2016 Rankings Report Card: How Alums Grade Their Schools

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Evaluate how well the business program prepared you for the world of work.

520241473One of the reasons we decided to survey alumni two years out was to get a solid answer on this critical question. We wanted graduates to have a couple of years of work experience and do a real world test of the value of their business education. We found that alums from our top schools felt very well prepared across the board. While there were differences among the schools, they were not significant.

The undergraduate programs that got the best scores from alumni who really believed their education set them up for success in the real world? Washington University’s Olin School of Business topped this category, earning an impressive high score of 9.69 on our ten-point scale. Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business was not far behind with a 9.48, followed by Notre Dame, Georgetown, and Brigham Young. While Olin got the top score, the lowest was still pretty good at 8.38 for Purdue University. The average of 9.01 is solid confirmation that these programs are doing a great job educating undergrads.

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School Grade
1. Washington University (Olin School of Business) A+
2. Indiana University (Kelley School of Business) A+
3. University of Notre Dame (Mendoza School of Business) A+
4. Georgetown University (McDonough School of Business) A+
5. Brigham Young University (Marriott School of Management) A+
6. University of Texas-Austin (McCombs School of Business) A
7. Texas Christian University (Neeley School of Business) A
8. James Madison University (College of Business) A
9. Wake Forest University (School of Business) A
10. Northeastern University (D’Amore-McKim School of Business) A
11. Southern Methodist University (Cox School of Business) A-
12. University of Richmond (Robins School of Business) A-
13. Emory University (Goizueta School of Business) A-
14. Boston University (Questrom School of Business) A-
15. University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign (College of Business) B+
16. University of Minnesota (Carlson School of Management) B+
17. Fordham University (Gabelli School of Business) B+
18. Michigan State University (Broad College of Business) B+
19. University of Pittsburgh (College of Business Administration) B+
20. Lehigh University (College of Business & Economics) B+
21. Elon University (Martha & Spencer Love School of Business) B
22. The College of New Jersey (College of Business) B
23. Texas A&M University (Mays School of Business) B
24. University of Wisconsin (School of Business) B
25. Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper School of Business) B
26. University of Massachusetts-Amherst (Isenberg School of Management) B
27. Arizona State University (W. P. Carey School of Business) B
28. Purdue University (Krannert School of Management) B

Source: Poets&Quants 2016 undergraduate alumni survey

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