First, it was Maryland. Then came Indiana. Now, UCLA earned the highest ranking among MBA students -- an honor that is usually followed by a steep fall. In a bit of an upset, William & Mary galloped past top programs like Cornell Johnson, Michigan Ross, and Berkeley Haas to serve as the runner-up in this all-important and all-too-current measure of how business schools are performing today.
| 2017 Rank | School | 2017 Student | 2016 Student | 2015 Student | 2 Year Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Harvard | 1818 | 1717 | 19 | 11 |
| 22 | Wharton | 1717 | 3030 | 27 | 1010 |
| 33 | MIT (Sloan) | 2222 | 2525 | 18 | -4-4 |
| 44 | Chicago (Booth) | 1010 | 66 | 10 | 00 |
| 55 | Stanford | 1616 | 2222 | 14 | -2-2 |
| 66 | Duke (Fuqua) | 1111 | 88 | 12 | 11 |
| 77 | Dartmouth (Tuck) | 3535 | 2828 | 17 | -18-18 |
| 88 | Northwestern (Kellogg) | 1414 | 1313 | 6 | -8-8 |
| 99 | Columbia | 1515 | 2424 | 16 | 11 |
| 1010 | Rice (Jones) | 1212 | 1414 | 2 | -10-10 |
| 1111 | UC-Berkeley (Haas) | 55 | 77 | 4 | -1-1 |
| 1212 | Michigan (Ross) | 44 | 1010 | 5 | 11 |
| 1313 | Cornell (Johnson) | 33 | 3737 | 35 | 3232 |
| 1414 | Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) | 88 | 1111 | 25 | 1717 |
| 1515 | Washington (Foster) | 1919 | 3636 | 41 | 2222 |
| 1616 | Yale | 2727 | 2020 | 23 | -4-4 |
| 1717 | Virginia (Darden) | 99 | 22 | 9 | 00 |
| 1818 | NYU (Stern) | 1313 | 2727 | 26 | 1313 |
| 1919 | UCLA (Anderson) | 11 | 1515 | 3 | 22 |
| 2020 | Texas (McCombs) | 2020 | 4949 | 37 | 1717 |
| 2121 | Emory (Goizueta) | 2626 | 3333 | 13 | -13-13 |
| 2222 | Texas A&M (Mays) | 5151 | 2727 | 33 | -18-18 |
| 2323 | Brigham Young (Marriott) | 3030 | 3535 | 21 | -9-9 |
| 2424 | North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) | 2121 | 2121 | 11 | -10-10 |
| 2525 | Penn State (Smeal) | 4949 | 8080 | 66 | 1717 |
| 2626 | Notre Dame (Mendoza) | 3131 | 3131 | 42 | 1111 |
| 2727 | Indiana (Kelley) | 3232 | 11 | 15 | -17-17 |
| 2828 | Georgia Tech (Scheller) | 2828 | 44 | 8 | -20-20 |
| 2929 | Michigan State (Broad) | 6060 | 3232 | 7 | -53-53 |
| 3030 | USC (Marshall) | 66 | 55 | 22 | 1616 |
| 3131 | Texas-Dallas (Jindal) | 4343 | 2323 | 36 | -7-7 |
| 3232 | Southern Methodist (Cox) | 77 | 3838 | 28 | 2121 |
| 3333 | Rochester (Simon) | 4444 | 2929 | 43 | -1-1 |
| 3434 | Vanderbilt (Owen) | 3333 | 2626 | 30 | -3-3 |
| 3535 | Georgetown (McDonough) | 2323 | 2222 | 32 | 99 |
| 3636 | Washington (Olin) | 3838 | 4141 | 53 | 1515 |
| 3737 | Ohio State (Fisher) | 3737 | 6161 | 46 | 99 |
| 3838 | Purdue (Krannert) | 5353 | 6464 | 56 | 33 |
| 3939 | Minnesota (Carlson) | 4747 | 4242 | 24 | -23-23 |
| 4040 | Maryland (Smith) | 3939 | 99 | 1 | -38-38 |
| 4141 | Iowa (Tippie) | 2525 | 3838 | 45 | 2020 |
| 4242 | William & Mary (Mason) | 22 | 1818 | 44 | 4242 |
| 4343 | Wisconsin | 4646 | 4343 | 40 | -6-6 |
| 4444 | Boston College (Carroll) | 4040 | 5151 | NR | NANA |
| 4545 | Illinois | 4545 | 4545 | 57 | 1212 |
| 4646 | SUNY (Buffalo) | 5656 | 4747 | 50 | -6-6 |
| 4747 | Arizona State (Carey) | 5555 | 5252 | 61 | 66 |
| 4848 | Florida (Hough) | 2929 | 1616 | 31 | 22 |
| 4949 | Boston University (Questrom) | 5454 | 5959 | 48 | -6-6 |
| 5050 | Rutgers | 5959 | 6969 | NR | NANA |
| 5151 | UC-Irvine (Questrom) | 3636 | 4444 | 29 | -7-7 |
| 5252 | Pittsburgh (Katz) | 5050 | 3939 | 39 | -11-11 |
| 5353 | Oklahoma (Price) | 7676 | 8585 | 72 | -4-4 |
| 5454 | Georgia (Terry) | 4141 | 3434 | 20 | -21-21 |
| 5555 | Texas Christian (Neeley) | 3434 | 4040 | 34 | 00 |
| 5656 | Utah (Eccles) | 6262 | 7979 | 60 | -2-2 |
| 5757 | Tennessee (Haslam) | 7575 | NRNR | 71 | -4-4 |
| 5858 | Miami | 5252 | 4848 | 47 | -5-5 |
| 5959 | George Washington | 6464 | 5757 | 59 | -5-5 |
| 6060 | Fordham (Gabelli) | 5757 | 6060 | 70 | 1313 |
| 6161 | Northeastern (D'Amore-McKim) | 4242 | 6262 | 63 | 2121 |
| 6262 | Babson (Olin) | 5858 | 6363 | 54 | -4-4 |
| 6363 | Howard | 6161 | 7070 | 58 | -3-3 |
| 6464 | Syracuse (Whitman) | 8383 | 8787 | 68 | -15-15 |
| 6565 | Houston (Bauer) | 2424 | 5050 | NR | NANA |
| 6666 | Connecticut | 7373 | 5353 | NR | NANA |
| 6767 | Baylor (Hankamer) | 8585 | 8484 | NR | NANA |
| 6868 | Cincinnati (Lindner) | 6969 | 8282 | 65 | -4-4 |
| 6969 | Arizona (Eller) | 7070 | 5454 | NR | NANA |
| 7070 | North Carolina State (Jenkins) | 7979 | 6767 | 38 | -41-41 |
| 7171 | Mississippi | 7272 | 4646 | 51 | -21-21 |
| 7272 | Case Western Reserve (Weatherhead) | 7878 | 7878 | NR | NANA |
| 7373 | UC at San Diego (Rady) | 6666 | 6565 | 49 | -17-17 |
| 7474 | Kentucky (Gatton) | 6767 | 8181 | 70 | 33 |
| 7575 | Pepperdine (Graziadio) | 4848 | 5656 | 52 | 44 |
| 7676 | Texas Tech (Rawls) | 8484 | 7777 | NR | NANA |
| 7777 | Willamette (Atkinson) | 6565 | 7575 | 73 | 88 |
| 7878 | Tampa (Sykes) | 7171 | 7474 | NR | NANA |
| 7979 | Rochester Institute of Technology (Saunders) | 7474 | NRNR | NR | NANA |
| 8080 | Colorado (Leeds) | 8080 | 7373 | 69 | -11-11 |
| 8181 | San Diego | 8181 | 6666 | NR | NANA |
| 8282 | Chapman (Argyros) | 6363 | 7676 | 67 | 44 |
| 8383 | Denver (Daniels) | 6868 | 8383 | NR | NANA |
| 8484 | San Diego State (Fowler) | 8282 | 8686 | NR | NANA |
| 8585 | Oregon (Lundquest) | 7777 | 7171 | NR | NANA |
| NRNR | American (Kogod) | NRNR | 5555 | 62 | NANA |
| NRNR | South Carolina (Darla Moore) | NRNR | 7272 | NR | NANA |
| NRNR | Tulane (Freeman) | NRNR | 5858 | NR | NANA |
| NRNR | Missouri (Trulaske) | NRNR | 6868 | 55 | NANA |
| NRNR | Hult | NRNR | NRNR | 64 | NANA |
