Top 10 MBA Programs for a Career in Marketing

Released today, the QS MBA by Specialization Rankings 2019 provide insight into the world’s top business schools and MBA programs for seven different areas of specialism.

Schools are ranked based on employer reputation and research strength for each of the seven areas, as well as the number of career placements MBA graduates from the school have achieved in the field. Each of these three indicators is assigned a score out of 100.

Stanford Graduate School of Business has been ranked as the best business school in the world for specializing in marketing, with 22 percent of its graduates going into a relevant industry. The complete top 10 can be found below.

10) SDA Bocconi

Kicking off the top 10 for MBA programs specializing in marketing is SDA Bocconi. The school achieved a high score for the ranking indicator research strength and placed 27 percent of its MBA graduates in careers related to marketing.

Located in Milan, Italy, the one-year program has tuition fees of €57,000 (approx. US$64,604). Students who are aspiring marketeers can tailor their program to their career goals by selecting a concentration in Innovation, Product Development, Execution in their first term and Customer Marketing in the second to follow the ‘Expert in Marketing and Innovation’ path.

9) Babson College, F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business

Babson College, F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business takes ninth position in the top 10. The program at Olin scored highly in the ranking indicators for career placements and research strength. An impressive 44 percent of Olin MBA students went into marketing post-graduation – the highest proportion in the ranking table.

Based in Wellesley, Massachusetts, students have the option of completing the MBA in either one or two years. Tuition fees for the one-year MBA are US$82,496 and approximately US$113,440 for the two-year program. The Babson Marketing Association (BMA) at Babson College helps develop skills and interest in marketing through on- and off-campus events such as speakers and workshops.

8) Michigan Ross School of Business

Eighth in the table for MBAs specializing in marketing is Michigan Ross School of Business. The MBA program at Ross scored highly in the ranking indicators for employer reputation and research strength. 20 percent of Ross MBA graduates went onto careers in marketing, with companies such as Amazon, P&G and PepsiCo.

The program is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and takes two years to complete. The tuition fees (per year) are US$63,646 for Michigan residents and US$68,646 for non-Michigan residents. Ross has a marketing club specifically for MBA students, as well as a yearly seminar series with the marketing department holding lecturers every Friday.

7) Kelley School of Business

In seventh place is the MBA program at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. The school scored highly in the career placements and research strength ranking indicators. It also has the second-highest proportion of students going into marketing careers in the top 10, with 32 percent.

Located in Bloomington, Indiana, the MBA program at Kelley takes two-years to complete, with a summer internship. Tuition fees vary: one year’s tuition for Indiana residents is US$27,053, and for non-Indiana residents or international students is US$49,955. MBA students at Kelley have the option of majoring (or minoring) in marketing to really tailor their degree to their career goals.

=5) IE Business School

Coming in joint fifth, and the first European program in our countdown, is the MBA program at IE Business School. The school scored highly in career placements and achieved a perfect score in employer reputation. In addition, a strong 29 percent of IE graduates went into marketing careers.

The Madrid-based full-time MBA program at IE takes one year to complete, with intakes in September and January. Tuition fees for the 2018-19 academic year are €72,200 (approx. US$82,000). The IE Marketing Club has nearly 2000 members (students and alumni), hosting networking events and more throughout the year.

=5) Harvard Business School

Also in fifth place is the MBA program at Harvard Business School, which achieved a perfect score for employer reputation and a very high score for research strength. It has the lowest number of students entering the marketing industry post-graduation in the top 10 (12 percent), although this is likely explained by Harvard’s very large class size (around 928 per year).

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, tuition fees for the 24-month program are US$146,880. Marketing is a required module in the first year of the MBA, and HBS offers many second-year electives for students who want to pursue marketing, such as Creating Brand Value, E-Commerce and a Digital Marketing Workshop field course.

4) ESADE Ramon Llull University

Narrowly missing out on a spot in the top three, and the highest ranked European program in the table, is the full-time MBA program at ESADE Ramon Llull University. The school achieved high scores across all ranking indicators, including a perfect score for employer reputation. An impressive 31 percent of ESADE graduates went on to careers in marketing.

Students on the Barcelona-based full-time MBA program at ESADE have three options for completing their studies, with 12-month, 15-month and 18-month program durations. Most students choose the 18-month program, including an internship and an exchange program. The tuition fees for the MBA program are €68,500 (approx. US$ 77,780). Marketing electives include Marketing Analytics for Strategic Decision Making and Marketing Planning & Implementation.

3) UCLA Anderson School of Management

In the bronze medal position is the full-time MBA program at UCLA Anderson School of Management. The school achieved a perfect score in employer reputation, with a decent 22 percent of graduates going into marketing careers.

The two-year program is located in Los Angeles, California. UCLA have an estimated MBA student budget of US$98,699 per academic year (subject to change). Graduates who go into marketing can expect median starting salaries of around US$120,000. Popular marketing recruiters for UCLA include Adobe, Disney, General Mills and Microsoft. 

2) The Kellogg School of Management

Just missing out on the top spot is the full-time MBA program at The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, which has long been considered one of the best business schools for a marketing specialization. The program achieved high ranking indicator scores across the board, including a perfect score in employer reputation. Around 19 percent of Kellogg students went into a marketing career post-graduation.

The MBA program at Kellogg, located in Evanston, Illinois, offers both a one-year and two-year option. The tuition fee for the one-year program is US$$98,720 and for the two-year program it is US$143,088. Students on the MBA program have the option to major in marketing, with access to Kellogg’s award-winning marketing department (three members of faculty have won the Marketing Educator of the Year award from the American Marketing Association).

1) Stanford Graduate School of Business

Taking first place in the MBA specialization rankings for marketing is Stanford Graduate School of Business. Stanford scored highly in all ranking indicators, with a perfect score in employer reputation, and with 22 percent of students going into the marketing industry post-graduation.

Based in Stanford, California, the two-year program has tuition fees of US$73,062 per academic year (US$146,124 in total). Students can take marketing electives in their second year, plus join the Marketing Club which hosts a number of networking and career development events throughout the academic year.