2011 U.S. News Ranking of the Best B-Schools

THE 2010 U.S. NEWS MBA RANKING AND THE DATA USED TO CRANK IT OUT.

School Index Peers Recruiters Selectivity GPA GMAT Salary Employed Later
25. Ohio State 64 3.6 3.3 27.0% 3.4 676 $91,628 62.5% 94.6%
27. Arizona State 61 3.5 3.4 29.6% 3.3 672 $92,101 62.2% 89.2%
28. Ga. Institute of Tech 60 3.3 3.2 22.0% 3.3 678 $92,282 67.7% 95.2%
28. UC-Davis 60 3.1 3.4 23.9% 3.3 692 $96,295 67.4% 93.0%
28. Wisconsin 60 3.5 3.3 30.5% 3.4 675 $93,332 55.0% 87.4%
28. Vanderbilt 60 3.4 3.4 36.0% 3.4 673 $93,351 62.9% 82.9%
32. Brigham Young 58 3.0 3.2 44.3% 3.5 675 $97,207 62.2% 86.6%
32. Texas A&M 58 3.2 3.3 22.7% 3.4 646 $91,246 64.2% 92.5%
34. Boston College 57 3.3 3.1 32.8% 3.3 662 $91,282 66.7% 88.5%
34. Boston Univ. 57 3.1 3.2 28.0% 3.4 681 $90,157 68.4% 86.0%
34. Rice University 57 3.2 3.2 35.8% 3.4 672 $102,017 52.6% 83.5%
37. Illinois-Urbana 56 3.4 3.2 27.7% 3.4 641 $95,276 61.5% 81.5%
37. Notre Dame 56 3.3 3.4 33.0% 3.3 685 $96,490 48.2% 75.9%
37. Washington 56 3.3 3.1 31.3% 3.3 681 $91,593 64.5% 79.6%
40. Penn State 55 3.4 2.9 37.0% 3.4 650 $95,480 64.4% 81.0%
40. Tulane 55 3.1 3.3 40.7% 3.2 674 $78,443 75.0% 93.3%
40. UC-Irvine 55 3.3 3.1 27.9% 3.5 673 $76,981 51.4% 81.9%
40. Iowa 55 3.1 2.9 37.5% 3.4 657 $92,802 68.4% 94.7%
40. Texas-Dallas 55 2.9 3.3 20.7% 3.6 668 $74,540 55.6% 88.9%
45. Maryland 54 3.5 2.9 38.8% 3.3 670 $91,269 41.9% 80.6%
45. Rochester 54 3.3 3.3 33.5% 3.5 677 $78,083 41.5% 73.3%
47. Florida 52 3.3 3.2 26.6% 3.5 694 $75,403 35.5% 66.1%
47. Wake Forest 52 3.1 3.2 51.5% 3.2 653 $88,390 60.6% 91.5%
49. Michigan State 51 3.3 3.3 29.4% 3.3 636 $92,359 52.7% 72.0%
49. Purdue 51 3.4 3.3 33.2% 3.4 654 $89,655 48.4% 64.3%

SOURCE: U.S. News & World Report 2011 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 2010. 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 2010. 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 2010. 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 2010 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 2010 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 2010 graduates three months after graduation. This metric is given a weight of 14% of the final ranking.