Best MBA Programs in the U.S. 2009
BusinessWeek's Rankings for Full Time and Part Time MBA
Sep 6, 2009
When it comes to earning a master's degree in business administration, what colleges and universities offer the best programs? To help answer this question, BusinessWeek Magazine annually ranks the top MBA programs in the United States. Because MBA students often are working professionals as opposed to full time students, BusinessWeek ranks both the top full time MBA programs and the top part time MBA programs.
Best Full Time MBA Programs in the United States for 2009
First, BusinessWeek ranks the 30 top full time MBA programs in the country. Here are the top 10 MBA programs on their list.
- University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
- Harvard University, Harvard Business School
- Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
- University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School
- University of Michigan, Ross School of Business
- Stanford University, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- Columbia University, Graduate School of Business
- Duke University, Fuqua School of Business
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management
- University of California Berkeley, Haas School of Business
The top 30 list of MBA programs was dominated by private schools, with only two public schools (the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley) cracking the top 10. This was a notable difference from BusinessWeek's ranking of top undergraduate business schools. Overall, public universities had more representation on this list, including the University of Virginia's McIntire School, which was ranked number one.
As might be expected, eight of the top 30 schools were in the northeast (such as Harvard, Penn, Columbia, Cornell, and MIT). Perhaps surprisingly, eight others were in the South (including Duke, Emory, Georgia Tech, and UT Austin). Although there were less representation overall on the list from the Midwest, three Midwestern schools (University of Chicago, University of Michigan, and Northwestern) were in the top five, and notably two were in the Chicago area.
Best Part Time MBA Programs in the United States for 2009
BusinessWeek also annually ranks the top 30 part-tile MBA programs in America. Here are the ten top part time schools on their list.
- UCLA, Anderson School of Management
- Emory University, Goizueta Business School
- USC, Marshall School of Business
- Loyola Marymount University, College of Business Administration
- Lehigh University, College of Business and Economics
- University of Denver, Daniels College of Business
- University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
- Loyola University Chicago, Graduate School of Business
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Department of Management
- Drexel University, LeBow College of Business
Of course, one thing that all ten of these schools has in common is close proximity to a large metro area, which makes these programs accessible for working professionals. Three of the top ten schools (UCLA, USC, and Loyola Marymount) were all from the the Los Angeles area.
There is certainly some overlap between the full time and part time lists. The University of Chicago, for example, ranked first on the full time list and seventh on the part time list. Notably, however, there were no other programs on both top ten lists.
BusinessWeek Top MBA Rankings
Choosing a full time or part time MBA program is a big decision, and many more factors should weigh in besides the ranking of a school. However, BusinessWeek's well-respected list is one useful piece of information for students as they evaluate potential MBA programs.
 |
