How Business Schools Fuel Our Addiction to Rankings

In today’s competitive educational landscape, business school rankings have become an obsession for prospective students, academic institutions, and even employers. Business school rankings, whether from sources like U.S. News & World Report, The Financial Times, or Bloomberg Businessweek, are often seen as the ultimate measure of a school’s prestige and the potential success of its graduates. But the question arises: why are we so fixated on these rankings, and how do business schools themselves contribute to this addiction? Let’s explore how business schools fuel our obsession with rankings and why it has become such a central part of the conversation around higher education.

1. Rankings as a Marketing Tool

Business schools have recognized the power of rankings as a marketing tool. High rankings directly correlate with increased application numbers, more diverse student bodies, and, importantly, higher tuition fees. The importance placed on rankings has led schools to go to great lengths to climb the charts, with admissions teams and marketing departments continuously working to improve their positioning.

How Business Schools Leverage Rankings:

• Branding and Prestige: A school that ranks highly on national or global scales can boast about its prestigious status, attracting more applicants who are looking for a “top-tier” education. This, in turn, bolsters the school’s reputation in the competitive world of business education.

• Increased Funding: Higher rankings often lead to increased donations and funding from alumni and philanthropists, as well as partnerships with corporations that are eager to hire top talent from these prestigious institutions.

• Higher Tuition Fees: As rankings improve, business schools are often able to charge higher tuition fees. Students are willing to pay a premium for a degree from a school that is ranked highly, believing that it will lead to better job prospects and career advancement.

Thus, business schools use rankings not just as a reflection of their educational quality but as a strategic tool to enhance their financial stability and expand their global influence.

2. The Role of Surveys in Shaping Rankings

Most major business school rankings are compiled using surveys filled out by various stakeholders, including students, alumni, recruiters, and academic peers. While these surveys aim to measure aspects like academic quality, alumni satisfaction, and job placement rates, the methodology often involves subjective opinions. This subjectivity can skew results and lead schools to take specific actions to influence these rankings.

How Rankings Influence School Behavior:

• Alumni Participation: Schools may encourage alumni to participate in surveys to improve their rankings, sometimes even offering incentives or sending reminders. The more positive feedback a school gets, the higher it ranks.

• Corporate Sponsorships and Recruiting Efforts: Business schools focus on building strong relationships with top-tier corporations, which boosts their recruiters’ scores in rankings. These relationships often involve hiring a significant number of graduates and ensuring that students have access to lucrative internships and full-time positions.

• Data Reporting: Schools may tailor their data reporting practices to emphasize areas that are weighted heavily in rankings, such as average salaries, employment rates, and post-graduation success, even if these factors do not always represent the true student experience.

This strategic focus on survey responses often leads to schools optimizing their efforts around the aspects that directly affect their ranking, rather than purely focusing on academic excellence or student outcomes.

3. The Pressure to Maintain and Improve Rankings

Once a school climbs to a certain rank, the pressure to maintain or improve its position becomes intense. Schools invest significant resources into efforts aimed at improving their ranking, as a higher rank can increase their desirability among prospective students, faculty, and corporations.

Pressure to Perform:

• Faculty Recruitment and Retention: Higher-ranked schools are more likely to attract top-tier faculty members, who are often lured by the prestige and the resources available at these institutions. In turn, they may be more inclined to publish research, which can further boost rankings.

• Strategic Admissions Practices: Admissions offices often focus on attracting a certain type of student profile—high GMAT scores, significant work experience, and leadership potential—to align with ranking requirements. This focus on selectivity can result in a less diverse student body, which does not always reflect the school’s commitment to a well-rounded educational experience.

• Focus on Employment Outcomes: Business schools go to great lengths to ensure that their graduates are employed in high-paying jobs immediately after graduation. This focus on post-graduation success can lead schools to prioritize career services, recruitment events, and corporate partnerships to ensure that their graduates are positioned well in the job market.

While these actions may boost rankings, they can also detract from the true educational mission of business schools, which is to cultivate entrepreneurial thinking, leadership, and innovation.

4. The Impact of Rankings on Student Decisions

For students, rankings often play a pivotal role in the decision-making process when choosing a business school. The appeal of attending a top-ranked institution, often backed by promises of high salaries and prestigious job offers, is undeniable. However, this fixation on rankings can overshadow other factors that may contribute more significantly to an individual’s educational experience.

How Rankings Influence Student Behavior:

• Status and Prestige: Students are often drawn to highly ranked schools because they equate a prestigious institution with better job opportunities and social status. The idea of attending a "top-tier" school is often more important than the actual quality of the curriculum or the specific focus of the program.

• Perceived Job Opportunities: Many students believe that graduating from a high-ranking business school will give them a competitive edge in the job market, particularly when applying to large corporations or consulting firms. While this can be true, it often overlooks the fact that many successful entrepreneurs and business leaders come from lesser-known schools.

• Focus on Salary Outcomes: Rankings are often based heavily on post-graduation salaries, which may not fully represent a student's long-term career success or satisfaction. This focus on high salaries can encourage students to pursue industries or roles that they are not passionate about, purely to achieve a higher ranking.

While rankings are certainly a factor in student decision-making, they may not always align with what is best for an individual’s long-term goals or aspirations.

5. The Flaws in the Ranking System

Despite the widespread obsession with rankings, there are several inherent flaws in how they are calculated and the influence they have on both schools and students. For instance, the reliance on salary data, which often factors heavily in ranking algorithms, may skew results in favor of institutions that cater primarily to high-paying industries, such as consulting or finance.

Flaws in the Ranking System:

• Lack of Consideration for Diverse Career Paths: Many rankings prioritize salary and job placement in high-paying industries. This overlooks graduates who may pursue careers in social impact, entrepreneurship, or education—fields that may offer lower financial returns but still provide substantial personal fulfillment.

• Survey Bias: Ranking methodologies often rely heavily on survey responses, which can be influenced by the respondents’ personal experiences or biases, rather than the institution’s overall quality.

• Limited Focus on Long-Term Impact: Rankings often focus on short-term outcomes, such as initial job placement and salary, rather than long-term career satisfaction, leadership development, or entrepreneurial success.

These flaws highlight the need for a more nuanced approach to evaluating business schools, one that goes beyond a narrow focus on rankings.

A More Holistic Approach to Business Education

While rankings certainly hold value in showcasing the strengths of business schools, they should not be the sole determinant for choosing an MBA program. The obsession with rankings, fueled by both business schools and prospective students, can overshadow more important considerations like fit, curriculum, faculty quality, and long-term career alignment. In 2025, it’s crucial for both schools and students to take a more holistic approach, focusing on the broader educational experience and the development of skills that will serve them throughout their careers—regardless of a school’s rank.

Key Takeaways on the Role of Rankings in Business Schools

Aspect	How Business Schools Fuel Rankings
Marketing and Prestige	Schools use rankings to enhance their brand, attract students, and justify higher fees.
Influence of Surveys	Schools optimize their data and encourage survey participation to improve rankings.
Pressure to Improve Rankings	Schools focus on faculty recruitment, admissions selectivity, and employment outcomes.
Student Decision Making	Rankings influence students’ choices, focusing on prestige and salary outcomes.
Flaws in the Ranking System	Rankings often overlook diverse career paths, long-term success, and personal fulfillment.

Business schools and their stakeholders must reconsider the role that rankings play in shaping the business education landscape. By prioritizing meaningful outcomes and broader educational experiences over pure numerical rankings, both schools and students can create a more impactful, long-term approach to business education.