How U.S. News Ranks The Top U.S. B-Schools By MBA Specialization

Babson College’s streak atop the U.S. News Entrepreneurship ranking stretched to 31 years. Babson photo

Several streaks atop individual specialization rankings continued in 2024, growing more impressive by the year. Wharton has been the No. 1 Finance school forever. Same goes for Northwestern Kellogg in Marketing, and MIT Sloan in Production/Operations and Business Analytics.

Babson’s Sebastian Fixson: School is “continuously reinventing our curriculum by incorporating big-themes such as digitalization, artificial intelligence, and sustainability”

But the longest and most impressive streak atop any of the rankings belongs to tiny Babson College, whose Olin School of Business has become synonymous with entrepreneurship over the years. Babson this year marks its 31st year as U.S. News’ No. 1 Entrepreneurship school, an impressive feat and an important one for the school’s reputation in a crowded market. U.S. News ranked Babson 76th overall, down from 68th last year.

“We are excited and humbled being named the top-ranked MBA for Entrepreneurship for the 31st year in a row,” says Sebastian Fixson, associate dean of graduate programs and innovation at Babson College. “I am deeply grateful for the sustained collaborative efforts from faculty, staff, and students that make such an accomplishment possible. Let’s take this recognition as a call to continue to innovate the education of entrepreneurial leaders.”

‘RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONTINUING TO PUSH BOUNDARIES’

How does Babson do it year after year?

“The ethos of entrepreneurial leadership that permeates everything in our MBA program — in both curricular programming and co-curricular activities — prepares our students well for a world exhibiting increasing turbulence and uncertainty,” Fixson tells P&Q.

“While we maintain the core elements of our entrepreneurship education in all its facets, we are also expanding into adjacent areas of management such as growth and renewal. We are also continuously reinventing our curriculum by incorporating big-themes such as digitalization, artificial intelligence, and sustainability.

“Being top-ranked by your peers for over a generation is a special recognition, a recognition that makes all of us — students, alumni, faculty, and staff — proud, but also one that reminds us of our responsibility for continuing to push boundaries.”

TEXAS McCOMBS: 18 STRAIGHT YEARS AS THE BEST ACCOUNTING SCHOOL IN THE U.S.

Texas McCombs’ Steve Kachelmeier: “School has leveraged its professional accounting strength to offer cutting-edge courses for MBA students” in a number of areas of study

Texas-Austin McCombs School of Business also extended its impressive streak, placing No. 1 in Accounting for the 18th year in a row. It is the 32nd year McCombs has been in the ranking’s top five.

Steven Kachelmeier, chair of the Department of Accounting at the McCombs School, observed that McCombs is one of the few business schools to have both a highly ranked MBA program and a top-ranked professional accounting program. “The school has leveraged its professional accounting strength to offer cutting-edge courses for MBA students in financial accounting, management accounting, financial statement analysis, tax factors that influence business decisions, and business-acquisition advisory services,” Kachelmeier tells P&Q. “In addition, MBA students are welcome to take other graduate-level elective courses in the School’s Master of Professional Accounting program.”

By virtue of being a No. 1, Accounting is the most prominent of McCombs’ rankings — but not its only notable placement. The school also placed:

• No. 4 in Information Systems, its 31st year in the top five;
• Tied for No. 4 in Project Management;
• Tied for No. 8 in Business Analytics, its fifth year in the top 10 in a category that is only five years old;
• No. 10 in Entrepreneurship, its 28th year in the top 10;
• No. 11 in Management, its 23rd year in the top 20
• No. 8 in Real Estate, its fourth year in the top 10 of a category that is only five years old;
• No. 13 in Finance, its 13th year in the top 15;
• No. 11 in Marketing, its 26th year in the top 20;
• No. 16 in Supply Chain/Logistics, its 16th year in the top 20;
• No. 15 in Production/Operations, its 20th year in the top 20.

Texas McCombs nearly was the only B-school to rank in all 13 specializations in 2024 but did not rank in two categories: Nonprofit and International Business, the latter after 16 years in the top 20 of that category.

SOUTH CAROLINA MOORE & MICHIGAN STATE BROAD EXTEND IMPRESSIVE NO. 1 STREAKS

Darla Moore Dean Rohit Verma: Success of International MBA program “can be largely attributed to our faculty — the top thought leaders in the international business discipline”

At the top of the International Business ranking is the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina — fitting, as the school celebrates the 50th year of its International MBA this year. The Moore School has been named No. 1 for International Business for 11 straight years and has been in the top three for 34 consecutive years.

“The Darla Moore School of Business is thrilled to celebrate the 11th consecutive No. 1-ranking for our International MBA program that prepares our graduates to lead multinational organizations,” Rohit Verma, the Moore School’s dean, tells P&Q. “The success of our IMBA program can be largely attributed to our faculty — the top thought leaders in the international business discipline — who guide our students through an interdisciplinary and comprehensive curriculum.

“The IMBA delivers high job placement rates and competitive salaries with global corporations for new graduates. With the long legacy of our program, our talented IMBA alumni have become leaders of many Fortune 500 companies.”

Moore has three programs ranked overall. It also tied for No. 16 in Supply Chain/Logistics and No. 22 in Production/Operations.

Another mid-sized school, Michigan State’s Broad College of Business, saw its big streak continue as well: For the eighth consecutive year, U.S. News ranked MSU’s Supply Chain/Logistics graduate program as No. 1.

“As a Broad College community, we are incredibly proud to be ranked No. 1 in supply chain/logistics for eight consecutive years at the graduate level,” Broad College’s Interim Dean Judith Whipple tells P&Q. “This lasting recognition not only demonstrates MSU’s role as thought leaders in the supply chain field, but also how our faculty, staff, students and alumni continue to inspire the future of business.”

The Broad College has four graduate programs ranked by U.S. News in 2024: Besides Supply Chain/Logistics, it also tied for No. 9 in Production/Operations, placed 28th in Accounting, and tied for 31st in Management.