Wharton Claims Sole Possession Of First In New U.S. News MBA Ranking

American University’s Kogod Business School rose the most of any full-time MBA program in this year’s U.S. News MBA ranking

LOW RESPONSE RATES FOR SURVEYS

Critics of the methodology point out that the response rates on those two surveys is very low. This year, the organization disclosed that “approximately half of the ranked schools” participated in the peer assessment survey. That would translate into 129 responses. The recruiter assessment relies on a three-year average of responses, presumably due to very low annual participation which is undisclosed by U.S. News.

Many believe the low response rates reflects apathy and skepticism among participants. There is also a prevailing sentiment among business school leaders that these surveys are frequently “gamed” by many institutions. To its credit, U.S. News appears to have adjusted its methodology this year to mitigate manipulation in the peer survey by excluding each school’s two highest and two lowest ratings from the final calculation. Still, the need to account for outliers is, in itself, a tacit acknowledgment that gamesmanship exists in these surveys.

With the onset of the pandemic, many schools put in place test-waiver or test-optional admissions policies. Nevertheless, U.S. News continues to assign test scores the same weight in its ranking methodology (13%) as the employment three months after graduation,  a choice that seems increasingly out of step with current admissions trends. None of the other leading full-time MBA rankings, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Financial Times, or LinkedIn includes test scores—or even GPAs—as a factor in their rankings.

THE SINGLE BIGGEST GAIN THIS YEAR: A 27-PLACE RISE BY AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

Oftentimes, the underlying data used to place a numerical ranking on an MBA program is so close as to be statistically meaningless. This year 18 of the schools ranked in the top 24 are in ties with rivals, a sign that the methodology can’t differentiate the MBA programs it ranks even when those differences may matter. There are similar log jams with schools tied at 29, 32, 35, 38, and 40. Indeed, the whole 20 to 40 ranked MBA programs are essentially tied.

The topsy-turvy nature of the U.S. News MBA ranking is evidenced by the dramatic increase by American University’s Kogod School of Business. The school’s full-time MBA program jumped 27 places, more than any other program, to rank 58th this year from 85th a year earlier. The fuller roller-coaster story can be told by looking at the school’s rankings over the past five years. A mere two years ago, this program ranked 122nd. Then in 2022, it ranked 76th. Five years ago, in 2020, Kogod placed 99-131.

What’s behind the school’s ascendance? On a relative basis, Kogod improved its standing in the peer assessment survey, earning its highest ranking–2.9–in at least the last seven years. The increase can be attributed to the leadership position the school has staked out in the fields of AI and sustainability as well as some high-profile faculty hires and record fundraising. Substantially improve career outcomes also helped. Some 85.2% of its MBA grads were employed three months after graduation last year. That’s a better employment rate than Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, and Yale.

All rankings share one unpredictable element. It’s the maxim that what goes up must come down. This year 11 full-time MBA programs suffered a double-digit fall in their ranking. The steepest decline was at the College of William & Mary. The MBA program at its Mason School of Business lost 21 places to rank 61st from 40th last year.  Mason wasn’t the only school to drop that many positions. St. Louis University also lost 21 spots to fall outside the Top 100, dropping to 118 from 97th.

For its newest ranking, U.S. News says it reached out to 508 business schools accredited by the AACSB. U.S. News has told schools that 337 of them completed its statistical surveys and that 133 business schools will ultimately be ranked this year.

For the first time, U.S. News attempted to use data on both the old GMAT test and the new GMAT Focus Edition that was introduced in fall 2023. If an MBA program’s school reported both tests for fall 2024 entrants, then both tests were used in the rankings after being converted to the percentile distribution weighted by the proportion of test-takers for each GMAT test. U.S. News will label the fields with old exam data on its website and in Academic Insights as “(old)” while new exam scores will not have this designation, according to the publication.