Global MBA Rankings 2018 - QS vs U.S. News & World Report

Learn more about the QS Global MBA Rankings 2018 methodology.

This year USNWR ranked 93 AACSB-accredited business schools. In comparison, the QS Global MBA Rankings 2018 analyzed over 250 programs with 232 ranked.

Unlike the other established rankings, the USNWR rankings put a heavy focus on admission selectivity (25%) and business school leader opinion (25%).

As highlighted by the table above, both the USNWR rankings and the QS Global MBA Rankings 2018 share similar weightings in terms of salary/return on investment, and the combined weighting of employer opinion and employment rate. While the other half of the criteria that make up the overall ranking differ, it is understandable that both have similar outcomes towards the top end of the rankings.

One of the criticisms often levelled at the USNWR rankings, is that the criteria used often means that the differences between programs become negligible (especially the further you go down the list). The amount of schools tied for positions in the rankings serves to back this up.

When a methodology allows for schools to be ranked so close together, it comes as little surprise to see dramatic year-on-year swings in terms of a school’s position.

QS CEO, Nunzio Quacquarelli, also sees fault with the importance the rankings place on admissions selectivity. “The focus on admissions selectivity conflicts with the ‘Berlin Principles’ of education rankings which emphasize the need to focus in educational outputs rather than inputs. Why? Because inputs like GMAT scores or admissions standards force schools to focus their admissions criteria on these narrow measures of candidate quality, rather than the whole person and their fit with the school.”

Quacquarelli says that a result of having such a heavy weighting on the indicator has meant that, “Some top US business schools started admitting MBA candidates with no work experience, because this helped them drive up their average GMAT score, and hence their ranking. GMAT scores are very useful for admissions officers, but arguably should not be used in a ranking.”

As with all major rankings, the criteria will overlap in places, and in others will be completely different. USNWR is a long-established and well-read ranking of graduate programs in the US.

The USNWR rankings provide a good view of the quality of students applying for admission onto MBAs. The QS Global MBA Rankings 2018 tend to put more focus on alumni outcomes, as we believe this is central to the life goals of many prospective students. We track over 49,000 CEOs, executives and board members at the biggest companies in the world and their association with relevant programs.  

All rankings can be picked apart in terms of what they do and do not measure or include. That is why we believe having more rankings on the market, rather than less, is beneficial to potential MBAs.