P&Q’s Must Reads: Latest MBA Rankings From U.S. News & World Report

 

Hello everyone — Welcome back to Poets&Quants’ new video series P&Q’s Must Reads, a quick, digestible recap of the top business school news and features you might have missed.

We get it. You’ve got some stuff going on. You may not have the time to read every P&Q headline that matters. That’s where this series comes in.

My name is Kristy Bleizeffer,  I’ll be your host, and I’ll be counting up to the most important P&Q stories of the last week (or so).

So, Let’s get to it. 

No. 1

The first big story is the ranking of full-time MBA programs – out early this week – from the highly influential U.S. News and World Report

Shout out to Chicago Booth & the Wharton School who tied for first place, nudging out both Stanford and Northwestern’ Kellogg which tied for third. Harvard Business School stayed in fifth place, tying with MIT Sloan. Michigan Ross, meanwhile, muscled its way into the top 10, rising three spots from last year. Poets&Quants editor and founder, John A. Byrne, notes that nearly two dozen business schools saw their ranks change by double-digits – including one school that plunged 30 spots. Find out which school, and see the full list, at poetsandquants.com.

No. 2

Our second big story also comes from the U.S. ranking, this one the 10 biggest surprises from their list – broken down by John and P&Q veteran Jeff Schmit.  

  • The biggest surprise?  Stanford GSB slipped from 1st to 3rd, continuing the school’s yo-yo effect at U.S. news. Since 2016, GSB has bounced from first, to a three-way tie for 2nd, to 4th for two consecutive years, back to second in 2020, and up to first the last two years. 
  • I’ll note here that Stanford has enjoyed much more consistency on the Poets&Quants annual ranking, earning the top spot the last three years.
  • The second biggest surprise comes from the Yale School of Management, which posted its highest ranking ever on the US News ranking – landing at No. 7. That’s up two spots from its previous No. 9 ranking which it had the last two years, and way up from the 19th spot it achieved in 1997–the beginning of a gradual climb for the school into the top 10. Congrats to our Yale friends for that achievement.
  • Check out the other interesting surprises in our rankings tab.  

No. 3

A final bit of rankings news comes from P&Q’s Marc Ethier who breaks down U.S. News’ top specialization list. This ranking evaluates schools who are leaders in 13 different disciplines such as accounting, finance, entrepreneurship, international business and more. 

  • So, if you know you’re ready to specialize, and looking for a program that leads in your discipline, this story is a must read. 
  • And if you’re looking at entrepreneurship, you need to check out Babson College. According to Marc’s story, Babson has been ranked No. 1 in entrepreneurship for an astounding 29 years. 
  • Not too shabby for a school tied for 57th in the ranking overall.

No. 4

Our last must-read story for today is about a newish business ed platform from Scott Galloway. Section 4 is a growing online platform that seeks to deliver 80% of the value of an MBA class, at 10% of the cost, and 1% of the friction. And they just announced a new pricing structure that makes the sprints a fraction of the cost of an MBA.

I spoke with Section 4’s CEO Gregory Shove who explained the company’s mission: To make elite business education accessible, affordable, and applicable to all. That story is online now at Poets&Quants, and I recently got a chance to speak with Scott Galloway himself. Watch for that conversation in the coming days.

That’s it. Our top four, don’t miss, stories of the last week (or so.) You can let us know what stories we should have mentioned but didn’t in the comments. 

Before I go, I want to alert all the school seekers out there to CentreCourt’s upcoming MBA Festival events. These events connect prospective students with admission experts, alumni, and career development teams at the top MBA programs around the country – and the world. 

Our next series, MBA Voices, is happening June 7-8, and you can register for free on our events tab at https://news.poetsandquants.com/business-school-events. This is your chance to network and connect with top schools. 

Thank you for listening. Again, I’m Kristy Bleizeffer with Poets&Quants, and you can join me next week, right here, for a recap of what’s important in the world of business education. 

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.