The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has again topped Poets&Quants’ ranking of Best Undergraduate Business Schools, making it the most dominant undergraduate program since we’ve been ranking them.
In fact, Wharton has claimed the No. 1 spot in all but two of the nine rankings we’ve published to date. It finished third in both our inaugural ranking published in 2016 as well as in 2023 when it failed to meet the 10% response threshold for our alumni survey. It is Wharton’s seventh time at the very top, including the last two years.
“Wharton was a transformative experience,” a 2022 alum told us in our alumni survey. “When I got to campus freshman year I didn’t know the difference between a balance sheet and an income statement, and by the time I left I felt ready to launch a company of my own, buy a business to run myself, or work for most any company in the world.
“The caliber of the academics and talent of my classmates was simply extraordinary, and my only regret is that my time there couldn’t have lasted longer. Even going back to campus now for homecomings and alumni weekends, every time I step into Huntsman (Hall), I feel re-energized and re-inspired because of all the memories I made and skills I learned there.”
P&Q’S 10 BEST BUSINESS SCHOOLS IN THE U.S.
Wharton is followed by Cornell University Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, which shot up four spots from last year to No. 2. That’s the school’s highest placement to date.
The University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business slipped one spot to No. 3, followed by Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business at No. 4 and New York University’s Stern School of Business at No. 5.
P&Q’s Top 10 For 2025 |
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2025 Rank |
School |
Total Index Score |
2024 Rank |
YOY Change |
| 1 | University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | 100.0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Cornell University (Dyson SC Johnson) | 98.9 | 6 | 4 |
| 3 | University of Southern California (Marshall) | 97.3 | 2 | -1 |
| 4 | Georgetown University (McDonough) | 96.2 | 3 | -1 |
| 5 | New York University (Stern) | 95.6 | 9 | 4 |
| 6 | Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) | 94.2 | 11 | 5 |
| 7 | University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) | 93.4 | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | Emory University (Goizueta) | 91.7 | 13 | 5 |
| 9 | University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) | 91.2 | 8 | -1 |
| 10 | Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) | 91.1 | 29 | 19 |
Three schools broke into the top 10 this year compared to 2024’s ranking. Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis rose five points to No. 6 after just falling off the top 10 list last year. Emory University Goizueta Business School also rose five spots to No. 8.
Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business continued a steep upward climb rising 19 spots to No. 10. It also rose 17 points in 2024’s ranking and 37 spots in 2023. Tepper didn’t meet its alumni response threshold in 2022, and according to our methodology, was given no credit in our academic experience category – accounting for ⅓ of the overall ranking. It fell to No. 83 that year, despite being a top 10 school the two years prior. We have since changed our methodology to give schools partial credit for alumni survey scores even if they don’t meet the response threshold as well as using a three-year average on alumni scores to make the punishment much less harsh.
WHARTON TOPS TWO OF THREE CATEGORIES
The Wharton School topped two of three methodological categories this year – Admission Standards and Career Outcomes – just as it did in 2024’s ranking. Together, those categories account for 66.7% of the total score.
In Academic Experience (as measured by our alumni survey), it went from 30th of 91 ranked programs in 2024 to 41st of 104 ranked programs in 2025.
Following Wharton, No. 2 Cornell (Dyson SC Johnson) ranked highest in Admission Standards, coming in second of all ranked schools. It also finished third in Career Outcomes and ninth in Academic Experience.
No. 3 USC Marshall came in second in Academic Experience, third in Admission Standards, and seventh in Career Outcomes.
You can see how each of the Top 10 schools fared in each of the three categories in the chart below, and then click through page 3-5 for more detailed results for each.
Top 10 Category Scores |
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2025 Rank |
School |
Admissions |
Career |
Experience |
Total (Out of 300) |
| 1 | University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | 100.0 | 100.0 | 88.9 | 288.9 |
| 2 | Cornell University (Dyson SC Johnson) | 97.3 | 91.4 | 96.9 | 285.7 |
| 3 | University of Southern California (Marshall) | 94.7 | 86.7 | 99.8 | 281.2 |
| 4 | Georgetown University (McDonough) | 89.2 | 92.1 | 96.5 | 277.8 |
| 5 | New York University (Stern) | 94.6 | 87.6 | 93.9 | 276.1 |
| 6 | Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) | 91.6 | 87.1 | 93.6 | 272.3 |
| 7 | University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) | 89.8 | 84.3 | 95.8 | 269.9 |
| 8 | Emory University (Goizueta) | 93.8 | 81.9 | 89.1 | 264.8 |
| 9 | University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) | 83.2 | 83.6 | 96.7 | 263.6 |
| 10 | Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) | 91.1 | 86.2 | 85.9 | 263.2 |
TOP SCHOOLS BY CATEGORY
If you compare the top 10 schools in the overall ranking with the top five finishers in each of our three ranking categories, you’re going to see a lot of the same names. But there is some variation.
No. 23 ranked Indiana University Kelley School of Business finished first in Academic Experience based on responses from its alumni survey, as well as the surveys of two previous classes. On 17 survey questions getting at the heart of the student experience at Kelley, Class of 2022 alumni rated it an average 9.4 out of 10 possible points. Further, 94% of alumni said their first job after graduation was in their desired industry and in a desired company.
The table below shows the top five finishers in our three ranking categories, each accounting for a third of the final score.
Admission Standards |
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Admissions Rank |
School |
Admission Index Score |
2025 Overall Rank |
| 1 | University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | 100.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Cornell University (Dyson SC Johnson) | 97.3 | 2 |
| 3 | University of Southern California (Marshall) | 94.7 | 3 |
| 4 | New York University (Stern) | 94.6 | 5 |
| 5 | Emory University (Goizueta) | 93.8 | 8 |
Career Outcomes |
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Career Rank |
School |
Career Index Score |
2025 Overall Rank |
| 1 | University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | 100.0 | 1 |
| 2 | Georgetown University (McDonough) | 92.1 | 4 |
| 3 | Cornell University (Dyson SC Johnson) | 91.4 | 2 |
| 4 | University of Michigan (Ross) | 90.2 | 11 |
| 5 | New York University (Stern) | 87.6 | 5 |
Academic Experience |
|||
Experience Rank |
School |
Experience Index Score |
2025 Overall Rank |
| 1 | Indiana University (Kelley) | 100.0 | 23 |
| 2 | University of Southern California (Marshall) | 99.8 | 3 |
| 3 | University of Virginia (McIntire) | 99.5 | 14 |
| 3 | University of Illinois (Gies) | 99.5 | 19 |
| 5 | Texas Christian University (Neeley) | 98.6 | 28 |
NEXT PAGE: 2025 Methodological Updates + The Biggest Risers and Fallers
DON’T MISS THESE STORIES IN OUR 2025 RANKING PACKAGE
- Poets&Quants’ Best Undergraduate Business Schools Of 2025
- The Complete Methodology
- How Alumni Rate Their Undergraduate Business Degrees
- Average SAT, ACT, & GPA Scores At The Top B-Schools
- First-Year Salary, Bonus, & Total Compensation For 2024 Business Graduates
