| While publications that rate MBA programs do so according to different criteria, five schools (Stanford, Harvard, Chicago and Penn) each consistently appear on lists of top MBA programs. These schools boast innovative curricula, top professors and a range of degree options that make them stand out from other MBA programs in the nation.
Stanford University
While tied with Harvard for the number one ranking on U.S. News and World Report’s list of Best MBA programs, Stanford stands alone atop the Forbes list. Bloomberg, however takes a very different view of Stanford’s MBA program, placing it sixth on their list.
Stanford not only advertises small class sizes for MBA students, but the program also offers a full range of joint MBA degrees offered in conjunction with other Stanford schools. Students can pursue joint MBA degrees together with master's or doctoral programs offered by the schools of Law, Medicine, Education, Engineering and Humanities and Sciences.
Harvard University
Although tied with Stanford for the top spot on U.S. News and World Report’s list of Best MBA programs, Harvard earns only second place on Bloomberg’s list (although business school graduates and corporations rated the school as fourth). Harvard ranks lower still on the Forbes list, coming in at number three.
Harvard MBA professors teach according to the case method, in which they use case studies to introduce real-world business problems into the classroom. Harvard business faculty are also active researchers, producing over three-hundred articles and thirty-five single or co-authored books annually.
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago takes the number one spot on Bloomberg’s list of Best MBA programs. Forbes and U.S. News, however, take a quite different view from Bloomberg where Chicago is concerned. Forbes ranks the University of Chicago in fourth place, just behind Harvard. U.S. News and World Report ranks the University of Chicago as the fifth best MBA program in the country along with the University of Pennsylvania.
Students in Chicago's MBA program must take only one required course (Leadership Effectiveness and Development) so that they may develop of course of study relevant to individual and employer needs. Students also participate in competitions and take lab courses that allow them to gain first-hand experience in solving real-world business problems.
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania ranks fourth on Bloomberg’s list, with business school graduates rating Penn as the third-best MBA program overall. Penn takes the fifth spot on both the U.S. News and World Report and Forbes lists, sharing fifth place on the U.S. News list with the University of Chicago.
Penn's Wharton School advertises a range of interdisciplinary MBA programs with such fields as Design, Engineering, Nursing and Social Work. Wharton also designed the first joint MBA/MA in International Management in conjunction with the School of Arts and Sciences.
While each school boasts different qualities that make them among the best of the best MBA programs, Stanford, Harvard, Chicago and Penn consistently rank at or near the top of most publications' ranking lists. Students interested in pursing MBA study at one of these schools should contact each institution's school of business to determine admissions requirements.
For additional information on these schools and their national rankings, interested students should take a look at Bloomberg's list of the Best B-Schools of 2008 (as they rank schools only every two years), Forbes magazine's list of The Best Business Schools or U.S. News and World Report's rankings of the nation's Best Business Schools.
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