Poets&Quants

When INSEAD launched a master in management program in 2019, it put the Fontainebleau, France-based business school on a path to rankings glory.That journey came to a successful conclusion today (December 1), as INSEAD was named No. 1 for the first time in The Financial Times‘s annual ranking of European business schools. INSEAD jumped an incredible 17 places from last year as its MiM program, launched in 2019, was factored into its overall score for the first time, giving the French school programs in all categories in the magazine’s ranking.HEC Paris fell out of first place in the Euro B-school ranking for the first time in six years, dropping to second. London Business School slipped to third from second, IESE of Spain dropped to fourth from third, and ESCP, which has multiple campuses around Europe, dropped to fifth from fourth.

Hamid Rafieian already had solid entrepreneurship experience when he enrolled in EDHEC Business School’s Global MBA Class of 2024. He is co-founder and CEO of Karafs, Iran’s leading digital healthcare company. Along with Luna, another digital health startup Rafieian founded, his ventures have attracted more than 8 million users in his country.But he wanted more international training, exposure, and contacts — the things an MBA can provide. He chose EDHEC’s program based in part on the chance to network with successful entrepreneurs from around the world, while getting support to develop a business plan, go-to-market strategy, and business forecasting for the next venture he is cooking up.

In our annual ranking of the best Online MBA Programs in the United States, we count Admission Standards as a full one-third of a school’s final score. We believe the quality of the cohort makes for a better learning environment for all students, and the more evaluation candidates are subjected to on the front end, the better the class experience at the back.A big part of a school’s Admissions score – 15 out of a possible 100 points – comes from its acceptance rate: That is the percentage of applicants who actually end up getting in. While we lowered the metric five points from last year’s ranking methodology to better measure the quality of the eventual cohort, we still believe it to be an important factor in a program’s rigor. (See the full methodology for the 2025 ranking here.)It’s not surprising, then, that the most selective schools are also among the most highly ranked – generally speaking.

For the first time since Poets&Quants began ranking full-time MBA programs in 2010, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management has earned top honors on our 2024-2025 list of the best MBA programs in the U.S. Kellogg slipped past last year’s winner, Stanford Graduate School of Business, by outdistancing the West Coast giant of business education in this year’s Financial Times ranking, where the GSB shockingly slumped to a 15th-place finish, and by scoring slightly higher on student experience.Though this is Kellogg’s first time at the top, the M7 school is no stranger to winning big in MBA rankings. Kellogg has ranked first in Bloomberg Businessweek‘s rankings on five different occasions, with only one school winning more often: Stanford has sat at the top of that ranking a half dozen times. But Kellogg hasn’t sat atop a major MBA ranking since 2004 when it last came in first on Businessweek‘s list.In the Top Five this year in Poets&Quants‘ composite ranking–a mashup of the five most credible MBA rankings published this year–are third place Chicago Booth, fourth place Harvard Business School, and in fifth, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. It is Darden’s highest P&Q rank, rising from eighth last year to 14th in 2022. Rounding out the Top Ten are No. 6 Dartmouth Tuck, No. 7 Columbia Business School, No. 8 Yale School of Management, No. 9 Cornell Johnson, and finally No. 10 Duke Fuqua.

I am a coach and business school instructor based in Paris, with a Canadian background. As a guest educator at HEC, keynote speaker, and success coach, I have guided countless students through the nuanced process of articulating their unique strengths and making a lasting impression.As prospective business school students, you’ve likely crafted a strong resume, aced challenging exams, and worked hard to build a compelling story. But there’s a critical element often overlooked — the art of understanding and presenting your unique offer.This understanding goes beyond impressive words and polished anecdotes; it’s about clarity, confidence, and an unmistakable presence.

Welcome to Round 2! If you’re applying to business school in a short time, we’re here to tell you that a.) you’re not alone and b.) you’re not crazy. If an MBA is part of your ideal career plan, if it’s part of your destiny, then you owe it to yourself to go for it. And, yes, there’s work ahead. Here’s your week-by-week guide to finishing your successful MBA applications in a time crunch. Whether you’ve got 3, 4, or 6 weeks to finalize your MBA applications, this timeline will get you across the finish line as efficiently and awesomely as possible.

If you want an elite two-year MBA from a top business school in the United States, and you don’t want to pay in excess of $200,000 for the privilege, you have very few options — and those options are dwindling every year.Twenty-two U.S. B-schools in the Poets&Quants top 25 charge admits to their full-time MBA programs at least $100K annually, according to a P&Q analysis, up from 19 schools at this time last year. In 2022, there were 15 B-schools whose MBAs cost that much; in 2018, there were only nine. The five most expensive MBAs in the U.S. carry price tags of more than a quarter million dollars.The only top-25 B-schools where an MBA can be earned for less than $200K over two years — a tally that includes tuition, living expenses and fees — are both in the same state: Texas. No. 18 Rice Jones Graduate School of Business carries an estimated two-year price tag of $195,789, while the full MBA experience at No. 19 Texas-Austin McCombs School of Business costs approximately $167,343.

There’s no getting around it. For many people, getting a prestigious MBA experience is an expensive proposition. It often leads young professionals into considerable MBA student debt.Just how much borrowing people do to obtain an MBA will likely surprise you. But the sums spent are an investment in yourself and your future. And the rewards, both tangible and intangible, do pay off over the course of one’s career.Even so, the MBA student debt numbers can feel like a difficult mountain to climb. The highest borrowing occurs at The Wharton School where graduates who borrow to get an MBA there leave campus with median debt of $161,635, higher than any other business school in the world. That’s more than the cost of a brand new Maserati Gran Turismo.