The LinkedIn ranking stays global this year, as their list of full-time MBA programs continues with a mix of 100 U.S. and international schools. Stanford GSB takes the top spot once again, with Harvard Business School jumping to #2 (bumping INSEAD out of that spot) to join its chief U.S. rival at the top of the heap. INSEAD, Wharton, and Northwestern Kellogg round out the top 5.
Like last year, the ranking is based on job placement (hiring rate and labor market demand), career advancement, network growth and strength, leadership potential, and gender diversity. Eligibility criteria required accreditation by AACSB or EQUIS, a full-time program structure, and a minimum of 1,500 alumni. The required number of graduates stayed at 400 between 2019 and 2024 for this year’s ranking.
Here’s a look at the top ten in 2025, with a school’s 2024 LinkedIn ranking in parentheses.
| Ranking | Full-Time MBA Program |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford Graduate School of Business (1) |
| 2 | Harvard Business School (3) |
| 3 | INSEAD (2) |
| 4 | The Wharton School (4) |
| 5 | Indian School of Business (6) |
| 6 | Northwestern Kellogg School of Management (7) |
| 7 | MIT Sloan School of Management (5) |
| 8 | Dartmouth Tuck School of Business (8) |
| 9 | Columbia Business School (9) |
| 10 | London Business School (11) |
Clear Admit Co-founder, Graham Richmond, offered the following take on LinkedIn’s MBA ranking: “LinkedIn sticks with last year’s decision to rank U.S. and non-U.S. MBA programs in the same ranking, and keeps the number capped at 100 programs in total. As we’ve mentioned with the Financial Times and other rankings that attempt to incorporate U.S. and non-U.S. programs in a single ranking, the results can be a bit odd. For instance, a candidate seeking post-MBA work in the United States, would almost certainly be better served attending the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business (ranked #32 by LinkedIn) over the Indian School of Business (ranked #5). A better way to look at this ranking might be to pull out the schools by region and see how they rank.”
U.S. Top 10 Schools in LinkedIn Ranking
- Stanford GSB (1)
- Harvard (2)
- Wharton (4)
- Northwestern Kellogg (6)
- MIT Sloan (7)
- Dartmouth Tuck (8)
- Columbia (9)
- Chicago Booth (11)
- Duke Fuqua (13)
- Yale School of Management (14)
Europe Top 10 Schools in LinkedIn Ranking
- INSEAD (3)
- LBS (10)
- Oxford Saïd (12)
- IESE (22)
- IMD (23)
- HEC Paris (24)
- ESSEC Business School (29)
- Cambridge Judge (30)
- Rotterdam School of Management (33)
- IE Business School (35)
APAC/South Asia Top 5 Schools
- ISB (5)
- IIM Calcutta (16)
- IIM Ahmedabad (17)
- IIM Bangalore (20)
- IIM Lucknow (26)
“In performing the exercise above,” Graham notes, “we see a lot of the best programs in their regions bubbling to the surface, although one might quibble with some of the ordering.”
Taking a closer look at these regional breakdowns, Graham adds, “For the U.S. programs, it is noteworthy to see that Tuck once again edges out some of the M7 programs like Chicago Booth and Columbia – this could be related to the degree of connectedness that one sees in the Tuck alumni community, which likely manifests itself in LinkedIn data. Within Europe, most of the leading programs pop up here, but it is worth noting that WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management has fallen out of the ranking entirely (after landing at #14 overall last year, and third in Europe). Also, IMD in Switzerland have jumped ahead of HEC Paris. For Asia Pacific & South Asia, the list is 100% Indian schools, with programs like HKUST, National University of Singapore, and CEIBS relegated outside of the top-10 in their region. Much of this is to do with LinkedIn’s lack of data on those residing in China, so perhaps worth taking with a grain of salt.”
“From a bigger picture standpoint,” Graham adds, “this ranking remains somewhat challenging due to the fact that it solely relies on LinkedIn’s own MBA alumni data and a potentially arbitrary set of criteria around job titles, alumni connectedness, and so on. In an ideal world, LinkedIn’s data would be combined with some key elements around school selectivity, yield, as well as more robust career outcomes data such as salary. What would be fascinating, would be for LinkedIn to endeavor to create hyper regional rankings based on the density of alumni, connectedness to others in that region (both fellow alums and beyond), job seniority based on titles, and so on. For instance, if I know I want to work in San Francisco or NYC, having this kind of information could be very helpful as an added element to consider when evaluating schools.”
See the full ranking list here.
