Top Schools
No. 1: Stanford University
22 Ohio St U (Fisher) 89.2 4 29 31 18 611 3.30 23.2 $61,000 97.8 $13,191
23 Emory Univ
(Goizueta) (GA) 89.3 5 28 25 19 626 3.30 33.0 $60,000 96.7 $21,440
24 Purdue Univ
(Krannert) (IN) 89.2 2 21 40 21 603 3.20 20.7 $63,709 93.6 $13,136
25 U of MD-College
Park 87.3 5 53 12 27 640 3.41 18.9 $53,000 95.0 $12,235
The next 25
A Overall score
B Reputation rank by academics
C Reputation rank by recruiters
D Average '96 GMAT score
E '96 median starting salary
F Employed 3 mos. after graduation
Rank/School A B C D E F
26 Michigan State Univ (Broad) 87.0 35 34 610 $54,500 95.2
27 Vanderbilt Univ (Owen) (TN) 86.5 29 24 615 $60,000 93.2
28 Tulane Univ (Freeman) (LA) 86.0 46 37 621 $52,000 96.0
29 Univ of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Carlson) 85.9 24 43 610 $54,750 93.4
30 Penn State Univ (Smeal) 85.2 29 27 616 $53,000 88.2
31 Wash Univ (Olin) (MO) 84.9 24 31 606 $56,509 90.7
32 Case Western Reserve Un (Weatherhead) (OH) 84.8 29 37 603 $53,000 95.7
33 Georgetown Univ (DC) 84.7 35 23 634 $60,000 79.4
34 Univ of Southern California 84.5 24 31 630 $60,000 86.9
35 Univ of Arizona (Eller) 83.1 29 46 610 $50,000 88.5
36 Georgia Inst of Tech 82.7 46 45 632 $51,800 89.3
37 Wake Forest Univ (Babcock) (NC) 82.2 53 36 609 $52,509 87.3
38 Univ of Florida 81.9 35 47 600 $46,199 81.9
38 Univ of Notre Dame (IN) 81.9 53 25 611 $54,500 90.9
40 Univ of Georgia (Terry) 81.8 46 61 630 $45,000 92.6
41 Coll of William and Mary (VA) 81.7 62 41 605 $53,000 96.3
42 Univ of Pittsburgh (Katz) 81.4 29 43 610* $54,000 91.3
43 Arizona State Univ-Main Campus 81.2 35 56 611 $54,800 87.0
44 Univ of Calif-Davis 80.8 53 73 654 $52,000 91.7
45 Texas A&M Univ-College Station 79.5 41 49 608 $44,500 91.4
46 Brigham Young Univ 79.2 53 35 623 $50,000 78.9
46 Univ of Calif-Irvine 79.2 53 86 616 $50,000 97.5
48 Univ of Illinois-Urban-Champaign 78.3 22 33 605 $47,000 82.9
49 Univ of Tennessee-Knoxville 77.7 46 66 600 $50,000 89.6
50 Univ of Wash 77.8 29 39 632 $51,300 75.6
Sources: U.S. News and the schools. Reputational surveys conducted by Market Facts Inc. Response rates to reputational surveys: academics, 56 percent; corporate recruiters, 34 percent.
*signifies a U.S. News estimate.
Methodology
Here's how U.S. News determined rankings for the nation's 300 accredited M.B.A. programs. There were four criteria: student selectivity, placement success, and two measures of reputation.
Student selectivity was based on three indicators for full-time M.B.A.'s entering in the fall of 1996: average scores on the Graduate Management Admission Test (accounting for 65 percent of the total), undergraduate grade point average (30 percent), and the proportion of applicants accepted by the school (5 percent).
Placement success was based on four indicators for the full-time M.B.A. class that graduated in 1996: the proportion employed at graduation, including students continuing on for other graduate degrees (20 percent); the proportion employed thremonths after graduation, including students continuing on for other graduate degrees and one quarter of those whose status was not known but excluding M.B.A. graduates not seeking employment (35 percent); their median starting base salaries excluding sign-up or other performance
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