We don’t have to tell frequent readers of Poets&Quants For Undergrads that the way we do business in changing. The pandemic, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, the climate crisis and a myriad other factors have impacted everything from how we go to work, what work we do once there (wherever “there” may be these days), and how our work interacts with the world around us.
To keep up, business schools themselves must change. And many are.
Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business – long a top business school for graduate students – launched a brand new program for undergrads in 2021 to create leaders for issues like the energy transition. The first cohort graduates in May.
Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business – known for its pioneering approach to merging technology with business – has a new dean with a strong vision. It recently launched a new minor in FinTech and is infusing AI across its curriculum.
And, the Carlson School of Management at University of Minnesota launched a brand-new curriculum in Fall 2022 centered around three pillars: People & Planet, Data & Decisions, and Foundations & Impact.
You can find many, many more innovative examples of business schools responding to our changing economy at institutions across the country. Too many to count.
For this compilation of the 10 business schools to watch, we looked at the innovations, differentiators, and X-factors preparing business leaders for the big changes that are coming or that are already here. We looked for forward momentum and the ability to adapt and thrive in the face of new challenges and opportunities.
From the large and celebrated, to the ambitious upstarts, to the overlooked gems, here are the 10 schools we’ll be watching in 2024. Click through each to read why they caught our eye.
- Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business
- University of Richmond Robins School of Business
- Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business
- William & Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business
- University of Michigan Ross School of Business
- Loyola Marymount University College of Business Administration
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School
- Lehigh University College of Business
- University of Tennessee Knoxville Haslam College of Business
- University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management