Poets&Quants For Undergrads - 2026 Best Business Schools | How Alumni Rate Their Undergraduate Business Degrees

Wharton Launches New AI for Business MBA Major + Undergrad Concentration

The Wharton School’s Huntsman Hall at the University of Pennsylvania. Courtesy photo

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

We asked alumni to rate their program’s effectiveness at instilling both soft and business skills.

How would you rate the opportunities given to you in the business program to nurture and improve your soft skills in business (verbal and written communication skills, adaptability, delegation, time management, etc.)?
2026 Rank	School	Soft Skills Development
65	University of Evansville (Schroeder)	9.7
45	Marquette University	9.6
2	University of Virginia (McIntire)	9.6
1	University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)	9.5
5	University of Southern California (Marshall)	9.5
10	Emory University (Goizueta)	9.4
15	Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller)	9.4
15	University of Illinois (Gies)	9.4
31	Trinity University (Neidorff)	9.4
9	University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)	9.4
83	Roger Williams University (Gabelli)	9.4
30	Tulane University (Freeman)	9.4
25	Southern Methodist University (Cox)	9.4
8	University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)	9.4
4	University of Michigan (Ross)	9.4
49	University of Dayton	9.3
17	University of Richmond (Robins)	9.3
11	Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)	9.3
28	Texas Christian University (Neeley)	9.3
88	Longwood University	9.3
35	Brigham Young University (Marriott)	9.2
41	Fairfield University (Dolan)	9.2
40	University of Colorado Boulder (Leeds)	9.2
53	The Catholic University of America (Busch)	9.2
24	William & Mary (Mason)	9.2
7	Georgetown University (McDonough)	9.2
39	Miami University (Farmer)	9.2
13	Wake Forest University	9.2
63	University of New Hampshire (Paul)	9.1
75	Marian University (Indianapolis)	9.1
47	University of Tennessee (Haslam)	9.1
3	Cornell University (Dyson SC Johnson)	9.1
56	Susquehanna University (Weis)	9.1
32	Purdue University (Daniels)	9.1
59	Bryant University	9.1
43	Providence College	9.1
51	Butler University (Lacy)	9.1
22	University of Miami (Herbert)	9.1
27	Binghamton University	9.0
14	Villanova University	9.0
18	Boston University (Questrom)	9.0
6	New York University (Stern)	9.0
91	Texas Tech University (Rawls)	9.0
81	Hult International Business School	9.0
50	Loyola Marymount University	8.9
77	Christopher Newport University (Luter)	8.9
61	Florida Southern College (Barnett)	8.9
57	Texas A&M University (Mays)	8.9
29	Fordham University (Gabelli)	8.9
70	St. John’s University (Tobin)	8.8
69	University of San Diego (Knauss)	8.8
21	University of Wisconsin-Madison	8.8
82	Duquesne University (Palumbo Donahue)	8.8
67	The College of New Jersey	8.8
58	Seton Hall University (Stillman)	8.8
33	Elon University (Love)	8.8
23	University of Minnesota (Carlson)	8.8
102	University of the Pacific (Eberhardt)	8.8
52	University of Houston (Bauer)	8.7
36	University of Georgia (Terry)	8.7
97	Iona University (LaPenta)	8.7
19	University of Washington (Foster)	8.7
38	Bucknell University (Freeman)	8.7
26	University of Pittsburgh	8.7
72	Adelphi University (Willumstad)	8.7
20	Northeastern University (D’Amore-McKim)	8.7
78	University of Connecticut	8.7
12	Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)	8.7
37	Syracuse University (Whitman)	8.6
68	University of South Carolina (Darla Moore)	8.6
64	University of Delaware (Lerner)	8.6
89	Texas State University (McCoy)	8.6
84	Ohio University	8.6
66	University of St. Thomas (Opus)	8.6
93	University of North Carolina-Wilmington (Cameron)	8.5
108	Northern Illinois University	8.5
34	Lehigh University	8.5
99	Sacred Heart University	8.5
105	Florida International University	8.5
90	Bowling Green State University (Schmidthorst)	8.5
101	University of Kansas	8.5
46	University of Massachusetts at Amherst (Isenberg)	8.4
80	Saint Louis University (Chaifetz)	8.4
107	Stony Brook University	8.4
92	University of Mary Washington	8.4
87	Hofstra University (Zarb)	8.4
95	Ithaca College	8.4
74	Rutgers Business School – Newark	8.3
79	Drexel University (LeBow)	8.3
110	Kennesaw State University (Coles)	8.3
85	University of Denver (Daniels)	8.3
61	University of Missouri-Columbia (Trulaske)	8.2
104	San Jose State University (Lucas)	8.2
73	Towson University	8.2
109	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Lubar)	8.2
94	University of Texas at Dallas (Jindal)	8.1
106	Oregon State University	8.1
96	American University (Kogod)	8.1
55	Rutgers Business School – New Brunswick	8.0
60	North Carolina State University (Poole)	8.0
54	Lipscomb University	8.0
103	San Diego State University (Fowler)	7.9
98	University of Michigan-Dearborn	7.9
86	University of Oregon (Lundquist)	7.9
42	University of Rochester (Simon)	7.7
76	Seattle University (Albers)	7.6
71	Rochester Institute of Technology (Saunders)	7.5
44	Case Western Reserve University (Weatherhead)	7.5
48	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	7.5
100	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Lally)	7.3

How would you appraise the extra-curricular opportunities available to you in the business program for nurturing and improving your skills in business?
2026 Rank	School	Extracurriculars
15	University of Illinois (Gies)	9.7
1	University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)	9.5
49	University of Dayton	9.5
5	University of Southern California (Marshall)	9.4
15	Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller)	9.3
9	University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)	9.3
2	University of Virginia (McIntire)	9.3
8	University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)	9.3
4	University of Michigan (Ross)	9.2
53	The Catholic University of America (Busch)	9.2
45	Marquette University	9.2
41	Fairfield University (Dolan)	9.2
12	Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)	9.2
39	Miami University (Farmer)	9.1
83	Roger Williams University (Gabelli)	9.1
11	Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)	9.1
3	Cornell University (Dyson SC Johnson)	9.1
17	University of Richmond (Robins)	9.1
63	University of New Hampshire (Paul)	9.1
38	Bucknell University (Freeman)	9.1
6	New York University (Stern)	9.1
25	Southern Methodist University (Cox)	9.1
30	Tulane University (Freeman)	9.1
27	Binghamton University	9.0
88	Longwood University	9.0
32	Purdue University (Daniels)	9.0
28	Texas Christian University (Neeley)	9.0
24	William & Mary (Mason)	9.0
7	Georgetown University (McDonough)	9.0
75	Marian University (Indianapolis)	8.9
57	Texas A&M University (Mays)	8.9
47	University of Tennessee (Haslam)	8.9
10	Emory University (Goizueta)	8.8
50	Loyola Marymount University	8.8
36	University of Georgia (Terry)	8.8
35	Brigham Young University (Marriott)	8.8
64	University of Delaware (Lerner)	8.8
56	Susquehanna University (Weis)	8.8
26	University of Pittsburgh	8.8
21	University of Wisconsin-Madison	8.8
72	Adelphi University (Willumstad)	8.7
14	Villanova University	8.7
31	Trinity University (Neidorff)	8.7
90	Bowling Green State University (Schmidthorst)	8.7
59	Bryant University	8.7
29	Fordham University (Gabelli)	8.7
107	Stony Brook University	8.6
40	University of Colorado Boulder (Leeds)	8.6
78	University of Connecticut	8.6
19	University of Washington (Foster)	8.6
37	Syracuse University (Whitman)	8.6
51	Butler University (Lacy)	8.6
67	The College of New Jersey	8.6
68	University of South Carolina (Darla Moore)	8.5
77	Christopher Newport University (Luter)	8.5
69	University of San Diego (Knauss)	8.5
58	Seton Hall University (Stillman)	8.5
52	University of Houston (Bauer)	8.5
65	University of Evansville (Schroeder)	8.5
18	Boston University (Questrom)	8.5
13	Wake Forest University	8.5
61	Florida Southern College (Barnett)	8.5
34	Lehigh University	8.4
33	Elon University (Love)	8.4
97	Iona University (LaPenta)	8.4
84	Ohio University	8.4
95	Ithaca College	8.4
22	University of Miami (Herbert)	8.4
70	St. John’s University (Tobin)	8.4
91	Texas Tech University (Rawls)	8.4
80	Saint Louis University (Chaifetz)	8.4
101	University of Kansas	8.4
46	University of Massachusetts at Amherst (Isenberg)	8.4
23	University of Minnesota (Carlson)	8.4
99	Sacred Heart University	8.3
20	Northeastern University (D’Amore-McKim)	8.3
81	Hult International Business School	8.3
105	Florida International University	8.3
43	Providence College	8.3
110	Kennesaw State University (Coles)	8.2
66	University of St. Thomas (Opus)	8.2
87	Hofstra University (Zarb)	8.2
61	University of Missouri-Columbia (Trulaske)	8.2
102	University of the Pacific (Eberhardt)	8.2
82	Duquesne University (Palumbo Donahue)	8.2
89	Texas State University (McCoy)	8.1
74	Rutgers Business School – Newark	8.1
93	University of North Carolina-Wilmington (Cameron)	8.1
71	Rochester Institute of Technology (Saunders)	8.1
55	Rutgers Business School – New Brunswick	8.0
108	Northern Illinois University	7.9
79	Drexel University (LeBow)	7.8
103	San Diego State University (Fowler)	7.7
73	Towson University	7.7
86	University of Oregon (Lundquist)	7.7
109	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Lubar)	7.7
76	Seattle University (Albers)	7.7
96	American University (Kogod)	7.6
85	University of Denver (Daniels)	7.6
54	Lipscomb University	7.6
60	North Carolina State University (Poole)	7.5
44	Case Western Reserve University (Weatherhead)	7.5
106	Oregon State University	7.5
104	San Jose State University (Lucas)	7.5
94	University of Texas at Dallas (Jindal)	7.4
98	University of Michigan-Dearborn	7.2
42	University of Rochester (Simon)	7.2
48	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	7.0
92	University of Mary Washington	6.8
100	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Lally)	6.8

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