Wednesday November 4, 2009
Subscribe Now

The Top Undergraduate Business Programs

Special Report: Top Undergraduate B-Schools

Slide Show: The Top 50 Undergrad Business Schools

Methodology: How We Make the Rankings

Use this interactive table to examine BusinessWeek's 2008 rankings

What a difference a year makes. When BusinessWeek ranked the nation's top undergraduate business programs last year, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School came out on top, with the University of Virginia a distant second. How distant? Relative positions are based on an "index number," which reflects the sum total of all five parts of our ranking methodology. As the No. 1 program, Wharton scored 100 points on the index, and Virginia 92.7--a chasm in a ranking where the differences between schools can be measured in tenths or even hundredths of a point.

This year, Virginia gained more than six points, coming within a hair's breadth of Wharton and the coveted No. 1 spot. The reason: Wharton's student and recruiter satisfaction ebbed somewhat, and Virginia's median starting salary for grads increased more than 10%, to $58,000. Last year's No. 7 school, Notre Dame, ousted University of California-Berkeley to reclaim the No. 3 spot it held in 2006, the first year of our ranking, a modest move of just four spots. But its performance on the index was even more impressive than Virginia's--it rocketed up 12 points, to 96.7.

Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.

2008 Rank	2007 Rank	School Name	School Type	Program Length (in years)	Annual Cost(in dollars)	Full-time Enrollment	Student Survey Rank	Recruiter Survey Rank	Median Starting Salary	MBA Feeder School Rank	Academic Quality Rank	Index Number	Faculty Student Ratio	Average SAT Score	Average ACT Score	Teaching Quality Grade	Facilities & Service Grade	Job Placement Grade

1	1	Pennsylvania (Wharton) Philadelphia	Private	4	35,916	2,519	8	7	60,000	8	1	100.0	11.25	1439	NA	A+	A+	A+
2	2	Virginia (McIntire) Charlottesville	Public	2	8,690	652	1	44	58,000	2	3	99.0	10.52	1350	NA	A+	A+	A+
3	7	Notre Dame (Mendoza) South Bend, Ind.	Private	3	35,187	1,626	2	18	53,500	12	6	96.7	18.07	1379	31	A+	A+	A+
4	10	Cornell Ithaca, N.Y.	Private	4	19,291	708	5	33	55,000	1	13	91.9	19.14	1336	29	A+	A+	A+
5	4	Emory (Goizueta) Atlanta	Private	2	34,336	622	3	38	55,000	9	7	91.2	9.72	1364	NA	A+	A+	A
6	5	Michigan (Ross) Ann Arbor	Public	3	12,585	1,069	17	15	60,000	7	8	90.6	14.07	1332	30	B	A	A+
7	8	Brigham Young (Marriott) Provo, Utah	Private	2	3,840	1,616	6	1	48,000	21	33	89.2	18.16	1232	27	A	A+	A
8	9	NYU (Stern) New York	Private	4	36,524	2,335	10	17	60,000	24	4	89.0	11.73	1438	31.1	A+	A	A+
9	6	MIT (Sloan) Cambridge, Mass.	Private	3	34,986	246	4	49	61,118	10	10	88.4	2.41	1387	31	A+	A+	A+
10	13	Texas (McCombs) Austin	Public	4	8,908	3,969	15	2	49,500	16	45	84.6	42.22	1315	28	A	A	A+
11	3	UC-Berkeley (Haas) Berkeley, Calif.	Public	2	8,384	700	14	12	57,000	6	55	82.3	35.00	1369	NA	A	A+	A+
12	15	North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) Chapel Hill	Public	2	5,340	658	12	52	53,500	3	16	81.3	21.93	1331	NA	A	A+	A
13	12	Villanova Villanova, Pa.	Private	4	34,900	1,804	11	25	50,000	33	9	80.0	16.55	1295	29	A+	A	A+
14	14	Boston College (Carroll) Boston	Private	4	35,674	1,970	22	5	50,000	15	30	79.6	26.98	1324	29	A+	B	A+
15	16	Washington U. (Olin) St. Louis	Private	4	35,524	758	24	26	55,000	5	24	77.7	11.66	1430	32	A+	A+	C
16	18	Indiana (Kelley) Bloomington	Public	4	7,958	4,069	9	14	50,000	30	28	77.3	22.48	1253	28	A	B	A+
17	19	USC (Marshall) Los Angeles	Private	4	35,810	3,497	30	3	58,000	37	44	76.9	27.98	1370	NA	A	A	A+
18	22	Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Public	4	12,232	2,649	41	4	53,000	18	29	75.8	26.49	1340	30	C	B	A+
19	11	Georgetown (McDonough) Washington, D.C.	Private	4	35,740	1,297	39	42	60,000	4	23	75.4	23.16	1355	30	A+	C	B
20	23	Richmond (Robins) Richmond, Va.	Private	2	38,850	670	20	88	51,750	13	5	75.2	12.88	1284	29	A+	A	B
21	17	Wake Forest (Calloway) Winston-Salem, N.C.	Private	2	34,330	415	45	43	53,500	17	2	74.6	15.96	1329	NA	A+	A+	B
22	21	Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) Pittsburgh	Private	4	37,544	450	65	31	60,000	11	11	73.3	9.38	1389	30	A	C	B
23	24	SMU (Cox) Dallas	Private	4	33,170	917	7	90	48,500	19	15	72.8	16.38	1396	32	A+	A	A+
24	35	Miami U. (Farmer) Oxford, Ohio	Public	2	11,875	2,025	44	10	45,766	26	14	72.6	15.34	NA	26.9	A	B	A
25	20	Lehigh Bethlehem, Pa.	Private	4	35,610	1,434	31	24	55,000	28	21	72.4	22.06	1298	NA	A+	A	A
26	40	Rensselaer Polytech (Lally) Troy, N.Y.	Private	4	35,885	374	27	22	55,000	36	25	71.6	12.06	1233	NA	A	A+	A
27	34	Fordham New York	Private	4	32,720	1,866	52	13	54,221	58	34	67.3	20.50	1177	26	A	A	B
28	33	Babson Babson Park, Mass.	Private	4	34,112	1,799	21	59	51,000	43	20	65.9	20.21	1244	27	A+	A+	A
29	29	William & Mary (Mason) Williamsburg, Va.	Public	2	9,164	453	36	83	52,224	14	17	65.4	10.53	1307	29	A+	A	B
30	31	Bentley Waltham, Mass.	Private	4	32,896	3,810	18	50	47,500	63	37	63.7	28.86	1230	26	A	A+	A
31	50	Texas A & M (Mays) College Station	Public	4	7,266	3,856	16	9	46,400	40	83	63.3	33.24	1186	NA	B	A	A+
32	39	Texas Christian (Neeley) Fort Worth	Private	4	24,865	1,727	13	75	50,000	41	43	63.3	27.41	1180	25	A	A+	A
33	25	U. of Washington Seattle	Public	2	6,385	1,750	37	36	47,500	39	26	63.2	20.83	1218	26	B	A+	A
34	26	Northeastern Boston	Private	4	31,899	2,921	28	64	50,716	65	22	63.2	22.82	1273	NA	B	B	A+
35	27	Santa Clara Santa Clara, Calif.	Private	4	33,000	1,860	48	16	51,000	44	53	62.3	29.06	1206	NA	A	C	A
36	38	Baylor (Hankamer) Waco, Tex.	Private	4	25,340	2,565	26	51	45,000	56	27	62.1	21.02	1180	25	A	A	B
37	28	Wisconsin (Madison)	Public	2	7,460	1,312	19	60	48,000	23	42	61.8	24.75	1275	28	B	A	A+
38	36	Penn State (Smeal) University Park	Public	4	14,343	5,492	34	8	49,000	50	76	61.1	49.04	1213	26	B	A	A
39	48	Michigan State (Broad) East Lansing	Public	2	10,090	2,065	35	6	47,750	42	72	61.0	24.88	1140	24	B	A	A
40	74	Binghamton Binghamton, N.Y.	Public	4	6,012	870	79	11	57,000	20	62	59.8	26.36	1281	26	C	B	B
41	52	Case Western (Weatherhead) Cleveland, Ohio	Private	4	33,538	405	67	55	47,500	57	12	58.5	13.50	1270	27	A+	B	C
42	37	Boston U. Boston	Private	4	34,930	1,979	60	66	49,147	25	19	58.1	18.67	1285	28	A	A	C
43	30	Maryland (Smith) College Park	Public	4	7,968	2,877	51	53	50,360	38	35	57.7	20.85	1360	30	B	B	B
44	56	Georgia (Terry) Athens	Public	2	5,622	2,388	32	20	44,000	47	66	56.7	24.12	1233	27	B	A	A
45	NR	Loyola College (Sellinger) Baltimore	Private	2	42,730	926	71	28	42,000	45	18	56.7	14.94	1215	NA	B	C	C
46	43	Florida (Warrington) Gainesville	Public	2	3,372	2,177	62	19	44,000	52	47	55.9	21.77	1255	27	C	B	B
47	46	U. San Diego San Diego, Calif.	Private	4	32,564	1,077	46	47	47,000	31	46	55.7	18.89	1175	26.1	A+	B	B
48	42	Minnesota (Carlson) Minneapolis	Public	4	10,498	1,863	49	70	48,532	51	38	55.1	29.57	1298	27.8	C	B	A
49	47	U. of Miami Coral Gables, Fla.	Private	4	34,720	2,089	42	84	45,000	60	31	54.3	14.82	1268	28.7	B	A+	C
50	32	Rutgers New Brunswick, N.J.	Public	2	10,949	780	89	21	54,000	22	57	53.3	18.14	1223	NA	C	C	B
51	53	George Washington Washington, D.C.	Private	4	39,210	1,639	69	54	47,467	32	39	53.2	34.15	1270	27.4	A	B	C
52	NR	Syracuse (Whitman) Syracuse, N.Y.	Private	4	31,686	1,710	61	37	50,000	48	59	53.2	32.88	1186	25.2	B	B	B
53	49	Marquette Milwaukee	Private	4	26,678	1,531	56	62	46,000	61	36	53.1	23.55	1207	26.6	B	B	B
54	51	James Madison Harrisonburg, Va.	Public	4	6,666	3,690	23	80	46,000	53	63	52.9	30.25	1140	23	A	B	A
55	44	Georgia Tech Atlanta	Public	4	5,038	1,246	40	41	48,000	55	65	52.3	23.14	1266	NA	A	A	A
56	45	Clemson Clemson, S.C.	Public	4	9,970	2,366	43	87	49,000	76	52	52.2	26.29	1213	26	B	A	B
57	NR	Seton Hall (Stillman) South Orange, N.J.	Private	4	37,860	1,838	81	32	52,499	90	56	52.1	38.29	1168	NA	B	C	C
58	NR	Rochester Institute of Technology (Saunders) Rochester, N.Y.	Private	4	26,481	696	72	39	47,250	64	40	51.2	15.13	1158	24	B	B	C
59	41	Ohio State (Fisher) Columbus	Public	4	9,657	3,109	29	30	45,075	72	85	50.2	38.38	NA	27	B	A	A
60	61	Delaware (Lerner) Newark	Public	4	7,780	2,377	50	85	44,785	46	48	49.7	22.01	1201	NA	A	A	A
61	64	Connecticut Storrs	Public	4	8,852	1,867	75	81	50,000	78	32	49.5	16.52	1227	26	C	C	B
62	60	Purdue (Krannert) West Lafayette, Ind.	Public	4	8,394	2,703	58	35	46,500	27	75	48.6	39.17	1160	25	C	B	A
63	55	Arizona (Eller) Tucson	Public	2	5,848	1,419	38	40	42,491	66	71	48.6	22.89	1140	24	B	A	B
64	57	Bryant Smithfield, R.I.	Private	4	27,639	2,717	55	96	43,796	87	60	45.9	37.22	1143	23.1	B	B	B
65	NR	Drexel (LeBow) Philadelphia	Private	4	29,095	2,605	93	27	47,000	83	51	45.6	25.79	1168	24	B	C	A
66	67	Tulane (Freeman) New Orleans	Private	4	37,500	1,140	68	95	48,000	29	61	44.7	20.36	1246	29	A	B	C
67	NR	Denver (Daniels) Denver	Private	4	31,428	2,302	59	65	40,000	82	58	44.5	29.99	1163	26	A	B	C
68	73	Alabama (Culverhouse) Tuscaloosa	Public	2	5,700	2,100	25	68	45,000	84	87	44.1	20.59	1105	24.3	B	A+	A
69	77	Florida State Tallahassee	Public	4	3,450	4,641	33	48	42,000	77	92	43.6	40.71	1195	26	B	B	A
70	66	Arizona State (Carey)Tempe	Public	4	5,622	2,848	78	29	46,500	70	80	42.7	28.20	1159	25	B	C	B
71	NR	St. Louis (Cook) St. Louis	Private	4	28,480	1,403	87	82	43,000	88	41	41.8	21.92	1157	25	B	C	C
72	NR	College of New Jersey Ewing	Public	4	11,567	1,074	91	93	49,000	71	54	41.2	32.55	1224	NA	B	B	B
73	63	Colorado State Ft. Collins, Colo.	Public	4	5,598	1,972	63	71	43,500	79	74	40.2	29.00	1159	26	B	B	C
74	72	Oregon (Lundquist) Eugene	Public	2	6,624	902	76	45	41,000	49	70	40.2	14.32	1130	26	C	A	B
75	69	Howard Washington, D.C.	Private	4	14,020	1,371	94	67	51,354	35	49	39.8	22.11	1066	24	B	C	A+
76	84	Missouri (Trulaske) Columbia	Public	2	8,170	1,351	47	58	42,000	73	88	39.5	21.11	1148	25	C	A+	B
77	78	Pittsburgh Pittsburgh	Public	4	14,290	1,817	88	57	44,075	67	64	39.1	42.26	1251	27	B	B	C
78	NR	Buffalo Buffalo, N.Y.	Public	4	6,218	2,332	66	34	42,000	74	91	39.0	38.23	1167	NA	C	B	B
79	75	Illinois State Normal	Public	4	8,697	3,178	64	56	42,500	89	82	39.0	31.78	NA	24	A	B	B
80	58	Massachusetts (Isenberg) Amherst	Public	4	9,921	3,073	77	76	50,000	54	84	38.8	33.77	1189	NA	B	C	B
81	65	Northern Illinois DeKalb	Public	2	7,799	3,710	53	86	42,000	91	86	37.9	40.33	1095	22	B	B	A
82	85	Houston (Bauer) Houston	Public	4	6,333	1,558	70	79	44,350	86	78	37.4	17.12	1168	25	C	B	B
83	89	Colorado (Leeds) Boulder	Public	4	9,895	3,035	86	74	41,048	34	69	37.1	47.42	1208	26.7	C	B	B
84	68	Iowa (Tippie) Iowa City	Public	2	6,455	1,751	83	77	42,500	62	67	36.9	28.70	1184	25	C	C	C
85	71	North Carolina State Raleigh	Public	4	5,286	2,251	57	72	41,530	75	89	36.2	30.42	1172	24	A	B	B
86	81	Texas-Dallas Dallas	Public	4	7,356	1,814	74	92	45,000	96	77	35.7	14.87	1143	25	B	A	B
87	87	Kentucky (Gatton) Lexington	Public	4	6,833	2,396	85	46	39,500	59	81	35.4	29.22	1097	23.4	C	C	C
88	NR	Arkansas (Walton) Fayetteville	Public	4	6,630	3,180	54	73	40,000	93	93	34.5	32.12	1126	25	C	B	B
89	NR	Belmont Nashville	Private	4	19,780	1,501	82	89	35,000	92	68	33.9	30.02	1154	25.9	A	C	C
90	82	Louisiana State (Ourso) Baton Rouge	Public	4	4,688	1,839	90	63	45,000	68	79	33.3	18.96	1200	26	C	C	B
91	NR	Loyola Chicago	Private	4	27,200	1,520	95	94	42,000	81	50	31.4	22.69	1160	26	B	C	C
92	NR	Louisville Louisville	Public	4	6,940	2,098	92	91	37,500	95	73	30.0	27.61	NA	23.5	B	B	B
93	NR	Tennessee Knoxville	Public	4	5,932	4,371	80	61	38,000	69	95	29.5	39.38	1160	26	C	C	B
94	NR	Temple (Fox) Philadelphia	Public	4	10,996	4,651	96	23	45,000	94	90	28.8	34.20	1084	22	C	C	C
95	88	South Carolina (Darla Moore) Columbia	Public	4	8,870	3,475	73	78	37,000	80	94	28.6	36.97	1188	26	B	B	C
96	92	Iowa State Ames	Public	2	6,161	3,333	84	69	38,125	85	96	24.0	49.75	1095	24	C	B	B

The Top Undergraduate Business Programs

Use this interactive table to examine BusinessWeek's 2008 rankings

Special Reports

Health-Care Reform

Business Tools

A-Z Index

Lists & Rankings

Blogs

Slideshow Gallery

Magazine

Current Issue