27 February 2015
Top Undergraduate Business Programs
Planning to major in business in college? Here's an article covering some well-regarded undergraduate business schools for you to consider.
The Rankings
Of the various rankings we've looked at, we think two stand out: U.S. News & World Report, and Bloomberg BusinessWeek. First, here are the rankings, side by side.
U.S. News & World Report
Rankings are based based on a survey of deans and senior faculty at business programs about peer institutions.
| Rank | Institution |
|---|---|
| 1 | University of Pennsylvania |
| 2 | MIT |
| 2 | University of California, Berkeley |
| 4 | University of Michigan |
| 5 | New York University |
| 6 | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| 6 | University of Virginia |
| 8 | Carnegie Mellon University |
| 8 | Indiana University |
| 8 | University of Texas, Austin |
| 11 | Cornell University |
| 11 | University of Notre Dame |
| 11 | University of Southern California |
| 14 | Washington University in St. Louis |
| 15 | Emory University |
| 15 | Georgetown University |
| 15 | University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign |
| 15 | University of Minnesota |
| 15 | University of Wisconsin |
| 20 | Ohio State University |
| 21 | Boston College |
| 21 | Michigan State University |
| 21 | Pennsylvania State University |
| 21 | Purdue University |
| 21 | University of Arizona |
| 21 | University of Georgia |
| 21 | University of Maryland |
| 21 | University of Washington |
| 29 | Arizona State University |
| 29 | Babson College |
| 29 | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| 29 | Texas A&M University |
| 29 | University of Florida |
Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Rankings are based on surveys of student satisfaction (45 percent of the ranking), hiring employers (45 percent), and the expertise of each school’s faculty, measured by faculty research in esteemed journals (10 percent).
| Rank | Institution |
|---|---|
| 1 | University of Notre Dame |
| 2 | University of Virginia |
| 3 | Cornell University |
| 4 | Boston College |
| 5 | Washington University in St. Louis |
| 6 | University of Texas |
| 7 | University of Pennsylvania |
| 8 | Indiana University |
| 9 | Emory University |
| 10 | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| 11 | Wake Forest University |
| 12 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
| 13 | Brigham Young University |
| 14 | New York University |
| 15 | University of California, Berkeley |
| 16 | University of Richmond |
| 17 | Carnegie Mellon University |
| 18 | Georgetown University |
| 19 | Northeastern University |
| 20 | Bentley University |
| 21 | Southern Methodist University |
| 22 | The College of William & Mary |
| 23 | Miami University |
| 24 | Villanova University |
| 25 | Boston University |
| 26 | Babson College |
| 27 | Texas Christian University |
| 28 | University of Southern California |
| 29 | Texas A&M University |
| 30 | The Pennsylvania State University |
Some Considerations
- Don't confuse rankings between undergraduate business programs and MBA programs
- As always, take these rankings with a grain of salt. Be mindful of the methodologies employed, and don't sweat the difference between #1 and #2. What's far more important is the difference between #10 and #30.
- If you already have a strong inclination towards a specialty, the U.S. News & World Report also publishes rankings for Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Insurance, Management Information Systems, Marketing and Real Estate.
- Unlike U.S. News & World Report, Bloomberg provides profiles that include data specific to their business departments.
- Be sure to apply to a balanced mix of schools on the list. Work with your counselor/consultant, or take advantage of tools like College Kickstart to quickly figure out which top-ranked business programs can be considered safety, target or reach schools based on your academic profile and school selectivity. Many of these schools offer early admission programs, which under the right circumstances help improve your odds of getting in. College Kickstart can help you here as well.
- Tags: Business, College Lists, College Rankings