The Economist Publishes MBA Ranking for 2021

Many top schools, including previously top-ranked Chicago - Booth, did not participate this year

The Economist has published its biennial ranking of full-time MBA programs. This year, the ranking looks somewhat different, since a number of schools declined to participate, presumably due to the chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year's top-ranked school, the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, for example, is not included in this year's ranking. Instead, the number one position belongs to Spain's IESE Business School, which rose nine spots. The runner-up position belongs to HEC Paris, which rose one position. HEC Paris is followed by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and NYU - Stern is in fourth place. 

Because so many schools did not participate this year, most of the ones that did rose, and many rose substantially. The Georgia Institute of Technology's Scheller College of Busines, for example, rose a whopping 18 spots to land at number five.

A number of other striking changes are evident as well. After Italy's SDA Bocconi, which is ranked sixth, is EDHEC Business School, which rose 25 positions. The University of Washington's Foster School of Business is ranked eight, and is followed by Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, which was ranked 32nd in 2019. Other huge rises belong to Switzerland's IMD Business School, which rose 25 positions to land at number ten and Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, which went from 39 to 11.

Besides Booth, other schools that did not participate this year include UC Berkeley, Wharton, Darden, Stanford, Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, MIT - Sloan, and Kellogg, among others.

For more about The Economist's full-time MBA rankings and other rankings, please see FIND MBA's MBA Rankings page. 

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