3. University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business

7. Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management

45. University of Illinois’ School of Business

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business was ranked number one overall, moving up five spaces from 2012′s rankings to take over Booth’s 2012 number one spot (a designation Kellogg has also held). In fact, all three Illinois MBA schools were ranked lower in 2014 than in previous years. In 2014, Kellogg moved from number five to number seven and the University of Illinois moved from number 40 to number 45.

Here’s a look at how the Booth and Kellog’s rankings have changed over the last 20 years:

Just because all three Illinois schools have dropped in rank since the last time this list was compiled doesn’t necessarily mean the schools are becoming worse places to get an education. They may even be getting better. Other schools are just doing even better.

Businessweek compiled these rankings by aggregating surveys of students, which accounted for 45 percent of the rankings, surveys of employers that hire those students, which accounted for another 45 percent of the rankings, and a measure of faculty research, which accounted for the last 10 percent of the rankings.

Businessweek’s explanation of the student surveys:

The survey questions covered the quality of academic and career development offerings, the qualities of the student body and school culture, and students’ evaluations of their own skill sets.

And about the employers’ surveys:

We asked recruiters to identify and rate up to 10 schools at which they had significant recruiting experience in the last five years. A school needed to be rated by at least five recruiters to be eligible for our rankings. Ten schools did not meet this requirement and were dropped.

We then asked recruiters to assess how well these school’s graduates performed on specific qualities important to them when they recruit MBAs. We asked all recruiters to rate each school’s graduates on how effective they were once they were hired.

And about the faculty research, or “intellectual capital”:

To rate the level of research expertise at each school’s faculty, we counted all articles published by faculty in 20 top business journals from 2009 to 2013. 

Businessweek included a separate list that ranked international business schools. It rated Western University’s Ivey School of Business in Ontario, Canada as the top business school outside of the United States, followed by IE University’s business school in Madrid and the European School of Management in Berlin.

 

NEXT ARTICLE: Top Illinois graduate schools as ranked by U.S. News and World Report

 

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