Top US MBA Programs: Scores, Employment and Class Profiles (2023)

Updated 2026/10/16

For people who want to pivot their career, industry, location or function, a US MBA can bring valuable connections, opportunities, challenges, knowledge, experience and even legal status (such as a post-graduation work visa), and it opens up more options over the course of a career. The 2023 US News Best Business Schools ranking names the top business schools, and this article breaks down their class profiles, average scores and employment reports so you can understand them better.

How the 2023 US News Best Business Schools ranking is scored

The 2023 US News Best Business Schools ranking is one of the most authoritative rankings of US universities, and students often use it when they evaluate US business schools. As MBA tuition keeps rising, students care more and more about how a school will affect their job prospects, so this year US News changed its weights to put more emphasis on placement success. The score has three parts:

• Placement Success: 50% (previously 35%)
  • Employment rate at graduation: 10%
  • Employment rate three months after graduation: 20%
  • Average starting salary and bonus: 20%
• Quality Assessment (reputation): 25% (previously 40%)
  • Scored by employers and by the deans & directors of every AACSB-accredited MBA program, 12.5% each
• Student Selectivity: 25% (same weight as the year before)
  • Median GMAT and GRE scores: 13%
  • Undergraduate GPA: 10%
  • Acceptance rate: 2% (a lower acceptance rate means the school is more selective, so it scores higher here)

You know how the ranking works. Now what?

Once you understand how US News ranks business schools, you can see which factors these schools care about before you apply!

Start with placement success, which is 50% of the score. Whether graduates find jobs and earn high salaries has a big effect on an MBA program’s ranking. So at every stage of the review (interview, essays, career goals and CV), schools make sure that applicants have a clear and realistic career plan, that the school can help them reach it, and that they already have enough background to get the most out of an MBA for that goal. Cover these points when you write your application essays, too!

Then there is student selectivity, which is 25%. MBA programs usually treat GPA and GMAT/GRE scores as important admission criteria. GPA reflects your academic performance in college, and a standardized GMAT/GRE score shows your problem-solving ability and, indirectly, your persistence (you prepared for a hard exam while working full time). Both help business schools assess an applicant’s academic ability and potential. Admitting applicants with higher scores also raises a school’s ranking.

How to use this table

The table below collects the class profiles of the top business schools: average GPA, GMAT or GRE, class size, share of international students, and even the employment report for graduates. Feel free to share this article with others!

Notes:

• Acceptance rate is calculated as offers (admits) or enrolled students divided by applications. Some schools only publish admits or only enrolled numbers, so the calculation is not consistent across schools.
• The data are from full-time MBA class profiles, not other business school programs such as MS degrees. (For one or two MBA programs, the official websites had not yet been updated for 2023.)

⭕️ School names link to each class profile so you can click through directly.

#	2023-24 Best Business Schools (U.S. News)	Acceptance rate, online data (Sources: Leland)	GMAT average	GMAT median	GRE average	GRE median	GPA average (4.0 Scale)	Class size	International students	Minimum TOEFL	Minimum IELTS	Applications	Acceptance rate	Employment rate	Average starting salary (median/average)	Notes
1	University of Chicago (Booth)	22~23%	729	730	327	N/A	3.60	621	49.0%	104	7.0	4352	14.27%	96.8%	$175,000
2	Northwestern University (Kellogg)	20~21%	729	N/A	N/A	325	3.70	503	38.0%					97.0%	$165,000	Median Signing Bonus $30k
3	University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)	~20%	733	N/A	324	N/A	3.60	877	35.0%			6319	13.88%	98.7%	$175,000
4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)	14.6%	N/A	730	N/A	N/A	3.62	408	40.0%	Not required (English assessed in the interview)				96.6%	$165,000
5	Harvard University	11~12%	N/A	730	N/A	326	3.70	1,015	38.0%	109	7.5	8264	12.28%	95.0%	$175,000
6	Dartmouth College (Tuck)	22~23%	726	N/A	324	N/A	3.52	287	43.0%					98.0%	$175,000
6	Stanford University	5~6%	737	N/A	327	N/A	3.76	424	37.0%	113 (average)		6152	6.89%	91.0%	$160,000
8	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross)	20%	720	N/A	320	N/A	3.50	380	36.0%					99.0%	$165,000
8	Yale University	N/A	N/A	725	N/A	330	3.69	347	48.0%	Not Required				96.1%	$160,000	39% with GRE scores; 3.34-3.90 – 80% Range of Undergraduate GPA
10	New York University (Stern)	27%	733	N/A	325	N/A	3.62	324	44.0%			3553	27.08%	94.1%	$170,000	NYU Stern MBA Employment Report 2022-2023
11	Columbia University	22%	729	N/A	N/A	N/A	3.60	844	51.0%	N/A (assessed through GRE/GMAT Verbal and the interview)		6177	22.07%	94.0%	$150,000	74% of career opportunities were school-facilitated
11	Duke University (Fuqua)	22~25%	680-760 (80%)		318	N/A	3.1-3.9 (80%)	399	39.0%					98.0%	$160,055	Daytime MBA Employment Report 2021-22
11	University of California–Berkeley (Haas)	17.6%	729	730	324	325	3.64	247	41.0%	90	7.0			93.8%	$155,000
14	University of Virginia (Darden)	26~36%	720	N/A	319	N/A	3.51	348	43.0%					97.5%	$157,090
15	Cornell University (Johnson)	N/A	N/A	710	N/A	N/A	3.30 (median)	303	43.0%					97.0%	$155,048
15	University of Southern California (Marshall)	28~30%	732	N/A	321	N/A	3.58	190	41.0%					97.0%	$150,314	USC Graduate Career Services – Employment Report
17	Emory University (Goizueta)	N/A	700	N/A	N/A	N/A	3.38	110-150	50.0%					98.0%	$149,759	2022 FULL-TIME MBA PROGRAM EMPLOYMENT REPORT
18	Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)	N/A	702	710	N/A	N/A	3.33	192	56.0%					97.0%	$148,067
19	University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)	N/A	711	N/A	N/A	N/A	3.1-3.8 (80%)	330	47.0%			2471	13.35%	93.9%	$146,000
20	University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)	N/A	706	N/A	319	N/A	3.48	220	28.0%					95.3%	$144,564
20	University of Washington (Foster)	40~41%	710	N/A	320	N/A	3.40	96	43.0%					99.0%	$147,340
22	Indiana University (Kelley)	38%	685	N/A	318	N/A	3.38	125	45.0%	100	7.0			N/A	$136,400
22	University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)	44~51%	706	N/A	N/A	N/A	3.43	242	35.0%					96.0%	$133,517	MBA Recruiting & Employment
24	Georgetown University (McDonough)	47.5%	697	N/A	317	N/A	3.29	249	42.0%					95.0%	$138,552
24	Rice University (Jones)	39.5%	702	N/A	317	N/A	3.43	160	42.0%					96.0%	$142,000

Reading the table: MBA class profile

Who your classmates are is another important factor when you evaluate a business school. A diverse class gives you a richer learning environment and more opportunities. Students learn from each other’s experiences and cultures, which builds an international outlook and cross-cultural communication skills. Many business schools work to admit students with different backgrounds, industries and nationalities, so ideas collide, innovation happens, and students get a wider perspective.

Reading the table: MBA employment report

An MBA opens up a wide range of careers, and graduates can usually find well-paid, challenging roles across industries. At many schools most graduates go into consulting, finance and tech, while a smaller group finds jobs in traditional industries, startups, healthcare management, marketing, family businesses and other fields. A good MBA program should give students strong career resources and opportunities.

That is why the employment report each business school publishes matters when you choose a school: it shows graduates’ employment rate, average salary and industry breakdown.

Comparing the top business schools

Every MBA program offers a range of majors or concentrations, and each school has particular strengths that come from its location, alumni network, faculty and so on, which suit different industries and careers. For example, Columbia Business School may have an edge in finance and consulting, with nearly 70% of graduates going into those two fields, while more than 40% of Michigan Ross MBA graduates go into consulting. These programs aim to build expertise and skills in specific fields and to support students’ careers in those industries. You can choose a specialized MBA program based on your interests and career goals.

Choosing the right business school means weighing several factors: reputation, teaching quality, specialties and strengths, faculty, alumni network, job opportunities and location. Do thorough research. Read the schools’ official websites and the rankings, reach out to current students or alumni for a coffee chat, and compare what each school does well, so you can find the one that fits you best!

For more on choosing schools, see this article 👉🏻[School selection] 9 tips to know before you apply abroad. Stop looking only at rankings!

Conclusion

For people aiming for success in business, a US MBA is a smart choice. This article gathers the key facts on business schools’ class profiles, average scores and employment reports to help you choose well. A diverse class, a strong employment rate and the school’s reputation are all important things to weigh when you pick an MBA program. An MBA adds to your knowledge and experience, and it can bring more opportunities, a stronger competitive position and more success in your career.

FAQ

How long is an MBA program?

An MBA usually takes one to two years, depending on the school and the program. More and more schools offer accelerated or one-year MBA options (usually for students who already have a job offer lined up for after graduation, since they do not need a summer internship or the return offer that comes with it).

Do I need a business background to do an MBA?

Not necessarily! Many business schools welcome students from all kinds of academic and professional backgrounds, and a class often includes people like chefs, musicians and Olympic athletes. That said, some basic business knowledge and experience, plus a clear career goal, will help you adjust to an MBA program.

Is the GRE or the GMAT easier? Which should I take? Do admissions officers prefer one?

On GRE versus GMAT, nearly every M7/S16 business school says clearly that it has no preference, and either test is fine.

Also, for the median GMAT and GRE scores in the US News “Student Selectivity” criterion, the two tests’ scores are not converted into each other. US News weights each test’s percentile distribution by the share of admitted students who submitted it. For example, if 80% of a school’s new students submitted a GMAT score and 20% submitted a GRE score, its GMAT 0-100 percentile distribution is multiplied by 0.8 and its GRE 0-100 percentile distribution by 0.2, and the two adjusted values are combined into the final score.