Is an MBA that costs two years of your life and $150,000 really worth it?
With increasing global competition and a tough job market, business school may hold the key to getting ahead — if you go to the right one.
For our fifth annual survey of the World's Best Business Schools, we asked thousands of professionals from around the world who have experience hiring MBAs to determine the best business school. They came back with a clear favorite: Harvard University.
Survey participants rated the reputation of the graduates from top business schools around the world on a scale of poor to excellent (1 to 5), with excellent ratings used as a tiebreaker. We included responses only from professionals who said they had experience hiring MBAs at least half the time, as well as other filters to optimize our survey pool.
Click here to see a full analysis of the survey results >
Click here to see a map showing the top 25 schools >
In addition to the usual top American schools, international institutions like the London School of Economics (#8), London Business School (#9), Oxford (#13), and INSEAD (#15) placed in the top 15.
#50 George Washington University (School of Business)
Rated 2.44 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Tuition and fees: $101,450 (cost of whole degree)
The D.C.-based school took a tumble from its 22nd place on our list last year. U.S. News, Businessweek, and The Financial Times ranked the school 65th, 54th, and 99th in the world, respectively.
While only 2% of survey participants rated the school as excellent, over 400 people ranked the school's reputation.
#48 The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK Business School)
Rated 2.45 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Hong Kong
Tuition and fees: $73,575
CUHK Business School launched its MBA program in 1966, becoming the first of its kind in Asia. This school is a newcomer to our list, even though it was ranked No. 27 globally by The Financial Times.
Nearly one in 10 survey participants who rated CUHK Business School marked it as very good.
#47 Indian School of Business
Rated 2.46 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Tuition and fees: $41,630
The Indian School of Business partners with Northwestern, UPenn, and the London School of Business to ensure that the curriculum maintains its intensity and practical relevance.
#46 Boston University (School of Management)
Rated 2.49 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Boston
Tuition and fees: $64,676
The School of Management encourages students to form professional and personal bonds with peers by assigning them to a cohort, a group of 50 to 55 students who take classes together and work together on assignments.
After rising 16 spots on our list last year, BU returned to the bottom half.
#45 Michigan State University (Eli Broad College of Business)
Rated 2.5 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: East Lansing, Michigan
Tuition and fees: $63,200
The Eli Broad College of Business earned top-10 spots on numerous B-school rankings, including Forbes' education satisfaction survey of MBA grads and Businessweek's list of schools most suited for teamwork. Last year, it was No. 34 on our list.
#44 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
Rated 2.51 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Tuition and fees: $20,500
Another newcomer to the list, the Indian Institute of Management does joint-programming with Harvard Business School — offering training for officials in the public sector and tax workers. Business Today, part of the India Today news network, named it the No. 1 business school in India.
#43 University of Washington (Foster School of Business)
Rated 2.52 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Seattle
Tuition and fees: $117,561
Located in the city that's home to Amazon, Microsoft, Nordstrom, and Starbucks, The Michael G. Foster School of Business boasts an international job placement rate of 100%. While it slipped in our annual ranking, it performed better on other lists, placing No. 58 on The Financial Times and No. 25 on U.S. News & World Report.
#42 University of Manchester (Manchester Business School)
Rated 2.52 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Manchester, England
Tuition and fees: $93,945
With dedicated centers in Manchester, UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Miami, and Rio de Janeiro, Manchester Business School can deliver a top-ranked MBA on a global scale. Ranked No. 42 by The Financial Times, Manchester makes its debut on our list this year.
#41 The University of Warwick (Warwick Business School)
Courtesy of Warwick Business School
Rated 2.52 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Coventry and London, England
Tuition and fees: $83,190
Tumbling seven spots down our list this year, Warwick Business School enrolls more than 2,000 students from over 100 countries — fostering a culturally rich community. It did inch forward on The Financial Times' annual ranking, from No. 27 to No. 25.
#40 Purdue University (Krannert School of Management)
Rated 2.53 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: West Lafayette, Indiana
Tuition and fees: $42,174 ('13-'14 cost; 14-'15 N/A)
Krannert is home to a number of professional and social clubs that connect students beyond the classroom. MBAs take advantage of meeting their peers with like interests at entrepreneurship club, finance club, Krannert wine club, or golf club, to name a few.
#36 University of Navarra (IESE Business School)
Rated 2.6 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Tuition and fees: $52,632
The IESE Business School is based in Barcelona but has "module" locations in New York City, Sao Paolo, Nairobi, and Shanghai. The 19-month MBA degree was ranked No. 3 in Europe by The Financial Times.
#33 International Institute for Management Development
Rated 2.63 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
Tuition and fees: $93,438
This year, The Financial Times ranked IMD No. 1 in executive education and open programs worldwide. The "real-world, real-learning"-focused school is making its debut on our list.
IMD tied with the University of Toronto and Washington University, but its high tuition pushed it furthest down the list.
#31 Vanderbilt University (Owen Graduate School of Business)
Rated 2.75 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Tuition and fees: $52,125 ('13-'14 cost; 14-'15 N/A)
Every student from Owen's class of 2014 graduated with an internship offer, and 96% of the class of 2013 was employed full time within three months of graduating. Owen ranked No. 25 on the U.S. News list of the best business schools.
While only 3% of survey participants rated Owen as excellent, more than 21% gave it a very good score.
#27 University of Notre Dame (Mendoza College of Business)
Rated 2.87 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana
Tuition and fees: $66,860
Mendoza fell 10 places from last year's list, but the school ranked No. 23 on U.S. News' list, tying with Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. Mendoza also offers a highly selective one-year program; the most recent one-year MBA class consisted of just 64 students.
#26 Georgetown University (McDonough School of Business)
Courtesy of McDonough School of Business
Rated 2.9 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Tuition and fees: $83,510
Companies know the caliber of MBA students at McDonough — 73% of students from the class of 2013 had received offers for full-time employment even before graduating. McDonough, which also offers an online Master's in Finance program, tied with Mendoza Business School at the University of Notre Dame for 23rd on U.S. News' ranking of the best business schools.
#21 University of Virginia (Darden School of Business)
Rated 3.14 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Tuition and fees: $85,361
Up from No. 30 on last year's list, Darden School of Business challenges students to study more than 500 real-life business cases during their two years there. Darden pulled higher rankings at U.S. News & World Report and Businessweek, landing in 11th and 10th, respectively.
#20 University of California, Los Angeles (Anderson School of Management)
Rated 3.16 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Los Angeles, California
Tuition and fees: $40,643
Anderson School of Management produces the highest-paid investment bankers of any business school, according to Businessweek. It's up from No. 28 on our list last year and lands at No. 16 on U.S. News & World Report.
#17 Cornell University (Johnson Graduate School of Management)
Rated 3.42 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Ithaca, New York
Tuition and fees: $81,892
The immersive, multifaceted program at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management has produced notable graduates including the chief executive officers of Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Sliding down the list from No. 6, it offers an accelerated one-year MBA as well.
#16 New York University (Stern School of Business)
Rated 3.44 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $101,938
Stern rose six places on our list of the world's best business schools. Its students are renowned for both high IQs and EQs, and Stern is a firm believer in playing to both in its two-year MBA program. Stern's most recent incoming class was represented by a large number of women — nearly 40%.
Stern tied with the Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires, but placed lower on the list because INSEAD received a better excellent rating.
#15 Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD)
Rated 3.44 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Fontainebleau, France
Tuition and fees: $85,593 (cost of the whole degree)
Incoming MBA candidates at INSEAD range in age from 23 to 37, about a third of whom are women. Known as the "Business school for the world," INSEAD has campuses in Europe, Asia, and Abu Dhabi. It was No. 42 on last year's list.
Twenty-two percent of survey participants gave it a rating of excellent.
#14 Duke University (Fuqua School of Business)
Rated 3.46 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Durham, North Carolina
Tuition and fees: $58,000
U.S. News ranks Fuqua comparably on their list of business schools (No. 14) to our ranking this year, but the North Carolina school dropped nine places from last year's list. Fuqua offers a number of joint MBA programs, including MBA/JD, MBA/MD, and MBA/MPP.
#13 Oxford University (Saïd Business School)
Rated 3.53 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Oxford, England
Tuition and fees: $103,825
One in three students at Saïd are women, adding to the school's lineage of female trailblazers. Former prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, former prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, and, of course, former prime minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher, all sported the Oxford Blue in different colleges.
Oxford ranked fifth on Businessweek's list of the best full-time MBA programs.
#11 Yale University (School Of Management)
Rated 3.58 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Tuition and fees: $85,875
After skyrocketing to the No. 2 spot on our list last year, Yale dropped down to No. 11 this year. U.S. News & World Report ranked it the 13th-best business school in America, and it's ranked No. 21 by Businessweek. Still, Yale's MBA program stands out for its integrated curriculum, emphasizing analysis of a wide array of materials such as stock charts and articles, beyond the standard case study.
#8 London School of Economics and Political Science
Rated 3.77 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: London, England
Tuition and fees: $80,247 (cost of the whole degree)
The London School of Economics MBA program (known at LSE as a master's in management) sees 28% of its graduates moving into industries of banking and finance after their degrees, which makes sense, given that London is a hub for finance. Michael Lewis and George Soros are alumni.
#7 Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management)
Rated 3.79 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Tuition and fees: $88,807
A global program, Kellogg has five international locations — Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Vallendar/Koblenz, and Beijing — which 85% of the student body takes advantage of during coursework. Kellogg also offers a one-year accelerated MBA degree.
#6 Columbia University (Columbia Business School)
Rated 3.83 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $96,468
Columbia may have slipped two places on this year's list, but it stays steady at No. 8 on U.S. News. Columbia operates around an entrepreneurial philosophy and offers a number of resources for budding entrepreneurs, from mentors to discount memberships at coworking spaces around New York.
#5 University of Chicago (Booth School of Business)
Rated 3.94 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Tuition and fees: $94,933
Fourth place on U.S. News's list, Booth jumped up an impressive 20 places from last year's list of the best business schools. Booth offers four different MBA programs: full-time, evening, weekend, and executive.
#4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan School of Management)
Rated 4.09 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $92,827 ('13-'14 cost; '14-'15 N/A)
More than 92% of Sloan MBA recipients received job offers within three months of graduating, the school reports, including from notable companies like Amazon, McKinsey & Co., and JPMorgan. Sloan ranked No. 7 on our list last year.
#3 University of Pennsylvania (The Wharton School)
Rated 4.15 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tuition and fees: $97,542
Known for its exemplary undergrad business program — one of the most selective in the U.S. — Wharton jumped up nine spots from last year's list. Students also benefit from the largest global alumni network — almost 100,000 graduates strong.
Only 2% of survey participants rated Wharton as a poor-quality school.
#2 Stanford University (Stanford Graduate School of Business)
Rated 4.33 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Palo Alto, California
Tuition and fees: $99,435
Stanford swiped the top spot from Harvard in 2012 but fell short of No. 1 for the second year in a row.
Still, nearly one-third of survey participants rated Stanford as very good, while only 24% awarded that rating to Harvard. And Cardinal remains more selective than Crimson, admitting 6.8% of applicants in 2013, compared to Harvard's acceptance rate of 11.3%.
#1 Harvard University (Harvard Business School)
Rated 4.34 out of 5 for graduate reputation.
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $95,100
U.S. News & World Report ranked Harvard and Stanford as ties on their 2015 ranking of the best business schools in the U.S. But our readers declared a definitive best, giving the title to last year's No. 1: Harvard Business School.
It was close, with Harvard beating Stanford by a margin of .04. Nearly 60% of survey participants rated Harvard as excellent, helping it to hold on to the top spot.
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