Bloomberg Businessweek has released their 2025-2026 Best Business School rankings, assessing programs spanning the U.S., Europe, Asia-Pacific region, and Canada through a rigorous analysis of data and survey responses.
U.S. Results: Stanford Steady, Others Shuffle
While familiar names still populate the top tier, this year’s lists feature more reshuffling than usual. Stanford GSB holds firm at #1 in the U.S., leading in Networking and Entrepreneurship. Beyond that, however, many leading MBA programs, including Wharton, Chicago Booth, Berkeley Haas, Columbia, and Yale School of Management, saw major changes in their positions.
Here is a quick glance at this year’s U.S. top 10 (with the addition of 2024-25 rankings in parentheses).
Behind Stanford, the order has shifted considerably. Wharton and Chicago Booth swapped places this year–a five-spot change for each program. Driven by its #1 Compensation ranking, the Philly-based program jumped from #7 to #2 and Booth slipped from #2 to #7 this year. Meanwhile, Berkeley Haas made quite an entrance to the top 10 this year, rising from #14 in 2024-2025 to #3. Harvard Business School also moved up–from #6 to #4. Northwestern Kellogg fell only slightly, still maintaining a top 5 rank, while UVA Darden rounds out the top 10, down from #5 last year.
Cracking the top 10 this year, Cornell Johnson makes an appearance at #8, coming up from #11 last year. Columbia Business School staged a strong comeback, vaulting from #17 to #9.
Clear Admit Co-founder Graham Richmond says, “With Wharton and Harvard both moving into the top five, the group at the very top is now more dominated by the largest MBA programs in the U.S. Tuck and Darden — smaller, highly regarded programs — have slipped out, while Wharton and HBS, the two biggest full-time MBA cohorts in the country, have moved in. That really changes the mix.”
Richmond adds, “Bloomberg’s methodology leans very heavily on surveys of alumni, students, and employers, which means a lot of weight is placed on subjective perceptions. Compensation does factor in, but beyond that, it’s less about hard outcomes and more about opinion. I’d love to see more emphasis on objective measures — things like admissions selectivity, the caliber of classmates, and long-term employment data such as compensation five years out. Those are the kinds of metrics that really show the sustained value of an MBA.”
With more on methodology, Richmond notes, “The way Bloomberg measures ‘inclusion’ feels a bit narrow. The formula rewards schools with higher numbers of U.S. underrepresented minorities and a strong gender balance, but it overlooks the global nature of MBA classrooms. International diversity, socioeconomic background, and first-generation access aren’t really captured. For U.S. schools it can create odd distortions, and for European and Asian schools, inclusion isn’t even measured. In a global market, that’s a real blind spot.”
Outside of the U.S. top 10, there were some notable shifts:
- NYU Stern gained three places moving from #15 to #12
- Tuck fell from #4 to #6, leaving the top 5.
- Yale SOM fell from #12 to #17, underperforming relative to its standing in other rankings.
- Duke Fuqua slipped slightly, from #12 to #13.
- Michigan Ross dropped from #8 to #14, a significant slide.
- Carnegie Mellon Tepper fell from #9 to #15, despite strong subcategory scores in Learning (#5) and Entrepreneurship (#4).
- Emory Goizueta jumped from #21 to #16, a notable gain.
- Washington Foster rose from #24 to #18, one of the bigger upward moves in the 10–20 range.
- Georgia Tech Scheller fell from #16 to #23.
- Texas McCombs slipped slightly, from #19 to #21.
- UCLA Anderson held roughly steady, moving from #18 to #19.
- Indiana Kelley remained steady at #31.
- Georgetown McDonough edged up from #23 to #22.
European & Middle Eastern Results: Bocconi Takes the Crown
In the 2025-2026 Europe and Middle East Bloomberg BusinessWeek Best Business Schools ranking, SDA Bocconi in Milan rose to #1, overtaking IMD.
Here is a look at this year’s European top 10 (with 2024-25 rankings in parentheses).
| Ranking | European School |
|---|---|
| 1 | SDA Bocconi (3) |
| 2 | IMD (1) |
| 3 | IESE Business School (2) |
| 4 | London Business School (4) |
| 5 | INSEAD (5) |
| 6 | Oxford Saïd Business School (7) |
| 7 | IE Business School (11) |
| 8 (tie) | Mannheim (10) |
| 8 (tie) | St. Gallen (6) |
| 10 | Esade (9) |
“In Europe,” Richmond says, “it’s surprising to see some world-class programs left out of the top 20 altogether — schools like ESMT Berlin (#14 last year), and HEC Paris, Rotterdam School of Management (both absent last year, too). These are excellent programs in vibrant markets, and their absence makes this year’s table feel incomplete.”
In the UK, LBS maintained its position from last year, while Oxford Saïd climbed one spot to #6 and Cambridge Judge fell from #8 to #11. Meanwhile, IE Business School cracked the top 10 to land at #7, over a #11 rank last year. St. Gallen and Mannheim continue their strong showing alongside Europe’s most established brands. Esade rounds out the top 10.
Final Takeaways for Applicants
This year’s Bloomberg Businessweek Best Business School rankings demonstrate how fluid the tables can be — even at the very top.
- Stanford remains #1, but Wharton’s surge, Haas’s leap, and Columbia’s rebound were among the big stories in the U.S.
- Several elite programs — including Booth, Ross, Darden, Tepper, and Yale — saw notable declines.
- In Europe, Bocconi ascends to #1, while IMD and IESE fell back a slot.
As always, applicants should remember that rankings reflect one methodology and one moment in time. They are best used as a directional guide, not a definitive answer. Factors such as program culture, teaching style, location, and industry strengths often matter far more in determining the best fit for your MBA journey.
U.S. & European Changes in Rankings
Here is a look at gains and losses in the U.S. rankings for 2025-2026.
U.S. Programs – Biggest Gains & Drops
| School | 2024–25 Rank | 2025–26 Rank | Change | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wharton | 7 | 2 | ▲ +5 | Big rebound, led by #1 Compensation |
| Berkeley Haas | 14 | 3 | ▲ +11 | Major leap into the top 3 |
| Columbia | 17 | 9 | ▲ +8 | Back into top 10 |
| Harvard | 6 | 4 | ▲ +2 | Regains ground in top 5 |
| Cornell Johnson | 11 | 8 | ▲ +3 | Breaks into top 10 |
| NYU Stern | 15 | 12 | ▲ +3 | Quiet climb toward the top 10 |
| Emory Goizueta | 21 | 16 | ▲ +5 | Notable gain |
| Washington Foster | 24 | 18 | ▲ +6 | Largest jump in the teens |
| Dartmouth Tuck | 4 | 6 | ▼ –2 | Drops out of the top 5 |
| Northwestern Kellogg | 3 | 5 | ▼ –2 | Small slip but still top 5 |
| UVA Darden | 5 | 10 | ▼ –5 | Still top 10, but lost ground |
| Michigan Ross | 8 | 14 | ▼ –6 | Slides out of top 10 |
| Carnegie Mellon Tepper | 9 | 15 | ▼ –6 | Drops despite strong Learning & Entrepreneurship sub-scores |
| Chicago Booth | 2 | 7 | ▼ –5 | Fall from runner-up |
| Yale SOM | 12 | 17 | ▼ –5 | Notable drop vs. peers |
| Georgia Tech Scheller | 16 | 23 | ▼ –7 | Largest decline among mid–top-25 |
| Texas McCombs | 19 | 21 | ▼ –2 | Small step back |
| UCLA Anderson | 18 | 19 | ▼ –1 | Essentially steady |
| Georgetown McDonough | 23 | 22 | ▲ +1 | Modest improvement |
| Indiana Kelley | 27 | 31 | ▼ –4 | Moves down the table |
From the Europe & Middle East Bloomberg BusinessWeek rankings, we compile the shifts among last year’s top 10 schools.
European Programs – Biggest Gains & Drops
| School | 2024–25 Rank | 2025–26 Rank | Change | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDA Bocconi | 3 | 1 | ▲ +2 | New #1 in Europe |
| IMD | 1 | 2 | ▼ –1 | Loses top spot |
| IESE | 2 | 3 | ▼ –1 | Slight slip |
| London Business School | 4 | 4 | — | Holds steady |
| INSEAD | 5 | 5 | — | Unchanged |
| Oxford Saïd | 7 | 6 | ▲ +1 | Edges up |
| Cambridge Judge | 8 | 11 | ▼ –3 | Slips outside top 10 |
| Esade | 9 | 10 | ▼ –1 | Small decline |
| Mannheim | 10 | 8 (tie) | ▲ +2 | Climbs into the top 10 |
| St. Gallen | 6 | 8 (tie) | ▼ –2 | Moves down slightly |
A note on methodology. Bloomberg Businessweek surveys graduating students, recent alumni, and companies that recruit MBAs for their U.S. business school ranking. Alumni (Classes of 2017, 2018, 2019) are weighed at 40%; graduating students (Class of 2025) at 25%; and recruiters at 35% (hiring between 2022 and 2024). The surveys are designed to index five key components of a U.S. business school education: compensation, learning, networking, entrepreneurship and diversity (for U.S. schools only). The rankings weigh each index according to the survey respondents, asking students, alumni, and recruiters which aspects of their business school experience mattered most. The indexes for U.S. schools this year were calculated as follows: compensation, 37.7%; learning, 25.9%; entrepreneurship, 11.6%; networking, 18.8%; and inclusion, 6%. For more about the surveys and other factors in the methodology, see here.
