U.S. News & World Report has released its 2022 Best Business Schools Rankings. Despite a rather tumultuous year in world events, this year’s results in the MBA rankings realm remain largely unchanged.
Stanford Graduate School of Business ranked number one this year, no longer sharing the top spot with the Wharton School, which came in second. Stanford boasts the highest reported salary and full-time average undergraduate GPA and GMAT scores combined with the lowest acceptance rate. Chicago Booth remained at number three but is no longer tied with Kellogg, now ranked number four.
The top 25 schools in this year’s edition (with last year’s rankings included for reference) are as follows:
| School | 2022 Rank | 2021 Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Stanford University | 1 | 1 |
| University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | 2 | 1 |
| University of Chicago (Booth) | 3 | 3 |
| Northwestern University (Kellogg) | 4 | 3 |
| Harvard University | 5 (tie) | 6 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) | 5 (tie) | 5 |
| Columbia University | 7 (tie) | 8 |
| University of California–Berkeley (Haas) | 7 (tie) | 7 |
| Yale University | 9 | 9 |
| Dartmouth College (Tuck) | 10 (tie) | 12 |
| New York University (Stern) | 10 (tie) | 10 |
| Duke University (Fuqua) | 12 | 12 |
| University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross) | 13 (tie) | 12 |
| University of Virginia (Darden) | 13 (tie) | 11 |
| Cornell University (Johnson) | 15 | 15 |
| Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) | 16 (tie) | 19 |
| University of Southern California (Marshall) | 16 (tie) | 17 |
| University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson) | 18 (tie) | 16 |
| University of Texas–Austin (McCombs) | 18 (tie) | 18 |
| University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) | 20 | 20 |
| Georgetown University (McDonough) | 21 | 25 |
| University of Washington (Foster) | 22 | 20 |
| Indiana University (Kelley) | 23 (tie) | 23 |
| Vanderbilt University (Owen) | 23 (tie) | 23 |
| Rice University (Jones) | 25 | 25 |
Methodology
To determine their annual rankings, U.S. News uses a combination of expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of faculty, research, and students. Forty percent of the evaluation is based on a quality assessment score, comprised of a peer assessment where deans and program directors rank their peers and a recruiter assessment score. Thirty-five percent is based on placement success demonstrated by employment rates at graduation and within three months of graduation, and mean starting salary and bonuses. Twenty-five percent is based on student selectivity, as seen in GMAT and GRE scores, mean undergraduate GPA, and acceptance rate.
Where Movement Mattered
Five schools, including MIT Sloan and Wharton, did not provide data, likely due to COVID-19-related issues. U.S. News was able to combine their current year peer assessment score and recruiter assessment score with fall 2019 admission date and 2019 graduating class data to include them in the ranking.
Harvard Business School, which fell from the top three last year, did not reclaim that lost ground but moved up one place to number five in a tie with MIT Sloan. Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business cracked the top 10, moving up two spots in a tie with NYU Stern.
The biggest movers were Georgetown McDonough, which moved up four places to number 21, and Tepper, which moved up to number 16 from number 19 last year. Three schools—UVA Darden, UCLA Anderson, and Washington Foster—all dropped two spots from last year.
Clear Admit’s Alex Brown concluded, “Despite the challenges, regarding getting the data, this ranking generally provides the best US ranking, year on year, and this year is no exception. I believe the schools that will be particularly happy include Tepper and Marshall, but I don’t think Anderson will be too thrilled with their placement.” Brown did have an objection to the 2022 ranking, adding, “However, placing HBS at number five is simply not realistic, no matter the calculus used.”
It is important for applicants to remember that rankings are just one data point in a complex decision-making process. When building a list of target schools, we encourage readers to make use of school websites, conversations with alumni, and Clear Admit’s ApplyWire and DecisionWire tools when researching programs.
