US News MBA Rankings Best Business Schools

US News MBA rankings

After an unexpected one-week delay, the  2023-2024 US News MBA rankings of the best business schools have finally arrived. For the second consecutive year, the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business took the top spot among full-time MBA programs. Northwestern University’s Kellogg School comes in at No. 2 and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School at No. 3.

According to Poets & Quants, US News & World Report postponed publication after many deans “screamed foul” after seeing an embargoed copy of the ranking. “Without explanation, U.S. News’ final MBA ranking significantly changed the positions of many schools,” writes P&Q editor-in-chief John A. Byrne. “In fact, 84 business schools saw their rank change by at least one position, up or down.”

US News MBA Rankings for the Top 20 B-Schools

Business School2023-24 Ranking2022-23 Ranking
Chicago Booth11
Kellogg School23 (tie)
Wharton School31 (tie)
MIT Sloan45 (tie)
Dartmouth Tuck6 (tie)11
Stanford GSB6 (tie)3 (tie)
UM Ross School8 (tie)10
Yale SOM8 (tie)7
NYU Stern 1012 (tie)
Columbia 11 (tie)8 (tie)
Duke Fuqua11 (tie)12 (tie)
Berkeley Haas11 (tie)8 (tie)
UVA Darden1414
Cornell Johnson15 (tie)15
USC Marshall 15 (tie)19 (tie)
Emory Goizueta1721
CMU Tepper1816
UCLA Anderson1917
UT McCombs2018

Source: US News & World Report

Methodology Modification

This year’s methodology changed significantly to place more of an emphasis on outcomes. Half the rankings formula evaluated institutions on the successful placement and earnings outcomes of their graduates—up from 35% previously. Here’s how US News explains the shift in focus.

“As education costs continue to soar, students and their families are placing more emphasis on the results that education can bring. Therefore, the ranking factor weights for this edition feature an increased emphasis on outcome measures and a reduced emphasis on reputation. U.S. News took this approach based on knowledge that employment and earnings outcomes are the driving force behind why many individuals seek to further their education, especially in business.”

A Real Head-Scratcher

Even casual observers will be surprised to see Stanford’s Graduate School of Business tied for 6th place in this new ranking.  The GSB’s stronghold in the top three MBA programs has long been established across multiple rankings for several years.

This result is a quirk of the US News MBA ranking’s new quirky methodology, says Byrne. There’s no argument that Stanford GSB is the most selective MBA program in the world, with its 8.6% acceptance rate. Stanford also outranks Booth in average GPA, median GMAT, and starting salaries and sign-on bonuses.

Yet this time around, “Stanford was especially disadvantaged because U.S. News put greater weight on placement statistics,” Byrne explains. “Three months after graduation, 83.8% of Stanford MBA had jobs vs. a much more impressive 95.6% rate at Booth.”

“The stat does not reflect a preference for hiring companies for Booth MBAs,” he notes. “What it does reflect is that fewer Stanford grads go into jobs from mainstream MBA recruiters, preferring positions in venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, and startups, all of which recruit and hire very few newly minted MBAs and do not employ them on a typical MBA recruiting schedule. Stanford MBAs are so confident in their ability to land the jobs they really want that they are willing to hold out for them.”

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Stacy Blackman Consulting offers multiple services to meet your MBA application needs, from our All-In Partnership to test prep to hourly help with targeted tasks. Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant. Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.

SBC’s star-studded consultant team is unparalleled. Our clients benefit from current intelligence that we receive from the former MBA Admissions Officers from Wharton, Booth and every elite business program in the US and Europe.  These MBA Admissions Officers have chosen to work exclusively with SBC.

Just two of the many superstars on the SBC team:
Meet Anthony, who served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise.

Meet Kim, who was an Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Chicago Booth.

Tap into this inside knowledge for your MBA applications by requesting a consultation.

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