Business school graduates can expect their degrees to boost them up the career ladder for many years to come.
The majority of business school alumni who graduated between 1959 and 2014 held midlevel positions one year after earning their degree, according to a February report from the Graduate Management Admission Council. Five years after graduation, most business school alumni were in senior-level positions or higher, the report states.
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Students who pursue an MBA, a degree that's designed to turn people into leaders, usually secure high-paying management jobs. At some schools, an entire class may find positions just months after completing their degree.
All of the full-time MBA students who graduated from the Collins College of Business at the University of Tulsa in 2014 were employed three months after graduation. Among 126 ranked business schools that submitted data to U.S. News, Collins had the highest percentage of full-time 2014 graduates who were employees within three months of graduating.
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Unlike last year, some of the highest-ranked MBA programs made this year's top 10 list for schools where students secured jobs within three months of graduating. The Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, ranked No. 4, had 97.2 percent of 2014 graduates employed. Slightly more than 95 percent of 2014 graduates from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, which is ranked No. 3, found a job three months after graduation.
The College of Charleston is new to this year's list and came close to topping it, with 97.1 percent of its full-time 2014 graduates employed three months after graduating. Of all the schools that submitted data, San Diego State University had the lowest percentage of students who were employed: 39 percent.
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Below is a list of the 10 schools with the highest percentage of full-time 2014 graduates who were employed three months after graduating. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| Business school (name) (state) | Full-time MBA enrollment (fall 2014) | Full-time MBA graduates employed three months after graduating in 2014 | U.S. News b-school rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Tulsa (Collins) (OK) | 42 | 100% | 83 (tie) |
| University of Chicago (Booth) | 1,181 | 97.2% | 4 |
| College of Charleston (SC) | 36 | 97.1% | RNP* |
| Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) | 281 | 96.9% | 19 |
| University of Pittsburgh (Katz) | 161 | 96.2% | 48 (tie) |
| Texas A&M University—College Station (Mays) | 113 | 96.1% | 27 (tie) |
| University of Washington (Foster) | 248 | 95.8% | 23 |
| Michigan State University (Broad) | 150 | 95.6% | 37 (tie) |
| University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | 1,711 | 95.6% | 3 |
| University of Kansas | 57 | 95.5% | 88 (tie) |
*RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its ranking category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Business School Compass to find employment data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed 464 schools for our 2014 survey of business programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Business Schools rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The employment data above are correct as of March 10, 2015.