University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business graduates. Notre Dame consistently places towards the top of our alumni survey in the Best Undergraduate B-Schools ranking. Photo courtesy of Mendoza College of Business
When researching undergraduate business schools, some data points should be on every prospective student’s checklist: Total cost, acceptance rate, and employment prospects.
Just as important is delving into what alumni think of their degree.
Each year, as part of Poets&Quants For Undergrads ranking of the best undergraduate business schools, we survey recent graduates on their experience. We ask dozens of questions on everything from cost to career impact, from faculty responsiveness to extracurricular opportunities. No where else can school seekers find so much insider information on so many top business programs all in one place.
Ninety-one U.S. business schools participated in our 2024 ranking, and we sent alumni surveys to the Class of 2021 graduates at each one. (See the full ranking here.) We think two years after graduation is an ideal time to ask alumni to evaluate their programs because they’ve had ample time to gauge their degrees’ usefulness, but it’s not so long ago that they’ve forgotten details of their experience. So, we always survey alumni who graduated two years prior.
This year, we sent surveys to 49,258 eligible alumni and 5,305 responded. We used those responses to calculate the Academic Experience portion of our overall ranking, which accounts for a full third of a school’s final score. We believe student experience matters in any reputable ranking effort. (Read our full ranking methodology here.)
ALUMNI RATE VIRGINIA MCINTIRE THE HIGHEST
For this year, Class of 2021 alumni rated the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce higher than any of the other 91 schools in our ranking.
Across 16 top-of-mind questions, McIntire alumni rated their school an average of 9.5 out of 10 (10 being the highest.) Alumni from McIntire were also most likely to recommend their business school to a friend or family member and rated the quality and accessibility of McIntire faculty at 9.65.
You can see how Class of 2021 alumni rated each of the 91 ranked undergraduate business schools below and on the following pages. Click through each page to see alumni responses, or go to a particular category listed below.
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND YOUR BUSINESS PROGRAM? (See below)
WAS THE DEGREE WORTH THE TIME AND COST? (Page 2)
FACULTY QUALITY & ACCESSIBILITY (Page 3)
ADVISING QUALITY (Page 4)
BUILDING A PROFESSIONAL NETWORK (Page 5)
CLIMBING THE LADDER (Page 6)
CAREER OUTCOMES (Page 7)
SKILL DEVELOPMENT (Page 8)
SIGNATURE EXPERIENCE (Page 9)
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND YOUR BUSINESS PROGRAM?
Perhaps the most important question we ask on the alumni survey is the likelihood they would recommend their undergrad business program to others. At the end of the day – after spending tens of thousands of dollars and several years – it is the ultimate testament to program quality.
There are two questions on our survey that get to the heart of the answer:
- Would you recommend your business program to a close friend, colleague, or family member interested in an undergraduate business degree?
- Evaluate how well the business program prepared you for the world of work.
Each answer is based on a 10-point scale with 10 being the highest or most likely.
