-school officials to rate programs on a scale from “marginal” (1) to “outstanding” (5). A school’s score is the average of all the respondents who rated it. It accounts for the largest single weight in the survey, 25% of the final ranking.

Recruiters: This is the recruiter assessment score (the highest possible score is a 5.0) that comes from U.S. News’ survey of “corporate recruiters and company contacts” from MBA programs previously ranked by U.S. News. They are asked to rate full-time programs on a scale of “marginal” (1) to “outstanding” (5). A school’s score is the average of all the respondents who rated it. U.S. News averages the two most recent years of these results. It has a weight of 15% of the final ranking.

Selectivity: The percentage of applicants who are accepted for admission to the class that was entered in the fall of 2011. This metric is self-reported by the schools and has a weight of only 1.25% in the final ranking.

GPA: The average undergraduate grade-point average of students entering the full-time program in fall of 2011. This metric is self-reported by the schools and accounts for 7.5% of the final ranking.

GMAT: The average GMAT score of students entering the full-time program in the fall of 2011. Scores range from a low of 200 to a high of 800. This metric is self-reported by the schools and accounts for 16.25% of the final ranking.

Salary: The average starting salary and bonus of 2011 graduates of a full-time master’s program in business. U.S. News says that “salary figures are based on the number of graduates who reported data. The mean signing bonus is weighted by the proportion of those graduates who reported a bonus, because not everyone who reported a base salary figure reported a signing bonus.” This metric accounts for 14% of the final ranking.

Employed: Employment rate for 2011 graduates at graduation. Those not seeking jobs or for whom no job-seeking information is available are excluded. This metric accounts for 7% of the final ranking.

Later: Employment rate for 2011 graduates three months after graduation. This metric is given a weight of 14% of the final ranking.

(Table of the top schools and their year-over-year changes in the U.S. News’ 2012 ranking on the following page)