Top US universities for business & management

This article is based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2016. Click here to view the latest version of this article, based on the 2017 results.

Want to study business and management in the United States? The country has no shortage of top business schools to choose from, with 43 US entries in QS’s latest ranking of the world’s top 200 universities for business and management. Read on for an overview of the top 10 business schools in the US.

1. Harvard University

Harvard University overtook the UK’s London Business School to feature at 1^st in the business and management ranking this year, and is ranked 3^rd in the world overall in the QS World University Rankings® 2016-2017. Harvard Business School (HBS), founded in 1908, owns Harvard Business Publishing, which publishes the famous Harvard Business Review magazine. It has an enrolment of just over 2,000 students on MBA and doctoral programs.

2. Stanford University

Ranked 4^th in the world for business and management, Stanford University has one of the most selective business schools in the US, with only around a 7% acceptance rate. Renowned for producing a remarkable number of successful business leaders and entrepreneurs from its alumni, Stanford is located at the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, home to a range of famous high-tech corporations and start-ups.

3. University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is ranked 5^th worldwide for business and management. Its business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, is the oldest of its kind in the US, established in 1881 through a donation from industrialist Joseph Wharton. It has around 5,000 students and 94,000 alumni worldwide, including the CEOs of companies such as Google and Apple.

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – which tops the overall QS World University Rankings – comes 6^th in the business and management ranking. Its Sloan School of Management has an enrolment of approximately 1,600 students and follows the university motto “mens et manus”, or mind and hand, which emphasizes the need to find practical solutions to real-life problems.

5. University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

The next of the top US universities for business and management is the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), which ranks 12^th in the world for business and management. Its Haas School of Business, named after former Levi Strauss & Co. president and chairman Walter A. Haas, is the second-oldest business school in the US (founded in 1898) and educates about 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students.

6. Yale University

Yale University’s Yale School of Management climbed 10 places in 2016 to rank 16^th among the world’s top business schools. It was founded in 1976 and has only around 668 students enrolled. From the 2017-2018 academic year, the school will offer a new one-year master of management studies in systemic risk, the first of its kind in the world.

7. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Back to California, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)’s Anderson School of Management also improved its position this year, climbing five places to rank 17^th for business and management. The school bases its ethics on looking to the future to ‘share success, think fearlessly and drive change’. Established in 1935, it has around 37,000 alumni worldwide.

=8. New York University (NYU)

Ranked joint 19^th in the world for business and management, New York University’s Stern School of Business is one of the oldest and most prestigious business schools in the US. Founded in 1900 as the School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance, it changed its name in honor of alumnus and benefactor Leonard N. Stern in 1988, and is located on the university’s Greenwich Village campus in New York City.

=8. University of Chicago

Sharing 19^th place with NYU among the world’s top business schools, the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business was the first US business school to offer an executive MBA program (in 1943) as well as the first to offer a PhD in business (1920). Seven of Booth’s faculty members are Nobel Laureates and the school has around 49,000 alumni across the world.

=10. Columbia University

Ranked joint 22^nd in the world for business and management, Columbia University is another New York City-based institution, located in Manhattan and therefore the heart of the US’s global business hub. Founded in 1916, it celebrates its centenary this year with a range of events, and prides itself on being ‘at the very center of business’.  

=10. Northwestern University

The final of these top US universities for business is Northwestern University, which shares 22^nd place in the world for this subject. Its Kellogg School of Management was established in 1908 under a different title, gaining its current name in 1979 in honor of John L. Kellogg (the son of the founder of the Kellogg’s cereal company) for his donation to the school.

Other top US universities for business

If you’re looking to study a business and management degree in the US, your options don’t end here – there are many more top US universities in this field. The University of Michigan, Duke University, Cornell University and University of Texas at Austin all feature in the global top 50 for business and management, while 13 more US institutions feature in the top 100. You can view the full business and management ranking here.  

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