Poll: MBA Rankings Losing Credibility, But Schools Still Won’t Walk Away

More than half of U.S. business schools say MBA rankings are losing their shine – but almost none are ready to walk away.

That contradiction is at the heart of a new Manhattan Prep/Kaplan survey released this week, just days after U.S. News & World Report unveiled its 2026 MBA rankings. According to the survey, 51% of admissions officers believe the rankings “have lost some of their prestige over the last couple of years,” essentially flat from 50% in 2023 but sharply higher than 37% in 2022.

The skepticism runs deep – and familiar. Admissions officers questioned the weight given to certain metrics, the precision of individual rank positions, and the degree to which schools “game” the system to maintain or improve standing.

DECLINING CONFIDENCE, FAMILIAR CRITICISMS

“The rankings themselves are OK in broad strokes to determine which schools are top tier, but the individual ranking numbers are mostly irrelevant,” one respondent said. “We participate mostly because it gets our school into the database.”

Another pointed to what they see as flawed incentives: “There seems to be more weight put on the wrong criteria.”

Yet for all the criticism, participation remains nearly universal. Just 5% of schools say they are considering opting out of rankings altogether, according to the survey of 76 full-time U.S. MBA programs conducted in mid-2025. Even among dissenters, the pull of rankings is hard to escape.

PARTICIPATION REMAINS NEARLY UNIVERSAL

One admissions officer at a school that has already withdrawn called participation “a waste of time,” citing geographic bias that favors programs in major metro areas with higher salary outcomes. But such moves remain rare.

“For business school leaders, MBA rankings shape everything from student recruitment to employer partnerships and alumni support,” says Stacey Koprince, director of content and curriculum at Manhattan Prep, a Kaplan subsidiary. “While many acknowledge the rankings’ flaws, most still participate, underscoring their influence in determining applicants’ final decisions.”

Koprince added that applicants would be better served by digging into underlying data rather than focusing on ordinal positions – a view echoed by many admissions officers who see rankings as a blunt, if unavoidable, tool.

See the Manhattan Prep/Kaplan survey results here.

DON’T MISS THE RANKINGS KINGS ARE RETIRING. IT’S TIME TO ASK WHAT RANKINGS ARE REALLY FOR.

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