P&Q’s Must Reads: Another Mind-Boggling MBA Ranking: The Economist’s 2022 List

Hello everyone  –- Welcome back to Poets&Quants’ Must Reads, a quick, digestible recap of the top business school news, sponsored by CentreCourt, P&Q’s virtual admission events.

I’m your host, Kristy Bleizeffer, and I’ll be highlighting the most important P&Q stories you might have missed. So, Let’s get to it. 

No. 1: Another Mind-Boggling MBA Ranking

Something’s awry when Harvard Business School tops a major MBA ranking and it comes as a surprise.The Economist released its 2022 ranking of the top MBA programs last week, at it put HBS at the very top, though the school has been a laggard in recent years in most of the major ranking publications.

After a pandemic related boycott of the Economist’s 2021 ranking, 15 of the 25 schools (an all of the M-7) returned to the ranking this year. And this year, 9 of the ranking’s top 10 MBA programs are based in the United States, a big change from the year before. 

You can see the full ranking, as well as a separate story on its 10 biggest surprises, in our rankings tab.

No. 2: New Ranking: Business Graduate Degrees That Definitely Pay Off

In other ranking news this week, a new study found that majoring in business pays off big time – even amidst rising tuition and debt costs. The study, conducted by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, found the majority of business programs lead to median earnings that are about 10 times grads’ debt payments two years after program completion. Of course, where the degree comes from still matters, and the study ranked the schools for where an MBA pays off the most. 

The winner is a familiar name: The Wharton School of Business. You can see the other schools that made the Top 50 now, on our homepage.

 No. 3: These Twins Do Everything Together — Even Their MBA

One of our most prolific freelancers, Riley Webster, has a great feature this week about the Juneja twins who do practically everything together – even earning their MBAs at the Rotman School of Management. 

They went to the same undergrad – Georgia Institute of Technology. They worked at the same company – Hershey. And they even published a book together at the age of 16.

Now, as recent MBA graduates, the brothers are now preparing to split paths. You can read about their journeys – both individual and shared – now on our homepage.

No. 4: Our Weekly Round Up of  News You Can Use

No matter where you are in your B-school journey, we have several helpful stories for you this week.

First up: Michel Belden, of Fortuna Admissions, shares the three things you need to know if you’re applying to University of Pennsylvania’s The Wharton School. Getting into one of the world’s top business programs is more competitive than ever, and if Wharton is on your list of target schools, this is a must read. 

We’ve also updated our guide on the MBA application deadlines, with dates for first, second, and third rounds. We’ll continue to update the story as new information rolls in, so check back if your preferred schools aren’t yet on the list. 

Finally, if you’re still wondering how you will finance your graduate business degree, Juno – a collective bargaining model that works to get the lowest rates possible for private loans – has a new price guarantee you’ll want to check out. 

And, that’s it for this week’s Must Reads recap. 

I also want to alert all the school seekers out there to CentreCourt’s upcoming MBA Festival events. Our next series, The MBA & Your Career, is happening October 4-5, and you can register for free on our events tab. 

For online MBA prospects, our next Backstage event is July 12. This is your chance to hear from current students, admission teams, and alumni from some of the best online programs around. Register on our events page. 

Again, I’m Kristy Bleizeffer, and you can join me next week, right here, for a recap of what’s important in the world of business education. Thanks for listening and, as always, stay informed!