Undergraduate students walk through a corridor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, which stands alone at No. 1 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 ranking of undergraduate business programs.
The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School regained its solo standing atop U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 ranking of undergraduate business programs, breaking last year’s tie with MIT Sloan. It held onto the No. 1 spot with the highest reputation score in the field.
Wharton earned a 4.8 peer assessment score, edging MIT’s 4.7. MIT, which shared first place with Wharton in the 2026 ranking, slipped to No. 2 this year. Last year’s tie momentarily broke Wharton’s stand-along dominance of undergraduate business school programs when it had topped U.S. News’ ranking for at least five straight years while topping Poets&Quants’ undergrad ranking for eight.
Wharton also topped U.S. News’ specialization rankings in Finance, Management and Marketing. It appears in the top five in 10 of the 13 specialties. (See table on page 2.)
Following MIT, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business held steady at No. 3 with a 4.6 reputation score.
U.S. NEWS TOP 10 UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOLS FOR 2027 |
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| 2027 Rank | 2026 Rank | Change | University (Business School) | SAT/ACT | Tuition: Out-of-State (In-State) |
Reputation Score
|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | 1510-1570 SAT / 34-35 ACT | $73,978 | 4.8 |
| 2 | 1 | -1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) | 1520-1580 SAT / 34-35 ACT | $67,140 | 4.7 |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | University of California-Berkeley (Haas) | N/A SAT / N/A ACT | $57,736 ($18,466) | 4.6 |
| 4 | 5 | 1 | New York University (Stern) | 1480-1560 SAT / 34-35 ACT | $68,576 | 4.5 |
| 4 | 4 | 0 | University of Michigan (Ross) | 1370-1530 SAT / 32-34 ACT | $69,447 ($20,082) | 4.5 |
| 6 | 6 | 0 | Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) | 1500-1570 SAT / 34-36 ACT | $70,816 | 4.3 |
| 6 | 8 | 2 | Cornell University (Dyson) | 1480-1560 SAT / 33-35 ACT | $74,970 | 4.3 |
| 6 | 8 | 2 | Indiana University (Kelley) | 1200-1410 SAT / 28-33 ACT | $42,703 ($12,144) | 4.3 |
| 6 | 8 | 2 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler) | 1390-1530 SAT / 29-34 ACT | $49,601 ($9,359) | 4.3 |
| 6 | 6 | 0 | University of Texas-Austin (McCombs) | 1200-1470 SAT / 26-33 ACT | $44,816 ($11,656) | 4.3 |
Below them, the top of the ranking compressed into a series of ties due to the ranking’s reliance on the so-called “reputation score” (more on that later.)
New York University’s Stern School rose one spot to join Michigan Ross at No. 4. Stern’s move was the only change among the top five schools beyond MIT’s one-position dip.
Then comes a five-school traffic jam at No. 6. Cornell Dyson, Indiana Kelley, and UNC Kenan-Flagler each climbed two spots from No. 8.
The reshuffling pushed USC Marshall, tied at No. 8 last year, just outside the top 10 schools to No. 11.
2027’s BIG MOVERS
Among U.S. News’ Top 100, Rutgers Business School–New Brunswick made by far the biggest jump up the ranking, rising 38 places from No. 77 to No. 39. Its 3.5 reputation score put Rutgers into an 11-school tie at that position. Drexel LeBow and Iowa State’s Ivy College of Business posted the next-largest gains, each climbing 26 spots, from No. 109 to No. 83.
The largest drops were smaller in magnitude. Oklahoma’s Price College of Business suffered the steepest fall, dropping 21 positions from No. 51 to No. 72. The Air Force Academy and Missouri Trulaske each fell 19 spots, from No. 64 to No. 83.
Those swings should be taken with a grain of salt. Because U.S. News bases its undergraduate business ranking entirely on peer reputation scores — and because so many schools earn identical scores — even modest changes in peer assessments can move a school from one large tie group to another and produce an eye-catching numerical jump or fall. In other words, a 38-place jump means Rutgers moved from a school assigned No. 77 last year into this year’s No. 39 tie group. It does not mean U.S. News determined that Rutgers became 38 discrete places “better” in academic quality.
US News Top 100 Jumps & Falls |
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Largest leaps |
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| 2027 Rank | 2026 Rank | Change | University (Business School) | SAT/ACT | Tuition out of state (in state) |
Reputation Score
|
| 39 | 77 | 38 | Rutgers University–New Brunswick (Rutgers Business School) | 1320-1490 SAT / 29-34 ACT | $40,839 ($19,389) | 3.5 |
| 83 | 109 | 26 | Drexel University (LeBow) | 1260-1440 SAT / 28-33 ACT | $65,448 | 3.1 |
| 83 | 109 | 26 | Iowa State University of Science & Technology (Ivy) | 1150-1370 SAT / 21-28 ACT | $31,450 ($11,402) | 3.1 |
| 58 | 77 | 19 | Fordham University (Gabelli) | 1340-1490 SAT / 30-34 ACT | $70,474 | 3.3 |
| 58 | 77 | 19 | Rochester Institute of Technology (Saunders) | 1290-1460 SAT / 30-34 ACT | $64,608 | 3.3 |
| 72 | 88 | 16 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Lally) | 1370-1520 SAT / 31-34 ACT | $67,976 | 3.2 |
| 72 | 88 | 16 | University of Cincinnati (Lindner) | 1160-1360 SAT / 24-30 ACT | $30,158 ($14,824) | 3.2 |
| 50 | 64 | 14 | Northeastern University (D’Amore-McKim) | 1430-1530 SAT / 33-34 ACT | $72,700 | 3.4 |
| 50 | 64 | 14 | William & Mary (Mason) | 1390-1520 SAT / 32-34 ACT | $53,678 ($27,235) | 3.4 |
| 39 | 51 | 12 | Southern Methodist University (Cox) | 1340-1480 SAT / 31-34 ACT | $71,816 | 3.5 |
| 39 | 51 | 12 | The University of Texas at Dallas (Jindal) | 1160-1400 SAT / 24-32 ACT | $40,164 ($14,664) | 3.5 |
| 39 | 51 | 12 | Virginia Tech (Pamplin) | 1280-1450 SAT / 28-32 ACT | $39,577 ($17,087) | 3.5 |
Steepest Falls |
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| 2027 Rank | 2026 Rank | Change | University (Business School) | SAT/ACT | Tuition out of state (in state) |
Reputation Score
|
| 33 | 24 | -9 | Michigan State University (Broad) | 1160-1360 SAT / 26-31 ACT | $46,094 ($19,742) | 3.6 |
| 50 | 41 | -9 | George Washington University | 1360-1490 SAT / 31-34 ACT | $72,420 | 3.4 |
| 50 | 41 | -9 | University of Oregon (Lundquist) | 1040-1330 SAT / 22-30 ACT | $45,361 ($16,509) | 3.4 |
| 50 | 41 | -9 | University of South Carolina (Darla Moore) | 1190-1370 SAT / 26-32 ACT | $38,498 ($12,688) | 3.4 |
| 50 | 41 | -9 | University of Utah (Eccles) | 1110-1330 SAT / 22-29 ACT | $36,368 ($11,166) | 3.4 |
| 58 | 41 | -17 | University of Arkansas (Walton) | 1020-1220 SAT / 20-27 ACT | $33,184 ($10,916) | 3.3 |
| 83 | 64 | -19 | United States Air Force Academy | 1230-1440 SAT / 26-33 ACT | N/A | 3.1 |
| 83 | 64 | -19 | University of Missouri (Trulaske) | 1170-1350 SAT / 23-30 ACT | $39,324 ($16,162) | 3.1 |
| 72 | 51 | -21 | University of Oklahoma (Price) | 1140-1310 SAT / 23-28 ACT | $28,301 ($10,181) | 3.2 |
NEXT PAGE: U.S. News’ B-School Rankings by Specialization
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