Like the US News MBA Ranking, the six top spots in the Fortune list go to M7 schools, some of the best-known business schools in the US and worldwide.
Fortune's ranking methodology places a large focus on career outcomes and salaries. Course admission, competition, and success data are also factors.
So, what do this year's rankings tell us and how can you use the Fortune MBA rankings in your business school search? Let's take a look.
Fortune MBA Ranking | Top 10
Fortune MBA Ranking 2025: breaking down the top 10
M7 business schools dominate the top 10 of the Fortune MBA Ranking for 2025 in a somewhat predictable mirroring of other familiar US business school rankings.
The top six business schools are Harvard, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, The Wharton School, Columbia Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business. The final ‘magnificent seven’ school, MIT Sloan School of Management, secures eighth position.
Fortune’s MBA Ranking gives a weighting total of 60% to median starting salaries for 2022-2023 MBA graduates, numbers of alumni in Fortune 1000 C-suite-level positions, and the program's employment placement rate.
The M7 schools are known to enjoy strong relationships within the business community, and their graduates have a reputation for typically commanding high salaries. The ranking also factors in competition for school places.
The lowest median starting salary among graduating MBA classes at the top 10 schools is found at MIT, where the figure is $170,000. The highest is earned by Stanford graduates, at $182,500.
The University of Michigan Ross School of Business is the highest-ranking non-M7 school, climbing three places from last year. NYU Stern School of Business stays in the top 10 but slips from ninth to 10th position.
Fortune MBA Ranking factors
How is the Fortune MBA Ranking assessed?
Business Schools need to opt-in to the Fortune MBA rankings, so only those schools who choose to submit data are featured.
This year, Georgetown University, Babson College, and Marquette University did not participate.
Fortune's MBA ranking methodology uses 11 data points to assess areas including school admissions, competition for places, success, and cost. It places most weight on graduate outcomes such as salary, employment placement rate, and C-Suite presence.
The Fortune 1000 Score represents alumni from all MBA programs at each school who hold C-suite positions at Fortune 1,000 companies.
The heavy weighting on the number of MBA graduates stepping into CEO and CFO positions reportedly helped Washington University leap 18 spots this year into 21st position, with 19 Fortune 1000 CEOs and CFOs having graduated from the school.
The ranking rates higher total tuition fees (5%) negatively. Course retention (5%) and graduation rates (10%) aim to assess course success.
The rationale behind including data points such as yield (3%), average undergraduate GPA (3%), and acceptance rate (5%), is that the best programs are highly competitive and sought after.
The system is quite different from other rankings such as that offered by the Financial Times, which examines numerous factors, including average alumni salaries three years after graduation.
What does this mean for the usefulness of this MBA ranking?
Should I choose my MBA based on the Fortune MBA Ranking?
MBA rankings like the Fortune MBA Ranking can be helpful when choosing a program because they can provide context and simplify data to help you compare different schools. However, no MBA ranking is one-size-fits-all.
In the case of the Fortune MBA Ranking, the methodology's strong focus on starting salaries alongside Fortune 1000 C-suite and employment placement success may limit how useful it is to certain aspiring B-school students.
For example, if you are an entrepreneur hoping to launch a business straight out of business school, these metrics may not help you find the right program as you may not be looking for corporate employment.The same may apply if you want to work in the nonprofit sector or government.
The ranking also doesn't account for career growth after graduation. You may start on a high salary but not progress very fast. By contrast, rankings that include average salaries three years after graduation do measure this.
This doesn't necessarily mean the results are inaccurate: the Fortune MBA Ranking is not drastically different to other US rankings out there. However, it does limit their usefulness as a research tool.
The Fortune MBA rankings are useful if you:
⇨ Want to study and work in the USA
⇨ Are targeting a corporate career with a Fortune-listed company, for instance, in one of the "big three" MBA sectors of finance, technology, or consulting
⇨ Want to earn a high salary immediately after the MBA
If you are more invested in other factors–for instance, having startup incubators on campus, a strong sustainability curriculum, or exposure to international business contexts–you should widen your research to include:
⇨ The curriculum pages of different programs
⇨ Meeting and networking with schools in person
⇨ Talking to alumni on LinkedIn or at on-campus events
⇨ Individual schools' employment reports
