Poets&Quants Top Business Schools

University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration

#30

Contact our general manager with any questions. Profile updated: January 30, 2024.

Contact Information

Location:
2100 Sennott Square
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
Admissions Office:
(412) 383-9600

Tuition & Fees In-State: $167,048*

Tuition & Fees Out-of-State: $346,120*

Average Salary: $72,100

Graduates With Jobs 90 Days After Graduation: 95%

International: 2%

Minority: 14%

First generation college students: 13%

When do students declare their majors: Freshman Year

Acceptance Rate: 28%

Average SAT: 1,355

Average ACT: 30

Average GPA: 4.2

HS Class Top Ten: 66%**

*The total cost of the degree over four years for the most recent graduating class inclusive of school fees, room, board, or living expenses.

** HS Class Top Ten is the percent of the student population that graduated high school in the top ten percent of their class.

*** Please note that these statistics are provided for the business school major only whenever possible. If a school does not track these statistics separately, then the university-wide statistics are provided.

The University of Pittsburgh’s College of Business Administration landed at No. 30 in this year’s rankings – maintaining their same place as last year. Of the three methodological categories, Pittsburgh placed best in Academic Experience, landing at No. 23 out of 91 ranked schools.

It also placed 34th in Admission Standards and 30th in Career Outcomes.

The University of Pittsburgh’s College of Business Administration had an acceptance rate of 28.11% for the most recent incoming class – a touch more exclusive than last year’s rate of 29.46%, and much more exclusive than the year before’s rate of 48.05%. The most recent incoming class also reported an average SAT score of 1355, up slightly from last year’s score of 1346. 

Some 92% of the Class of 2023 had at least one business-specific internship before graduation, a slight decrease from the Class of 2022’s 95.76%. Employment outcomes held strong and steady, with 95% of the Class of 2023 securing full-time employment within three months of graduation, compared to 95.76% of the Class of 2022. Among the graduates, the average starting salary was $72,100.

When asked if their first job after graduating was in their desired industry, 91.49% of alumni said that it was.

ANALYTICS CONSULTING PROJECT MOST POPULAR AMONG RECENT GRADUATES

Pittsburgh’s curriculum features seven different business majors and six business-focused certificates. All students must take 15 core courses as well as an Arts and Sciences foundation. Among the alumni that we surveyed through the rankings process, the school’s analytics consulting project was one of the most popular aspects listed.

“I was involved in an analytics consulting project in which I worked with a small group to develop a predictive analytic solution for a real client,” one alumni said. “I also participated in a practicum in which I worked as an analyst for a student managed fund and managed the healthcare sector allocation within the portfolio. Both experiences gave me the opportunity to do practical work with real stakes and build real connections with other driven students and professors.”

ACADEMIC ADVISING, INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES ARE STRENGTHS

We asked the Class of Pittsburgh graduates to appraise the effectiveness of the business school’s academic advising, and the grads gave their school a fairly high rating of 9.21.

In the school survey, Pittsburgh officials mentioned the Tafel Center for Student Success, which houses the business program’s career and academic advising. The school also mentioned that the International Program is integrated within the career and academic services through the Global Business Institute.

“Me and a few other students went to Uruguay with engineers to better understand Latin American supply chains,” one alumni said in the alumni survey. “We were able to visit four of Uruguay’s top companies with robust supply chains and understand the unique challenges that a Latin American country faces. We were immersed with the students, and they also helped us understand Latin American culture.”

Alumni say:

I took a project-based data analytics class as well as a mock consulting engagement class during my time at Pitt. Both of these were perhaps the most impactful courses I took to prepare me for my career. I’m shocked as to how accurate the consulting class layout was to a real engagement I do in the real world. This helped ease my transition to my full time role and make valuable connections with my peers and our “clients” along the way.”

“I took a capstone marketing elective called Projects in Marketing, and the class was divided into teams. We functioned as an in-house ad agency for a real life client, which was Fox Sports, and the MLB All Star game for summer 2019. All semester we worked on a marketing campaign and proposal to help them develop their green initiatives, and we presented to Fox Sports and MLB executives at the end. It was incredible real-world experience and a great way to summarize my marketing degree.”

“I studied abroad twice and served as an international programs ambassador for two years. My global experiences completely altered my approach to not only my professional life, but my personal life and has continued to be impactful several years after my time spent abroad.”

“I participated in a course called Projects in Marketing where we got to build a marketing campaign from the ground up for Acura. It was the most real-world experience I had and it proved to me how much I genuinely am passionate about marketing and what all is possible.”

“Sports classes had real world projects that allowed us in teams to create solutions and new ideas. This was key for me because I was aiming to get into that field and working on projects for professionals already working at pro teams before I even graduated really boosted my confidence not only for the interviewing process but also for the early stages of my new jobs.”