The ranking shuffle is the result of a methodology change, which the publication says “now focuses on what most people hope to get after business school: a satisfying, well-paying job”. Indeed, the new methodology diminishes the influence of the magazine’s surveys of the latest graduating class, and adds the viewpoints of alumni from three separate classes: 2007, 2008, and 2009. Businessweek based its alumni results on three different factors: the median increase in compensation, the satisfaction alums expressed with their current job paths, and finally 16 questions about their overall MBA experience. Adding the compensation data in the mix helped to offset the inevitable cheerleading that would go on in such a survey.
It also adds two new components: starting salary and employment. Businessweek continues to survey everyone who recruits at its target schools as opposed to the top officials at companies who are in charge of overall MBA recruiting. But, in view of the fact that it is typical for a company to send back graduates to their alma maters to interview candidates, it acknowledges that alumni tend to rate their schools “significantly more favorably than non-alumni.”
Among the top 20 schools, 8 rose in the ranking: Harvard, Chicago Booth, Northwestern Kellogg, MIT Sloan, UC Berkeley Haas, Virginia Darden, Dartmouth Tuck, and Emory Goizueta. Rice Jones and Washington Foster broke into top 20. The rise of Washington Foster is particularly spectacular, as it jumped 17 spots to claim #20.
Former HP CEO, and current republican Presidential candidate-contender Carly Fiorina’s alma mater Maryland Smith plummeted 16 places to #33. Longtime top 20 Indiana Kelley fell to #28. Texas A&M Mays and Georgia Tech Scheller pushed NYU Stern down 2 places to #24. Howard and Hult entered the rankings, while Boston College, UC Davis, Tulane Freeman, Arizona Eller, and South Carolina Moore fell off it.
Among the international schools, INSEAD rose 2 spots to #3. London Business School, IMD, Oxford Said, and HEC Paris also made gains, while Toronto Rotman, CEIBS, and HKUST slipped.
U.S. ranking
(scroll down for international ranking)
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For the complete ranking, please visit Bloomberg Business
Rest of the World (except U.S.) ranking
[table “4” not found /]For the complete ranking, please visit Bloomberg Business
The publication claims that this year it used its deepest and broadest set of data ever, covering 13,150 current students, 18,540 alumni, and 1,460 recruiters across 177 distinct B-school programs.
According to the report, MBA graduates saw an 81% percent jump over their median compensation before B-school. Within 6-8 years of graduation, pay typically increased another 64%.
