P&Q’s Must Reads: 10 Business Schools To Watch In 2026

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: 10 Business Schools To Watch In 2026 

Since 2016, Poets&Quants has been profiling those graduate business programs whose imagination and execution have reframed what’s valuable and what’s possible. These schools are the first adopters that acted fast and decisively. They are the gold standard, the risk-takers poised to redefine business education. 

This week, we proudly present the 10 business schools we’ll be watching in 2026. You can find them on our homepage.  

No. 2: Wharton Tops P&Q’s 2025-2026 U.S. EMBA Ranking For A Second Time 

It’s a repeat for University of Pennsylvania’s The Wharton School. 

After topping Poets&Quants’ composite Executive MBA ranking of U.S. programs for the first time last cycle, it topped the list again for the 2025-2026 ranking. 

Like our U.S. and international MBA rankings, our EMBA ranking is calculated as a composite of the three major EMBA rankings on the market: Financial Times’ Global EMBA, QS World University Rankings, and the U.S. News & World Report’s annual list. 

Find out how the other top programs stacked up now, on homepage. 

No. 3: Europe’s Best MBA Programs Year After Year 

We’ve all heard of the so-called Magnificent Seven, the MBA programs at Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, Columbia, Northwestern Kellogg, MIT Sloan and Chicago Booth. 

But if the U.S. can have an M7, why can’t Europe have an E5 or an E10?  

And if it could, which schools should be included? 

Former P&Q alum Heather Soderquist breaks down the major international rankings to see which schools land at the top year after year. You’ll find the story in our featured tab.

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

No matter where you are in your MBA journey, we bring several helpful stories for you this week.  

First up: This Year’s MBA Round 3: Who Should Apply? 

A rare dip in MBA applications—especially from international candidates—is making Round 3 unexpectedly viable this year at top U.S. business schools. Find this story on our homepage.  

Next: What Is ‘Too Much Information’ In MBA Applications? How To Walk The Fine Line This article, up now in our admissions hub, explains what to share and what not to when telling your personal story. Find this helpful article in our admissions hub. 

Finally, also in our admission hub: Seven MBA Admissions Trends & B-School Predictions For 2026. A roundup of need to knows for the year ahead. 

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

I also want to alert school seekers to our events tab from our main menu. There, you’ll find all the upcoming admissions events for a range of degrees and programs including full-time and online MBAs, specialized masters, entrepreneurship and more. Registration is free. 

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. 

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