Graduating students, recent alumni, and companies that recruit MBAs weigh in via survey to form Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2024-2025 Best B-Schools ranking. Top business schools globally are sorted by region, with assessments of programs spanning the U.S., Europe, Asia-Pacific region, and Canada through a rigorous analysis of data and survey responses.
This year, the ranking covers 111 full-time MBA programs. To qualify, programs had to be taught primarily in English and meet a minimum threshold of survey response rates. Bloomberg Businessweek surveyed 5,292 students, 9,222 alumni, and 734employers, and also considered compensation and employment data to determine schools’ scores.
The top five of the U.S. business schools ranking sees some familiar names as last year. The Stanford Graduate School of Business maintained the top spot for the sixth year in a row, scoring an 88.8 (out of 100) overall. Chicago Booth held onto second place again as Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management edged up to third from seventh place last year. Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business slipped from third to fourth, one-tenth of a point behind Kellogg. UVA’s Darden School of Business rounded out the top five. There is a four point difference between first and fifth place.
Harvard Business School stays in the sixth spot another year running. The Wharton School follows in seventh place while The University of Michigan Ross School of Business landed in eighth. Making a huge leap from 18th last year to ninth this year, Carnegie Mellon Tepper finds itself in the top-10 portion of the ranking. MIT’s Sloan School of Management once again holds the #10 position. There is a 1.3 point difference between fifth and tenth place.
Here is a quick glance at this year’s U.S. top 10 (with the addition of 2023-24 rankings in parentheses).
In regards to the ranking of European business schools, IMD returned to the top spot, which it last held from 2020 to 2023. IESE Business School maintained second place compared to last year. SDA Bocconi moved down from first last year to third. London Business School and INSEAD traded spots compared to last year, with LBS taking over fourth place as INSEAD edged down to fifth.
Here is a look at this year’s European top 10 (with 2023-24 rankings in parentheses).
| Ranking | European School |
|---|---|
| 1 | IMD (3) |
| 2 | IESE Business School (2) |
| 3 | SDA Bocconi (1) |
| 4 | London Business School (5) |
| 5 | INSEAD (4) |
| 6 | St. Gallen (8) |
| 7 | Oxford Saïd Business School (10) |
| 8 | Cambridge Judge Business School (9) |
| 9 | Esade (11) |
| 10 | Mannheim (7) |
Key Takeaways from the Bloomberg Businessweek Business School Rankings 2024-2025
Hot on the heels of the LinkedIn MBA ranking, we see Bloomberg Businessweek deliver their 2024-25 list, and there are several notable changes. Clear Admit’s Co-Founder, Graham Richmond, offered the following observations on the rankings.
1. Stanford Stays Atop, IMD Reclaims First
Stanford GSB continues to hold serve at the top of the list, for the sixth year in a row. The school’s marks in entrepreneurship (91.7) and networking (90) are the tops for all participating programs. Meanwhile, IMD returned to the top of European list, after a brief hiatus for SDA Bocconi last year. Previously, IMD held the top spot three consecutive years, from 2020 to 2023.
2. Kellogg Moves Up
Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management must be pleased with their jump from #7 to #3, jumping past the likes of Dartmouth Tuck, UVA Darden, and HBS, which all placed higher than Kellogg last year.
3. Close-Knit for the Win
Speaking of Dartmouth Tuck and UVA Darden, these schools remain in Bloomberg Businessweek‘s top-5 for the second year in a row, demonstrating that this ranking’s methodology seems to favor close-knit programs with great learning environments.
4. Top Sixteen is Sweet for Some
Looking at the top 16, there are a couple of programs that jump out with regards to gains in the ranking. The first is Carnegie Mellon Tepper, which moved from #18 last year to #9 this year, securing superb marks for entrepreneurship, learning, and networking. The second program that stands out in the top-16 is Georgia Tech / Scheller – jumping four spots to capture #16 overall. The program receives high marks for entrepreneurship and compensation, and managed to land ahead of other leading programs in the Southeast like UNC Kenan-Flagler and Emory Goizueta.
5. Slips and Dips
With Carnegie Mellon Tepper and Georgia Tech / Scheller in the top 16, two other schools that usually live in that universe found themselves outside the bubble. They are Columbia Business School (#17) and UCLA Anderson (#18). While Anderson actually jumped up to #18 from #22 last year, Columbia found itself losing 12 spots in the ranking, having previously ranked #5. While the New York-based program showcased strong compensation for graduates, the school’s ranking in the learning and entrepreneurship categories fell short of the mark this year.
Richmond also notes that MBA applicants should never focus on a single ranking in a single year. It’s important for applicants to conduct other research, talk to students and alumni to determine their best b-school fit. It can also help to get a better sense of which programs belong in which tiers.
A note on methodology. Bloomberg Businessweek surveys graduating students, recent alumni, and companies that recruit MBAs for their U.S. business school ranking. Alumni (Classes of 2016, 2017, 2018) are weighed at 40%; graduating students (Class of 2024) at 25%; and recruiters at 35%. The surveys are designed to index five key components of a U.S. business school education: compensation, learning, networking, entrepreneurship and diversity (for U.S. schools only). The rankings weigh each index according to the survey respondents, asking students, alumni, and recruiters which aspects of their business school experience mattered most. The indexes for U.S. schools this year were calculated as follows: compensation, 37.7%; learning, 25.5%; entrepreneurship, 11.6%; networking, 18.6%; and diversity, 6.6%. For more about the surveys and other factors in the methodology, see here.
