Duke University's Fuqua School of Business rose five spots this year to top US business school in the 2014 full-time MBA ranking from Businessweek, which was published today. Fuqua's strong showing this year is "thanks in large part to employers’ esteem for its graduates," according to the magazine.
Fuqua is followed by the Wharton School and the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, which was last year's leader. Stanford Graduate School of Business is the number four US school, while Harvard Business School jumped eight spots to round-out the top-five US schools.
In terms of the top five international schools, Canada's Western University Ivey School of Business, which was ranked number seven in 2012, tops the list this year. Spain's IE Business School takes position number two, while Germany's ESMT makes a strong debut at spot number three. London Business School drops three spots to number four, and INSEAD takes position number five.
The minor shake-up in the top schools may be to do a tweaked methodology that Businessweek used for this year's ranking. The most dramatic shift in the methodology was that the magazine broadened its employer survey to include a wider range of recruiters. This year, around 1,300 employers were surveyed, compared to 250 in 2012. The ranking also relies on a survey of students, as well as an "intellectual capital" rating, which looks at schools' research capabilities.
Another change is that the ranking, which used to be updated every two years, will now be refreshed annually.
Strong debuts and big moves
Further down this year's ranking are a few other strong debuts and big moves. The University of Cambridge Judge School of Business, which was not ranked in 2012, took the number six spot this year's international ranking. And Yale School of Management rose a whopping 15 spots to land at position number six of the US ranking.
Harvard Business School dropped out of the top five for the first time in the ranking's history. It's now ranked eighth.
The UK's Cranfield University School of Management, which was not ranked in 2012, takes the 13th spot in this year's international ranking, while Spain's ESADE Business School dropped out of the top ten, falling from spot number six to 19. And Concordia University's Molson School of Business debuts at spot 20 in the international ranking.
Hult International Business School also makes a strong debut, at position number 21 in the US ranking.
Image: The Fuqua School of Business' Breeden Hall - Public Domain
