A survey of regional, national, and international business schools has been released, and the study’s authors say the results can help business schools determine how recruiters think and what they look for.
The Seventh Annual Business School Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive and The Wall Street Journal, gave the top national business school award to Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business.
The survey shows that recruiters give top ratings to Tuck for its students’ well-roundedness, their personal ethics and integrity, interpersonal and communication skills, and team-work abilities. Berkeley captured the no. 2 spot, then Columbia University, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon.
Regional Schools
Among the 51 regional schools rated, the survey gave top honors for the first time to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The survey says recruiters like BYU students’ personal ethics and integrity, their work ethic, and leadership potential. Wake Forest University came in second regionally, then Ohio State University, University of Rochester, and Indiana University.
Three new schools were included in this year’s ranking of regional schools: American University, Tulane University, and the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The survey found that regional schools, on average, receive more positive ratings than do national schools from recruiters on nearly all measures. The survey suggests that regional schools are more likely than the national schools to enjoy a close relationship with recruiters because they are so geographically close.
International Biz
This year’s top international award went to ESADE for the second year in a row.
The Barcelona, Spain-based school scored top honors for its students’ personal ethics and integrity, team-work abilities, and the Career Services Office.
The international ranking includes nine U.S. schools, eleven European, three Canadian, and two Latin American schools. Coming in second was IMD, London Business School, IPADE, and MIT.
Four new schools were included in this year’s ranking of international schools: Essec Business School in France, University of Oxford, Northwestern University, and New York University.
Additional Findings
The survey shows that approximately 40% of recruiters believe there is a shortage of U.S. minorities when they recruit potential candidates from schools. In addition, about 20% of recruiters believe it is difficult to retain minority MBA hires because they are in high demand.
In the survey, recruiters cite the University of Michigan as being among the best schools for hiring minority MBA students.
When creativity counts in business grads, the survey points out that most recruiters head to Stanford University, followed by MIT.
Finally, more than 40% of recruiters indicate that an MBA today is worth more to their company than it was five years ago.