Businessweek Rankings 2014

Let’s see how full-time MBA programs in the U.S. fared this year on the BW rankings…

There were some huge changes this year! Let’s take a look at some of the highlights:

• Newcomers to the top 20 this year are Yale SOM, which made a huge jump from 21^st place to 10^th place; Maryland Smith which went from 24^th to 17^th place; and Emory Goizueta which jumped from 22^nd place to 18^th place this year.

• There are three new schools in the top 10 this year – Yale SOM, as mentioned above; Columbia Business School (13^th in 2012 and 5^th this year); and CMU Tepper (which moved just one place from 11^th place to 10^th place).

• Beyond that, there was some major shifting in the rankings. The top 3 schools were all different this year (Wharton and Booth still there, but rearranged), with Harvard Business School falling from 2^nd place to 8^th place.

• UVA Darden also fell significantly this year, from 10^th place to 20^th.

• Big jumpers further down the rankings include Rice University Jones (from 34^th to 25^th); UC Irvine Merage (43^rd to 31^st); and Rochester Simon (50^th to 38^th).

• The schools that fell the most in the rankings include Texas A&M Mays (26^th to 42^nd); University of Wisconsin-Madison (33^rd to 44^th); Boston University (39^th to 57^th); Babson Olin (from 42^nd to 58^th); Thunderbird (45^th to 62^nd); and Arizona Carey (49^th to 67^th).

And here’s the scoop on the best U.S. undergraduate business schools in 2014…

Some highlights include:

• Newcomers to the top 20 are Northeastern (from 25^th last year to 19^th this year) and CMU Tepper (from 24^th last year to 17^th this year).

• The only new school in the top 10 this year is Indiana Kelley, which jumped from 13^th place last year to 8^th place this year.

• Michigan Ross fell from the top 10, from 8^th place to 12^th place.

• Big jumpers include Southern Methodist Cox, which jumped from 30^th to 21^st place; Babson, which jumped from 36^th place to 26^th place; UM Amherst Isenberg, which jumped from 45^th to 36^th; Bryant, which jumped from 63^rd to 49^th; and Case Western Reserve Weatherhead which jumped from 69^th to 50^th.

• Big falls include Villanova, which fell from 15^th place to 24^th; U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign which fell from 21^st to 34^th; and James Madison University which fell from 29^th to 40^th place.

For details on how ranking methodology see:

• Best Business Schools 2014: How They Were Ranked

• Best Undergraduate Business Schools 2014: How We Ranked Them

Analysis of the 2014 Businessweek Rankings

Businessweek made changes to its methodology (presented here and analyzed here by John Byrne, the founder of the BW rankings) this year.

The Basics of BW’s Rankings Remain Unchanged

This year, as in the past, BW surveyed recruiters and students. The recruiter satisfaction results comprise 45% of the ranking. The student satisfaction survey results comprise another 45% and the remaining 10% is determined by “expertise of each school’s faculty” as evidenced by faculty research published in prominent academic journals AKA intellectual capital.

What’s New in BW’s Rankings Methodology?

• The employer ranking reflects this year’s data only. Previous rankings used data from the last three surveys or six years of biannual rankings data while weighting the most recent year most heavily.

• BW surveyed fifteen times the recruiters this year than it did in previous years. Previously, BW surveyed major recruiters who tended to recruit at multiple business schools. This year, BW attempted to survey as many MBA recruiters as possible, including “recruiters” who recruit primarily if not exclusively at their alma mater. The increased survey size is a major methodology change. The alumni recruiters may have a certain bias towards the school they attended. BW attempted statistically to reduce the impact of that bias, but it probably helped smaller schools like Duke, Tepper, and Yale, and hurt the traditional leaders, like Harvard, Wharton, and Chicago.

Impact of the Methodology Changes

• Surprise! The results will shock many applicants. Seven programs, including Duke and Yale, rank above HBS and MIT. Indiana Kelley and Maryland Smith rank above Haas, NYU Stern, and Darden. These are unexpected results.

• Reemphasizes the importance of understanding methodology. The changes highlight the need for anyone using the rankings as indications of “quality” or even reputation and brand value (a bad idea in my book) to look at the underlying data. Smith is ranked overall at 17. It was ranked #1 for student satisfaction and #51 in the employer survey ranking. Applicants to Smith should inquire about what is changing in its career management center. Clearly there is a satisfaction gap that has to be addressed.

• Increased volatility. Since BW has removed older rankings data from the ranking and has dramatically widened the survey pool while incorporating alumni recruiters, you are guaranteed to see more changes and more radical changes than with the previous methodology.

• Cognitive Dissonance. Either BW rankings will lose credibility because they don’t conform to expectations and will be more volatile, or people’s perception of the programs will change because of the BW rankings.

My money is on the former: loss of credibility. If BW’s results become less stable and predictable (like The Economist’s), they are more likely to lose credibility than to contribute to changes in school reputation.

As always my best advice to applicants reviewing the rankings is to:

• Use specialty rankings to get a sense of what schools excel in your areas of interest.

• Use the data that the ranking databases provide.

• If you have any thought of actually using the overall rankings, understand what they measure, and ask yourself if those qualities are of paramount importance to you. BW has been wonderfully transparent and even shared the questions actually asked in the survey.

• Layer in reputation and brand, i.e. ranking, after determining what schools best support your goals and are most likely to accept you.

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

Related Resources:

• 2014 Economist MBA Rankings
• MBA Rankings: Why Should I Care?
• U.S. News 2015 Best Colleges