Media rankings are conducted by the editorial staff of various newspapers and magazines. Generally, these rankings involve a combination of data collected from student alumni surveys, recruiter surveys, dean and director surveys, and schools. This data is then weighted to determine a system for ranking universities and programs.
The methodology that these rankings use to calculate their top schools has become a major concern in the business education community. For instance, some rankings depend highly on the opinions of deans and administrators from other schools. The concern here is that these opinions may be made with the person's own interests in mind and be based on limited known information about the school being reviewed.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Rankings
The key to using media rankings effectively is knowing if what they measure is what is important to you. Below are some of the most common media ranking systems.
Click on each ranking to view the types of schools that are included and the variables that are measured. Or, download this information into a PDF or Excel spreadsheet.
Articles and Reports
1. "The Business School Rankings Dilemma," an AACSB International report on the media rankings.
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2. "What Price Rankings?" A BizEd Magazine article by Andy J. Policano, dean of the Paul Merage School of Business at the
University of California, Irvine, discussing the costs of ranking systems on the learning environment.
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3. "The Rankings Game," A BizEd Magazine article by Andrea E. Gasparri.
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4. "The Business School Rankings Game," by Devinney, Dowling, and Perm-Ajchariyawong from the Australian Graduate
School of Management, looks at Financial Times ranking procedures and provides recommendations for business schools.
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