Bloomberg Businessweek recently released its list of the 2023-2024 best business schools, ranking 119 business schools in the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Canada. This year, rankings were based on surveys from students, alumni, and recruiters, as well as compensation and employment information. US business schools also provided diversity statistics on race, ethnicity, and gender.
Personal MBA Coach would like to share our thoughts on the latest Bloomberg Businessweek MBA rankings and business school rankings in general.
Bloomberg MBA Rankings in The United States
Yet again, Stanford GSB topped the US rankings. Among other things, the school was praised for the recent launch of an “ecopreneurship” program, “a joint effort between the B-school and the university’s Doerr School of Sustainability.”
Chicago Booth remained second, followed by Dartmouth Tuck and Virginia Darden, which tied for the #3 position.
This year, Columbia jumped one position up to #5, moving Kellogg down to #7. Harvard took the 6th position this year, and Wharton placed 8th. Michigan Ross moved up from #13 to #9, and MIT Sloan tied with UC Berkeley for 10th.
The European Bloomberg MBA Rankings
In a change compared to previous years, SDA Bocconi jumped to the top position, moving IMD to #3. IESE became #2.
After ranking second last year, INSEAD took 4th place in the 2023-2024 ranking, and London Business School moved down one position to 5th place. IE occupied the #6 place, and Mannheim remained #7, followed by St. Gallen at #8. Cambridge dropped one position, becoming 9, followed by Oxford Said finishing up the top 10.
Asia-Pacific MBA Rankings
Compared to the 2022-2023 rankings, HKUST swapped places with Shanghai University of Finance and Economics this year for the top spot. CEIBS remained 3rd.
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore became #4, while Indian School of Business jumped to #5. Shanghai University MBA Centre came in 6th, followed by SP Jain, which concluded the Asia-Pacific schools in 7th place.
This year, National University of Singapore was omitted from the Asia-Pacific Bloomberg MBA rankings.
The Canadian Bloomberg MBA Ranking
The Bloomberg Businessweek MBA rankings include five Canadian MBA programs this year. Western Ivey again ranked 1st, followed by McGill at #2. HEC Montreal moved to #3 (from #2 last year), followed by Concordia and Alberta at #4 and #5, respectively.
It comes as something of a surprise that Rotman, Smith, and Rogers are not on the current list.
How to Think About MBA Rankings
Exploring MBA rankings can be a great way to build your target school list, though remember that almost every ranking source will give different results. Plus, as Personal MBA Coach has shared in the past, you should pay attention to a school’s average ranking over time and not be overly concerned by year-to-year fluctuations. Check out this blog for more detail on how to use rankings.
This year’s surprises and shifts are additional reminders of the value (for some applicants) of broadening your school list beyond the M7 programs. Depending on your post-MBA goals, you may awant to pay more attention to some of the specialized rankings and to school-specific placement statistics. Just because a school is higher ranked does not mean that it will do a better job at preparing you for your next job, especially if you are targeting a more niche industry.
Finally, with the lines blurring between top schools, available financing also should be a key consideration. You may be able to secure more substantial funding from one school vs. another: last year, our clients earned over $10M in scholarships. Often you will be better served selecting a school with a slightly lower ranking but a more favorable financial package. Some M7 schools are very generous with scholarships, and others are not.
As a reminder, do not overreact to these new rankings but do keep an open mind about expanding your MBA list.
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