The Wharton School reclaimed its top spot on the 2024-2025 U.S. News & World Report's Best Business Schools ranking, tying with Stanford University.
The list of MBA programs, which was published on April 9, returns Wharton to the No. 1 spot following its No. 3 ranking last year. The previously top-ranked University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business now shares the No. 3 position with Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, with the MIT Sloan School of Management at No. 5.
Wharton last ranked No. 1 in the 2022-2023 version of the rankings, before falling to No. 3 the next year. In the most recent list, Wharton specifically placed No. 1 in executive MBA, finance, and real estate programs and No. 2 in marketing and accounting.
U.S. News listed 124 business schools across the country. It determined the list based on survey data that schools directly reported for fall 2023 and early 2024. Unlike last year, the list did not include any MBA programs that failed to submit the most recent survey data.
The methodology evaluated factors including employment rates, post-graduate earnings, and salary by profession to determine placement success at each business school. The quality assessment score was derived from ratings provided by business school peers and recruiters as well as academic statistics for admitted students, such as median undergraduate GPA.
In February, Wharton placed No. 1 on Financial Times' list of 100 business schools globally. The ranking followed Wharton's exclusion from the FT's top business schools ranking in 2023 — its first absence in 25 years — due to the school failing to reach the alumni survey respondent threshold.
Wharton also recently ranked No. 3 by Fortune, No. 5 by Forbes, and No. 8 by Bloomberg. Last year, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and the Perelman School of Medicine withdrew their participation in the U.S. News rankings. Both schools announced that they would no longer report data, citing concerns with the methodology of the rankings. Wharton has continued to submit data to U.S. News.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate