Travel back to 2003. Wondering what the U.S. News MBA rankings looked like? Well, Harvard and Wharton finished as the top two full-time programs. MIT Sloan and Northwestern Kellogg were tied at 4th – just like today. And Berkeley Haas was again safely nestled in the 7th spot.
Nothing to see here, right?
Think again.
CHANGE TAKES TIME – AND COMMITMENT
Columbia Business School – a charter member of the M7 – has slipped from 6th to 9th over the past 15 years. Thanks to the 2008 financial collapse – and the accompanying contraction of the banking industry – CBS no longer differentiates itself by offering the highest starting salary and bonus. By the same token, Duke Fuqua has tumbled from 7th to 12th – a victim of an academic arms race that has trimmed its average incoming GMATs by six points and GPA by .12 of a point. Alas, several programs have surged over the same period. The fund-raising prowess of Ted Snyder laid the groundwork for Chicago Booth’s vault from 9th to 3rd – well, that and a 39 point bump in GMAT scores. Snyder’s formula obviously works, as Yale SOM – his latest stop – has climbed into the Top 10 despite its vibrant public sector dragging down average pay.
In business school rankings, shifts are incremental. The indicators are subtle and slight, building a momentum that can only be appreciated as time passes. These changes may take the form of measurables like GMATs scores or average pay. Or, they may be stem from investments in programming, facilities, and financial aid – the hidden hand that eventually nudges those precious inputs and outputs upward.
Each year, Poets&Quants examines the MBA landscape to identify the 10 business schools that are poised to break out of their lanes. They are the programs whose courageous visions and underlying fundamentals have positioned them to increase the value of their degrees – and the quality of their experience as a whole. What are these programs and how are they separating themselves? Here is P&Q’s 3rd annual list of MBA programs that are ready to climb in the rankings and generate greater student interest in the coming year.
The Tepper Quadrangle, scheduled to open in spring 2018, is a 305,000-square-foot hub of technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, and business at the center of the Carnegie Mellon campus
Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
The word is out on Tepper – and the word is good. Yes, it was a banner year for the program, which enjoyed a 13.5% spike in applications during the 2016-2017 cycle – tying it with Booth for the highest application growth among Top 25 MBA programs. To accommodate demand, Tepper opened 14 new spots in the program. The class wasn’t just bigger, but better as average GMATs climbed by five points as well.
One reason for the positive buzz? Happier students. In the past two years, Tepper’s student satisfaction ranking in the Bloomberg Businessweek survey has jumped from 25th to 8th. Coincidence? Hardly, as Forbes ran its own student satisfaction survey in 2017… and Tepper finished 8th (after being unranked in the previous survey). Not surprisingly, the program rose in four of the six major rankings, including going from 19th to 17th with Poets & Quants.
Here’s another number that’s certain to surprise. In a business climate that seeks stronger tech skills and female representation, Tepper offers both. Over the past five years, 33% of female graduates have entered tech on average, with the number spiking to 45% in the Class of 2016. The market obviously likes what it sees as Tepper finished in top 10 in Bloomberg Businessweek’s recruiter satisfaction survey for the second consecutive year
And 2018 is looking promising as well. This spring, the school will open the Tepper Quad, a 315,000 centerpiece that doubles existing space and boost its master’s student population to boot. Aside from amenities ranging from a fitness center to a 600 seat auditorium, the Quad brings benefits to Tepper that are both functional and symbolic. Already the hub of entrepreneurial activity at Carnegie Mellon, the Quad is expected to become ground zero for collaborations with schools on campus.
“The Tepper Quad was designed and built to sit at the literal and metaphorical center of campus,” explains Kate Barraclough, who heads the MBA program. “The Tepper Quad is part of the school’s strategy to introduce a new “inter-connected” academic model that fundamentally changes the way business is taught and learned, by elevating a management underpinning throughout other campus disciplines, such as engineering, design, computer science, the arts, and science.”
This interconnection will only enhance the student experience at Tepper, a program renowned for a top tier teaching and research faculty – one whose emphasis on rigorous data analysis is both legendary and more relevant than ever. “The approach that underlies our program is a really deep and thorough understanding of analytics and the role that data places in decision-making; the role that modern data issues are having in every field together with some really creative approaches to leadership like how you take what you know from the data to change organizations,” says Mike Trick, senior associate dean of faculty and research. “The faculty buys into the importance of both halves of this. It gets reflected in the classroom. There is a unity happening.”
Wharton students in procession during the school’s graduation ceremony.
Wharton School
This is a joke, right? Isn’t this list for up-and-comers? Yes, Wharton is the establishment – and the bar that many programs measure themselves against. Guess what? In 2017, the bar was raised higher.
Look no further than the major MBA rankings, where Wharton ranked 1st with three outlets (Poets&Quants, U.S. News, and Forbes) and 2nd with Bloomberg Businessweek and the Financial Times. Alas, the school only finished 4th in the ever-quirky Economist ranking. Even there, it still managed to climb five spots.
By all measures, it was a stellar year for Wharton, which vaulted Stanford in all but one ranking and displaced Harvard in three others. Yes, they hold bragging rights – and for good reason. During the 2015-2016 year, Wharton notched a 95.8% placement rate within three months of graduation, with students pulling down $155,058 in starting pay – both major jumps over the previous year. These improved outcomes were supplemented by higher incoming GMAT scores and average GPAs as well. Think that’s impressive? How about this: Wharton grads from the 2012 Class were earning $225,000 on average. That’s three times more than they were earning before they entered business school – and a bigger gain than any top b-school over that period according to Forbes. Heck, Wharton’s undergrad business program even ranked #1 with P&Q. A historic year indeed!
This resurgence isn’t just based on inputs and outputs. Wharton made headway in both the Bloomberg Businessweek and Forbes student satisfaction surveys, even ranking 4th with Forbes in 2017 after eight years of placing outside the top 10 schools. Despite its excellence in finance, Wharton still manage to double the number of new alumni startup ventures in P&Q’s Top MBA startups of 2017 ranking. In fact, Deliveroo, a 2013 Wharton food delivery startup, has raised over $450 million dollars in funding, more than any other startup on the list! It has even emerged as the go-to destination for women, boasting a 44% female population for the second straight year.
Of course, consistency separates the great from the extraordinary. So can Wharton hold on? Rankings-wise, you can expect Wharton to get a run for its money from Stanford, whose average starting pay ($165,200 vs. $149,300) and average GMATs (737 vs. 730) both topped Wharton during the 2016-2017 cycle. Don’t feel too sorry for Wharton, whose size and scope enable it to offer perhaps the most diverse assortment of options anywhere.
“We’re a really big community and that makes it very easy to find like-minded classmates who are interested in similar things,” observes Karl Ulrich, the vice dean who operates the school’s west coast campus and its one-of-a-kind Semester in San Francisco program. “If you’re interested in something relatively specialized, Wharton would be a very good choice because you’re likely to find 20 other people who have similar interests.”
MBA students engaging outside USC Marshall.
USC (Marshall)
Like Wharton, USC was a rankings dynamo in 2017. With Bloomberg Businessweek, it jumped eight spots to 30th. It rose another seven spots in the U.S. News ranking. It cracked the top 50 globally with the Financial Times. It even rocketed 25 spots in the Economist ranking. The net result? The school now ranks 26th overall in the latest Poets&Quants ranking.
Marshall has always been blessed with a great brand. Over the past two years, it has garnered the metrics to take the next step. For one, the school’s average GMAT crept above 700 with the Class of 2019. In fact, it climbed from 692 to 703 in just one year, a sign that it is ready to play in the Top 20 with the likes of Emory and Texas. Marshall grads have also grown more attractive to employers. In 2016, median pay climbed nearly $9,000, which was accompanied by an 11% improvement in placement. This year, the numbers continued their upward trajectory, as median base and median bonus rose by $2,000 and $5,000 respectively.
MBA students are starting to take a second look at Marshall too. During the 2016-2017 cycle, Marshall received over 400 more applications than the year before. One reason? The school is beloved by students and alumni alike. It finished among the top 10 MBA programs in this year’s Bloomberg Businessweek student satisfaction survey. Yes, happy students make happy alumni. This sentiment is reflected in the growth of the vaunted “Trojan Network.” 75,000 alumni strong, Marshall graduates are celebrated for looking out for students who follow in their footsteps. This pay-it-forward tradition doesn’t mean just counseling or mentoring. More than that, Marshall grads are active – as in plugging Marshall MBAs into their networks and helping them land internships and jobs. This guardian angel ethos, coupled with a revamped career center led by placement phenom Mark Brostoff, means you can expect Marshall grads to increasingly clean up in the job market over the coming years.
Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business
Rice University (Jones)
After three consecutive appearances on this list, it might be time to retire Jones from appearing again. Then again, maybe peer schools should take notes and elevate their game like Dean Rodriguez has.
In recent years, Jones has garnered headlines for making the top 10 in Bloomberg Businessweek’s MBA ranking. It is a subjective instrument, no doubt, with 80% of its ranking hinging on survey sentiment. Here, Rice continues to excel, earning the fourth-best marks from alumni and ranking among the top 15 with recruiters and students. It’s hardly an anomaly, as the school ranked 6th in Forbes’ 2017 ‘Most Satisfied MBAs survey. Notably, Jones has made impressive inroads with recruiters, going from 40th to 14th over the past two years. Employers are backing these positive vibes with cold hard cash, as 2016 Rice grads earned $12,000 more than the previous class.
Of course, Rice has always carried a certain advantage, with over 80% of their classes receiving financial aid. That, coupled with the program’s growing momentum, has invited MBA candidates to give it a second look. In 2016-2017, applications rose by 6.4%. More impressive, the Class of 2019’s GMAT jumped by 21 points to 711 – just two points lower than Virginia Darden (and a point higher than the state flagship Texas McCombs). With gains like that, Jones will inevitably emerge as a consistent Top 15 American program across all rankings regardless of methodology.
Just don’t expect the school to get too comfortable. This year, the school will launch an MBA@Rice online program, not to mention add a required global excursion. At the same time, Dean Rodriguez is laying the groundwork to boost the full-time MBA program by 20%. “Growth is a good and motivating reason for a lot of organizations to change things and to try new things,” Rodriguez told P&Q in 2017. “We’ll have to make some changes quickly to coordinate all of that growth while we do it. If we can manage that, we’ll be in a great position for Rice.”
Members of the Berkeley Haas Class of 2019. Photo courtesy of UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business
U.C.-Berkeley (Haas)
Haas is the archetype for a values-driven MBA program. Perfectly situated in Berkeley – just an hour drive from Silicon Valley – Haas has it all: warm climate, extracurricular and outdoor activities galore, and a 284 member class size that’s small enough to be intimate and cohesive. It is a program that is founded on “Defining Principles” that treasure humility, curiosity, ethics, authenticity, and academic rigor. Step onto campus and you’ll find students who can recite the school principle verbatim. That doesn’t make Haasies into the b-school answer to the Children of the Corn. Instead, they’ve self-selected Haas – and they come to Berkeley to be around people who truly buy into the same values.
More than ever, applicants are buying into what Haas is selling. In 2016-2017, Haas received a record number of applications. At the same time, the school increased its student size by 32 students – all while maintaining its forbidding 12% acceptance rate – third only to Stanford and Harvard. Add to that, the Class of 2019’s average GMAT surged eight points to 725 after spending nearly a decade between 714 and 718. In other words, Haas is making a claim on terrain previously staked out by a higher-ranked MIT Sloan (722).
Next fall, the program also hopes to stretch its incoming MBA class size to 300 students – with the long-term goal being 350 students. To accommodate this growth, the school recently opened its 6 story, $60 million dollar Chou Hall, which was designed, in true Berkeley style, to be the greenest academic building ever built. “This facility will complement our existing buildings nicely and will add 80,000 square feet of new “smart” classrooms, group study rooms, event space, and a new café,” explains Assistant Dean Peter Johnson. “The entire building is devoted to student-facing activities, providing more modern classroom technology and inviting surroundings for classes, co-curricular activities, conferences, and other events.”
Consider such bounty to be a parting gift from Richard Lyons, the outgoing dean who leaves his post in June. While Lyons’ legacy is lengthy, his departure will open the program up to new ideas from his successor. “We’ve made great progress together in these eleven years, and our school’s future is bright,” Lyons said in his resignation statement. “Haas is in a good place for the next dean to carry our school forward.”
Darden students, faculty, and staff assemble August 14 to show unity after a discussion on diversity and inclusion
University of Virginia (Darden)
In early August, the future looked bright at the Darden School of Business. Applications were up 11% for a spot in the Class of 2019. GMATs had held steady at a respectable 713. Spring graduates were landing jobs left-and-right. Ultimately, the class averaged $149,750 in median starting pay, fourth-highest among major MBA programs and just behind Harvard, Stanford, and NYU Stern. Not surprisingly, the school ranked 2nd in overall student satisfaction according to the bi-annual Forbes student survey.
What could possibly happen to stop this momentum straight in its tracks?
To quote Indiana Jones: “Nazis.”
Since August, the specter of Charlottesville has dogged Darden. They never asked for outsiders to march through their streets carrying torches and chanting slogans like the Night of Long Knives re-enacted. Few could grasp the madness of James Alan Fields as he plowed through dozens of people, snuffing out Heather Heyer’s life in his wake. Who could predict that an elected American leader could mark an equivalency between a by-gone era of intimidation and a vibrant tradition of protest?
How do you pick up the pieces? How do you show the world that Charlottesville – the home of Thomas Jefferson – is again safe, welcoming, and vital? The marchers may have passed through, but the impressions they left have been seared into infamy. That’s why the next year will be a true test of leadership for Dean Beardsley and the Darden community as a whole. Academically rigorous and well-funded – with $13.7 million dollars set aside for scholarships – Darden is the Harvard of the South, where great teaching is rewarded and honor codes are abided. It is truly academia at its best – which may be why it had to endure the agonies of August.
“I asked myself the question, ‘Why did this happen here?’ And the reality is, it could happen any number of places,” Dean Beardsley noted to P&Q last fall. “But perhaps one of the reasons that it happened here is exactly because the University of Virginia and Darden are very progressive places, they’re wonderful places and they knew that they would get a reaction. If you’re seeking to draw attention to yourself, you go to a place where you can draw the sharpest contrast between what you stand for and the place where you’re making your statement stands for.”
A class at IE Business School
IE Business School
One member of the 2018 sums up the IE difference this way: “One-year course, international intake, highly-regarded, and entrepreneurship-focused.”
Ah, all too true.
IE Business School brands itself as “an unusual school for unusual people” – a collection of mavericks…the reformers, rebels, and romantics who scoff at convention and visualize a world that’s just outside their grasp. They may be misunderstood souls, but they are hardly starving artists. Just look at the 2017 Forbes ranking, which measures salary growth. Here, the Class of 2012 enjoyed a $145,400 pay increase over five years – third-best among international programs. Turns out, IE may be just as great at training savvy leaders as aspiring entrepreneurs!
Not that they are mutually exclusive. IE is a place to learn the entrepreneurial mindset: curious, creative, proactive, and fearless – always on a quest to identify possibilities, create value, take action, and rebound quickly. IE attracts the students who welcome change and challenge – and that means their mission is greater than simply collecting a check or beating the traffic home. This is the mindset of the small, nimble, passionate disruptors who are constantly upending the status quo and keeping established players on their heels. This mentality is exactly what these firms are seeking to even their odds of sustainable success…if not survival. “At IE they don’t just talk the talk about entrepreneurship, they walk it,” says Fady Moomen, another incoming student.
Entrepreneurship isn’t IE’s only advantage. The school may have been founded by entrepreneurs, but they don’t discriminate – except when it comes to talent. 91% of the 2018 Class hails from outside IE’s native Spain, making it the perfect training ground to absorb various culture mores and practice international business. “Emotional intelligence becomes essential for managing diverse teams in multinational companies,” notes Sabina Iman, a member of this year’s class. “The IE IMBA program is the unique program which puts you in the diverse environment and helps you to understand the important details about managing teams from different parts of the world.”
Why watch IE? Simple: Everyone else is.
Students at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business
University of Michigan (Ross)
“The total package.”
That’s a moniker that only few MBA programs can claim. And Ross is one of those few. Look no further than U.S. News’ specialization ranking, a survey of MBA deans and directors who evaluate the quality of competing programs. Turns out, Ross ranks in the Top 10 in all but one concentration – information systems (where it still finished 15th). Such reputational capital places Ross in the same category as Stanford and Wharton. Even more, it reflects an across-the-board excellence. It is an advantage that stems from operating in one of the world’s top research universities – one with a large undergraduate business major population. It is also a strength grounded in its general management approach: one imbued with a cross-curricular philosophy that’s delivered through experiential learning.
It’s a formula that integrates the traditional with the contemporary, one that seamlessly blends the need to master fundamentals and reinforce them with practice. Even more, it provides a platform for business leaders’ need to partner together to face down real world challenges. That is the impetus behind ground-breaking programs like the Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP), a seven week international consulting project. The philosophy is also crystalized through the Leadership Crisis Challenge, which places students in pressure-packed, time-sensitive situations where they must find solutions while navigating the pressures brought on by legal counsel, board members, shareholders, customers, activists and even the press.
“Companies are looking for people who are not only functional experts, but can work across those functions to create business value,” notes Dean Scott DeRue in a 2017 Q&A with P&Q. “Across our undergraduate and graduate programs, that’s not only our aspiration, but it’s also our commitment.”
It’s a commitment that will only intensify in the coming year. Next fall, Ross will be rolling out a four-pronged program where students can advise, start, invest in, or lead a real business according to Soojin Kwon, the managing director of full-time MBA admissions at the school. In addition, adds DeRue, the school has recently launched its “Living Businesses” program, which takes a project beyond its summer or semester confines so students gain the experience of running a portion of the company. “This is ongoing,” DeRue explains. “There will be multiple functions in play, from marketing and branding to supply chain and operations to the finance and administrative functions of the business. Our students are going to have to do all aspects of that business. And the stakes are real. We fundamentally believe the best way to learn business is to actually do business. And we wrap all this with the coaching, mentorship and the faculty, who can help reinforce the core fundamentals.”
Such initiative and innovation will ultimately determine if Ross consistently breaks into the top 10 full-time MBA rankings. Currently, it stands on the outside looking in, ranking 11th with both Poets&Quants and U.S. News (and 12th with both Bloomberg Businessweek and The Economist).Applications were up 4% and average GMAT increased by eight points over the past year. The school recruited a 2019 Class that included 43% women, behind only Wharton. And median compensation achieved a respectable $147,485 with the 2017 Class – pay that tops higher-ranked programs like Chicago Booth, Dartmouth Tuck, Northwestern Kellogg, and Columbia Business School.
Is Ross ready take that important next step in 2018? We’re not sure yet…and that’s why they are an MBA program to watch.
Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business
Ohio State (Fisher)
How is this for a juxtaposition? Ohio State is one of America’s largest public universities with nearly 60,000 students on its sprawling Columbus campus. And the Fisher College of Business is one of the smallest MBA programs with just 91 students in its incoming class.
By the numbers, the 2016-2017 cycle wasn’t particularly kind to Fisher. Applications and average GMATs slipped a little. In addition, the school remained pretty stagnant in the rankings. So why keep an eye out for what happens there?
Two words: curriculum revamp
That’s right, Fisher is undertaking the most daunting, political, and thankless of academic blood sports. Based on the early sketches, this program would fuse its trademark close-knit ethos with an intense coaching and mentoring culture that runs across the full two years. In the core, students would take courses from Monday-Thursday focused on baseline skills, with Fridays set aside for team-taught sessions that prep students for a semester-long experiential project during the spring. The curriculum would also integrate a robust set of immersions with corporate partners.
Coupled with the program’s strengths – a top five career center and an expansive experiential learning portfolio – and you have the makings of a special curriculum that gives Fisher an identity that truly differentiates it from all comers. ““The dean said to blow it up, design a new MBA from scratch, and that is what we have been doing,” explains Walter Zinn, associate dean of graduate programs.
What can make this work? For one, the school can draw from plenty of expertise from the sheer size and research prowess of the larger university. Even more, Fisher is within a four hour driven of nearly 70 Fortune 1000 companies in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Indianapolis. In other words, Fisher comes to the table with a wealth of resources. Come fall, we’ll see if the faculty can mold them into something truly unique.
University of Oxford
Oxford (Saïd)
It took centuries for the University of Oxford to become one of the world’s premier universities. It only took the Saïd Business School two decades to do the same. That’s how the joke goes. It may sound counterintuitive, but if you want to find the most contemporary MBA program, your best bet is to travel through the rolling hills and cobblestone roads to reach Oxford University.
Dismiss the Oxford image of dawn rowing, afternoon rugby, and formal sunset dinners. Here, you’ll find students from 51 nations – with the 2018 class boasting 41% women. Elite, cosmopolitan, and mission-driven, Saïd MBA candidates come to Oxford with a clear mandate: Change the world.
Saïd may be a business school, but you’ll find business treated as a means to close gaps and increase access and opportunities – often on a global scale. One of the chief tools is entrepreneurship – with the goal to disrupt existing markets through lower costs and greater options – often through leveraging technology. Off Grid Electric, which launched in 2012, is an example. It offers discount solar energy on a pre-paid basis in Tanzania, a boon to the rural poor who often lack access to electricity.
Not surprisingly you’ll find many Saïd discussions tethered to a much larger picture, often involving large scale issues like poverty and climate change. “Businesses — and their resources that are often greater than government, nonprofit, and non-government organizations — can step up and fill spaces left by current organizations tackling society’s toughest issues,” explains Peter Drobac, who heads the school’s acclaimed Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. “Businesses have the resources, commitment to innovation, and practice of measurement and continuous improvement that are too often lacking in governments and nonprofits. Business is also uniquely positioned to scale and spread effective solutions across borders.”
If politics is personal, then entrepreneurship is social. At Saïd, it is an instrument to build community, identify solutions, marshal resources, and galvanize action. In fact, 20% of graduates, on average, enter the startup and social impact sectors. The Skoll Centre is a big part of that. Think of it as the gravitational pull that brings together students, faculty, and alumni from across Oxford to engage in interdisciplinary collaborations that often spin out new ventures. In 2017, the school doubled down on its entrepreneurial investment by opening the Oxford Foundry, an incubator that supports the growth of ventures designed to address “world scale challenges.”
It may sound like a tall order, but it is really just an extension of Oxford’s “Dominus illuminatio mea” mission to shine the light for others to follow. The kinds of investments that Saïd is making often take a generation to germinate. When they do, you can expect them to be spectacular indeed.
DON’T MISS:
10 BUSINESS SCHOOLS TO WATCH IN 2017
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