US News Ranks MBA Schools

Business education has come a long way in the past several decades, according to US News & World Report’s Top MBA programs issue.

“M.B.A. programs in the 1950s [generally] provided people with a narrow set of applied skills,” says Gilbert Whitaker, dean of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University in Houston. “It was sort of a ‘how to run a shoe store’ mentality.” Today’s B-schools, however, are extraordinarily diverse, offering students a broad range of both concentrations and learning opportunities.

Following are the top five rankings per business specialty:

Entrepreneurship

1. Babson College (Olin) (Mass.)


2. Stanford University (Calif.)


3. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)


4. Harvard University (Mass.)


5. University of Southern California (Marshall)

Finance

1. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)


2. University of Chicago


3. New York University (Stern)


4. Stanford University (Calif.)


5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)

General Management

1. Harvard University (Mass.)


2. Stanford University (Calif.)


3. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (Ill.)


4. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)


5. University of Michigan — Ann Arbor

Management Information Systems

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)


2. Carnegie Mellon University (Penn.)


3. University of Texas — Austin (McCombs)


4. University of Arizona (Eller)


5. University of Minnesota — Twin Cities (Carlson)

Marketing

1. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (Ill.)


2. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)


3. Harvard University (Mass.)


4. University of Michigan — Ann Arbor


5. Duke University (Fuqua) (N.C.)

Production/Operations Management

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)


2. Stanford University (Calif.)


3. Carnegie Mellon University (Penn.)


4. Purdue University — West Lafayette (Krannert) (Indianna)


5. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)

Moderator Comment: How valuable are advanced degrees
in today’s business? Are they worth the time and investment for employers and
employees?

Just imagine, Charles Lazarus made Toys ‘R’ Us into an
international retailing giant despite never having received his high school
degree. If he were to apply for a job today, he would be lucky to land an associate’s
job. A management position would not even be a consideration. [George
Anderson – Moderator]

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