This is the 10th time the Kelley Direct Online MBA has topped the ranking since US News began ranking online degree programs in 2013, extending its previous record of nine top-placed finishes. Indiana Kelley has never finished lower than third, ranking top for the past four years.
The Indiana Kelley online MBA program is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the gold standard of business school accreditation. Alongside US News, other industry rankings produced by bodies such as Fortune have ranked the school top for online MBAs.
The recently published US News and World Report Online MBA Ranking evaluates 355 different online MBAs, ranking their performance across five categories: student engagement; peer assessment; student excellence; faculty credentials and training; and student services and technology. In 2025 Kelley achieved an overall score of 100/100.
Elsewhere, University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School and Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business switched their 2024 positions, ranking second and third respectively. University of Florida Warrington College of Business and University of Washington Foster School of Business tied for fourth place.
The only new entrant into this year’s top 10—University of Michigan, Ross School of Business—climbed 10 spots to sixth place.
The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, originally established as the “School of Commerce and Finance” of Indiana University in 1920, was renamed in 1997 after its alumnus E. W. Kelley, chairman of the Steak n Shake company following a $23 million donation.
The school established its online MBA in 1999 (it was one of the first business schools to do so) and is highly selective, with a low acceptance rate (29%). The school is praised for its flexible schedules, personalized attention and an online program that directly mirrors its physical counterpart, with the same professors teaching both.
