Ranking Return On Investment

Special Report: The Best B-Schools

Program Rankings and Profiles

Table: Best U.S. B-Schools of 2008

Table: Best International B-Schools of 2008

In a tough economic environment, a business school education is a big investment, and the payback for that investment becomes more important than ever. Here's a look at the ranked programs in our 2008 rankings of fulltime MBA programs, and a calculation on how long it will take—on average—to recoup that investment. Remember, these numbers will change based on personal circumstance, specifically pre-MBA pay and the post-MBA salary arc of a career.

Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.
ROI
Rank
2008 Best
B-School Ranking
Ranking
School
Total B-School
Costs
Post-MBA Pay
increase
Years to Recoup
B-School Costs
1 2 Int'lIE Business School151,45096,5001.57 
2 2nd TierInt'lCranfield School of Management146,60050,0002.93 
3 2nd TierInt'lManchester Business School179,34560,0002.99 
4 2nd TierInt'lCambridge (Judge)155,00050,0003.10 
5 2nd TierU.S.Michigan State (Broad)173,32953,0003.27 
6 10 Int'lOxford (Said)158,50048,0003.30 
7 2nd TierU.S.Iowa (Tippie)159,34948,0003.32 
8 2nd TierInt'lHEC Paris163,14648,0003.40 
9 2nd TierU.S.Illinois-Urbana Champaign171,13150,0003.42 
10 9 Int'lIESE226,20064,0003.53 
11 3 Int'lINSEAD173,00046,0003.76 
12 2nd TierU.S.Rochester (Simon)193,57651,0003.80 
13 22 U.S.Brigham Young (Marriott)154,48240,0003.86 
14 7 Int'lIMD201,79852,0003.88 
15 15 U.S.Indiana (Kelley)187,04848,0003.90 
16 2nd TierU.S.Connecticut176,62845,0003.93 
17 2nd TierU.S.Ohio State (Fisher)195,69744,5004.40 
18 2nd TierU.S.Thunderbird177,35540,0004.43 
19 20 U.S.Notre Dame (Mendoza)207,84044,5004.67 
20 2nd TierInt'lMcGill (Desautels)157,36933,0004.77 
21 2nd TierU.S.Purdue (Krannert)186,34038,0004.90 
22 2nd TierU.S.Arizona State (Carey)186,70838,0004.91 
23 29 U.S.Georgia Tech197,62240,0004.94 
24 2nd TierU.S.Boston University209,27640,0005.23 
25 2nd TierU.S.Minnesota (Carlson)208,00039,0005.33 
26 18 U.S.Southern Methodist (Cox)220,18440,0005.50 
27 12 U.S.Dartmouth (Tuck)275,40050,0005.51 
28 5 Int'lLondon Business School299,42354,0005.54 
29 2nd TierU.S.Babson (Olin)226,81040,0005.67 
30 19 U.S.Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)250,56444,0005.69 
31 28 U.S.Washington University (Olin)229,80840,0005.75 
32 4 Int'lWestern Ontario (Ivey)145,26025,0005.81 
33 26 U.S.Maryland (Smith)222,33338,0005.85 
34 27 U.S.U. of Washington (Foster)204,94935,0005.86 
35 24 U.S.Yale251,84042,0006.00 
36 1 Int'lQueen's150,89625,0006.04 
37 6 U.S.Stanford302,66450,0006.05 
38 2nd TierU.S.Georgetown (McDonough)241,00039,5006.10 
39 6 Int'lESADE198,50032,5006.11 
40 2nd TierU.S.George Washington200,95032,5006.18 
41 5 U.S.Michigan (Ross)257,28941,5006.20 
42 2nd TierU.S.UC-Irvine (Merage)225,72136,0006.27 
43 8 Int'lToronto (Rotman)221,15535,0006.32 
44 9 U.S.MIT (Sloan)291,86446,0006.34 
45 23 U.S.Emory (Goizueta)244,92238,0006.45 
46 2nd TierInt'lYork (Schulich)184,00027,5006.69 
47 25 U.S.USC (Marshall)234,80035,0006.71 
48 17 U.S.North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)240,33335,0006.87 
49 30 U.S.Vanderbilt (Owen)237,28434,0006.98 
50 2 U.S.Harvard308,30044,0007.01 
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1. Includes tuition & required fees, living expenses, and median forgone salary for entire program. Where applicable, nonresident tuition figures used. Forgone salary based on BusinessWeek survey of recent MBA graduates and may not be representative of entire class. Individual costs may vary widely depending on financial aid, actual pre-MBA salary, and other factors.

2. Based on BusinessWeek survey of recent college graduates and may not be representative of entire class.

3. Calculated by dividing total b-school costs by post-mba pay increase. Does not take into account annual salary increases, bonuses, or stock-based compensation.