It’s potential. Raw energy. A glimpse of the future and a break from the past. Potential is being there at the beginning, never really knowing how long or how far it can go.

A new year is an extension of potential, especially in education. Schools start chasing big goals, always testing new ideas to better connect with learners. In the moment – when data is sparse and fears are stoked – educators don’t always fully grasp what matters and what works. Sometimes, that means stepping back before looking ahead.

In 2023, several MBA programs took risks or achieved milestones that reflected their potential. They invested in new programming, embraced new methods, entered new markets, and hired new leaders. They tapped into their expertise, capitalized on their advantages, and learned from their mistakes. At INSEAD, sustainability became the cornerstone of the programming. Johns Hopkins’ Carey Business School continued to build synergies around their larger university’s prowess in medicine. Columbia Business School and Chicago Booth upended the status quo to reign as the top MBA programs in the world. And Duke Fuqua and Virginia Darden continued to achieve the most difficult outcomes of any business: happy customers.

The Business Schools To Watch come into 2024 with momentum. They invested their time and money wisely, producing the best experiences and biggest returns. What made them stand out compared to their peer schools? More important, how will they build on their successes? The greatest satisfaction often comes from witnessing growth and change – the realization of potential. Here are the 10 business schools that positioned themselves for the biggest steps forward in the coming year.

University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

Happy 125th anniversary, Chicago Booth!

You sure made it a memorable year – and a historic one too!

Let’s start with the rankings, where Booth now owns the top spot in the US News MBA ranking. To make the honor sweeter, Booth beat out intracity rival Northwestern Kellogg for top honors thanks to higher pay and placement and better peer and recruiter survey scores. The school also topped P&Q’s Executive MBA ranking, while finishing 2nd in Bloomberg Businessweek’s MBA ranking.

In other words, Booth is elbowing its way into that elite circle featuring Stanford GSB, Harvard Business School and the Wharton School. Power of three? Slowly, but surely, American MBA rankings are turning into a four-way race – with Booth nosing into the inside track.

The Class of 2025 made the year ever sweeter. Boasting its largest class in over eight years, the school doubled the size of its underrepresented minority population, while tying its class record for the highest percentage of women. On top of that, Booth set another record for starting pay with the spring class. For many schools, that would be a banner year. For Booth, this news is just a warm up. Many times, institutions celebrate anniversaries by rolling out something new. By this measure, Chicago Booth outdid itself in 2023.

Picture this: Booth hadn’t launched a new degree program since World War II. Last July, it announced that it would open up two new degrees in 2024. That starts with a 10-month master in management program beginning in the fall. In the process, Booth joined the likes of Northwestern Kellogg, MIT Sloan, and Stanford GSB in unveiling new degree options in MiM. The program opens with a two-week ‘Boothcamp’ before moving into its five-course core. From there, students can deepen their skills across five areas: Finance, Strategic Management, Analytics, Marketing, or Entrepreneurship.

“We have seen the power of the Booth MBA for catapulting mid- or later-career professionals,” explains Starr Marcello, deputy dean for MBA programs. “We have seen the power of the Booth MBA for catapulting mid- or later-career professionals. Now we are eager to provide access to those just starting out in the professional world. We believe completing the master in management program at Booth will enable young professionals to marry their passion — whether it be physics, computer science, art history, philosophy, or other areas of the liberal arts or STEM fields — with management skills that position them for high-impact careers.”

And Booth didn’t stop at management. Come December, the school publicized its second new degree program, a Master of Finance, which also starts in the fall. Here, students can choose between 10-month and 15-month tracks. Following a model similar to the MiM program, Master of Finance students complete an orientation and five-course core, before choosing nine electives from four areas: Asset Management, Investment Banking, Fintech and Research in Finance. In the process, they’ll also dive into the fundamentals and issues surrounding areas like big data, blockchain technology, and artificial intelligence.

In its announcement, Booth touted how the Master in Finance program would give a career edge to a new segment of potential students. “Chicago Booth’s finance faculty are the best in the world,” says Madhav Rajan, Booth’s dean. “They developed modern finance theory and have shaped the course of financial knowledge and markets for more than 100 years. We are excited to bring our transformative approach — and the latest innovations in finance — to talented, analytical college graduates.”

Booth even dug deeper into a growing field: Healthcare. That included launching an MBA-MS in Biomedical Sciences and an MBA concentration in Health Care. At the same time, the school offers a wide range of joint degrees, including partnerships with the schools of Law, Public Policy, Social Work, Computer Science, International Relations, Middle Eastern Studies, and Medicine. All of this comes on the heels of a spring $100 million gift from Ross Stevens, a ’96 Ph.D.

“Chicago Booth is the best academic business school in the world, Period,” Marcello emphasizes in a 2023 interview with P&Q. “It is a school with the power and potential to transform a student’s life, and with a global community and immense support systems in place to foster student success… Our renowned faculty, including several Nobel Prize winners, combine pathbreaking research and inspirational teaching to shape current and future leaders of the world.”

One of the defining features of Booth, Marcello adds, is flexibility – or choice – or customized – or tailor-made. At its core, Booth believes in student choice. Rather than a lockstep core curriculum, for example, students complete one required course – LEAD (Leadership Effectiveness and Development), which is actually organized by second-year MBA students. Instead, first-years choose from a menu of foundational courses more specific to the interests and gaps – giving them a leg up in transitioning their career path or preparing for their internship.

“I value the ability to create my own academic path,” says Rachel Cohen, a private equity associate before joining the Booth School’s Class of 2025. “Everyone enrolling at Booth is in a different stage of their career and has different skill sets that they want to develop. Booth allows us to take responsibility for what classes will lead to the greatest growth, both personally and professionally.”

Another foundation of the Booth MBA is the Chicago Approach. Think of it as a data-driven, evidence-based methodology, and scientific in process. It starts with with an observation that is subjected to testing and analysis of data to reveal patterns and formulate projections. That means learning how to collect and interpret pertinent data, always asking questions and never accepting the pat answer.

“The Chicago Approach is rooted in fundamental scientific disciplines at the heart of business–economics, accounting, psychology, sociology, and statistics—taught by the world-renowned business school faculty,” adds Marcello in a 2022 interview.  “This provides individuals with an enduring framework; its portability makes it adaptable to any situation, in any industry, and at any time. Our students and alumni say that because of Booth’s unique curriculum–and its focus on analytics and empirical data–they are more prepared than their peers to tackle today’s constantly changing, data-driven business landscape. It has helped to inform their decision-making, launch their careers, and made them highly marketable in numerous competitive industries.”

And Boothies, as they are called, can channel The Chicago Approach in a variety of areas. In Sustainability, MBAs can participate in the Impact Investment Funds, Corporate Social Responsibility Practicum, or Rustandy Center consulting projects. Booth’s startup ecosystem is center around the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which provides everything imaginable – funding, expertise, space, coursework, expertise – to aspiring student entrepreneurs. MBAs can even join faculty at the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence to immerse themselves in the most current and impactful AI research.

These experiences, says Starr Marcello, makes Booth grads al the more valuable to the world’s top companies. “Employers have indicated that they often seek out Booth students because of their ability to assume critical leadership roles across diverse teams and organizational structures, and to define and execute strategic plans. Booth’s emphasis on analytics and empirical data gives our students an edge by preparing them to take on any evolving business landscape. This, in turn, allows them to launch their careers, becoming highly marketable and impactful in numerous competitive industries, and speaks to the overall value of a Booth MBA.”

Next Page: University of California, Davis

University Of California, Davis, Graduate School Of Management

Big things come in small packages.

Case in point: The University of California at Davis, whose full-time MBA houses just under 100 students. Over the past decade, the Graduate School of Management (GSM) has masterminded some of the most innovative programming in business education. Located 30 minutes south of Sacramento – and 90 minutes north of Silicon Valley – the GSM has picked up the region’s creative spirit, despite operating in a crowded marketplace. After all, California is home to four Top 20 graduate business programs: Stanford GSB, UC Berkeley Haas, USC Marshall, and UCLA Anderson.

How do you compete with that? Simple: You shrewdly fill the gaps they miss. That’s exactly what the GSM has done, developing the first online MBA program and only Master’s in Management degree in the University of California system. And the school’s stackable certificates and life-long learning platform may be models for the graduate business marketplace to adopt.

Like many tales, the GSM story gained steam with the introduction of a newcomer: H. Rao Unnava. After becoming dean in 2016, he launched a Master’s in Business Analytics in San Francisco. It now boasts 100 students annually, with alumni found in companies ranging from Meta to Microsoft to McKinsey. STEM-designated, the MSBA’s latest class was comprised of 56% women. More than that, 2022 graduates started out at $135,000 with $19,000 signing bonuses, one of the best returns on investment according to QS.

In 2019, Dean Unnava built on the MSBA’s success by rolling out an online MBA program, whose enrollment has swelled to 500 students. Ranked among the 20-best online MBA programs by Poets&Quants, the program scored high in students surveys on Career Impact (Promotions, Networking, Career Services, Career Goals) and Consulting Projects, Content Applicability, and Teamwork. This fall, the GSM will be launching 9-month in-person and 15-month online Master in Management programs. They are expected to attract 200 students initially, with neither requiring work experience. This marks the school’s fourth master’s program, which also includes Accounting a Master of Science in Business Analytics. Even more, the MiM program reflects Unnava’s philosophy to be flexible in response to changing market needs. In other words, use one degree program as a platform that can be expanded or customized.

“We looked around and found that the schools that went after these one-year specialty master’s programs often found it was very difficult to get 40 to 50 students to make economic sense,” says Unnava. “They are struggling trying to keep those programs on the books. We’re starting with a general management master’s in management as a nimble, responsive program so we have infinite possibilities. If AI becomes more important, I can add a concentration into the program. If there is demand for healthcare analytics, I can add a concentration of courses in that field. I can run eight programs in one program. That is an advantage especially when you need to respond quickly to the market. A few years ago, cybersecurity and blockchain were big for three years and then went away. I can put three classes in as electives and when the market cools off, I can put another set of classes into the elective offerings and do something else. That nimbleness is important to take advantage of market trends.”

That nimbleness – or delivery – is further reflected in Unnava’s biggest innovation to date: Stackable Certificates. Credit-bearing, the certificates require four graduate-level courses. Initially, the certificates will cover areas like Finance, Marketing, Leadership, Operations, Analytics, and Management. Don’t mistake these courses for glorified executive education; certificate students are graded just like everyone else. That’s why course credits can be applied towards an MBA degree. Unnava calls it “de-coupling” and sees these certificates as a way to appeal to MBA graduates too.

“The certificates allow us to give you what you need now in your career,” explains Unnava in a 2023 interview with P&Q. “If you got an MBA five years ago, you would have had little to no exposure to how artificial intelligence will impact your company. And if you earned your MBA ten years ago, a lot of what you learned is out of date. The world has changed so dramatically that you need to know the latest thinking in strategy or business analytics or digital transformation. This is a chance to refresh your education.”

Perhaps the signature innovation at the GSM is the Industry Immersion Experience. Think of it as the equivalent to a school consulting project. The difference? Through partnerships with UC-Davis’ other schools, MBAs complete deep-dive immersions in what Dean Unnava calls the “hottest industries now and in the future.” That includes agriculture and food, biotechnology and healthcare, tech finance, and sustainable energy. Along with immersion coursework, MBAs enjoy executive coaching and mentoring, site visits, research projects, and even case competitions. The immersion also culminates with a team project with results presented to executives at GSM’s corporate partners.

Another surprising feature of the Industry Immersion Experience? MBAs aren’t just spending time around their business school peers. “They are sitting in classes with Ph.D. students and master’s students from food science and technology, molecular biology, nutrition, and so on,” adds Dean Unnava. “They tackle these problems being thrown at them by executives who come and tell them ‘this is an issue they are dealing with. How would you deal with it?’ Because of the multi-disciplinary nature of the teams, the solutions often are richer than what would be possible with just MBA students.”

In some cases, these immersions act as an internship – or a try-out – for students. ““Over the last six years, we have seen about 30% of the MBA class go into careers in the industries represented by the immersions, setting us apart from other MBA programs that don’t have the university strength in these areas,” adds Dean Unnava.

That said, the Industry Immersion Experience isn’t the only time when GSM students get up close and personal with top employers. Aihe Chen, who graduated from the full-time program in 2022, lauded the IMPACT Project. “[It] integrates theories with real-world practice. We team up on a strategic consulting project for a client company and present compelling solutions to top executives. Through in-classroom live case studies and the hands-on 10-week capstone consulting project, [you] gain valuable insights and develop skills to solve key business issues.”

If you are a GSM graduate, you’ll soon enjoy eos, a life-long learning platform. That’s one innovation that Dean H. Rao Unnava is busy implementing. Earlier this month. P&Q reached out to Dean Unnava on what MBAs will experience as GSM students. Here is what they can expect (plus news on a new undergraduate business program).

P&Q: What have been the most important new development in your MBA program over the past year? What type of impact will it have on current and future MBAs? 

Unnava: “One of the Graduate School of Management’s most significant initiatives is our lifelong learning platform known as eos. Over the past year, we dedicated substantial efforts to preparing for the launch of this platform. Derived from the Greek word for dawn, eos represents the beginning of a new era in professional development, an era in which our alumni and students will always be prepared for what is on the next professional horizon. To help them maintain a competitive edge in their careers, eos offers a range of opportunities and features in three primary areas—content, community and certifications.

The platform contains both original and curated content, including free access to our entire catalog of Online MBA course videos. Students and alumni can also stay on top of the latest developments in business with timely commentary by our faculty and industry experts as well as curated content from other high-quality business sources and invited content from alumni based on its relevance, impact and currency.

The platform includes several features to foster a vibrant community. Alumni and students can join affinity groups, comment on discussions and content, and see who else is in their geographic area. They can register for upcoming school-sponsored events or can host their own virtual or in-person event by posting it on the platform. A job board allows alumni to share opportunities with others.

To respond to the latest industry developments and exploit new professional opportunities, premium subscribers can access over 1,000 in-demand courses and certifications (e.g., AI, Machine Learning). The courses and certifications are carefully chosen to reflect the highest quality in the industry (through our online partner 2U/edX). Premium subscribers can also direct message other members, attend livestreamed events, and take virtual, synchronous courses offered by the Graduate School of Management

There are even more exciting features planned for future phases of eos, including a mobile app and an AI-driven personalized experience aimed at providing content recommendations base on an individual’s professional goals. The power of this platform lies in its ability to continuously modify its content and certifications to a community that is constantly engaged and equipped with the latest knowledge to aid their professional advancement.”

P&Q: Give us your 30-second pitch for your full-time MBA. What makes you unique?

Unnava: “The UC Davis MBA offers students a close-knit community that inspires others to achieve, helps others to succeed, builds trust and challenges them as a collaborative leader. A highlight of our curriculum is distinctive Industry Immersions that allow UC Davis MBA students to take a deep dive into Food and Agriculture, Biotechnology, Sustainable Energy or Innovation Finance. These Immersions tap into UC Davis’ research expertise and corporate networks in these areas. Students say these are transformative experiences where they learn from top executives and collaborate in interdisciplinary teams on real solutions to challenges that are critical to the well-being of society.

Our MBA students receive customized guidance on how to maximize the curriculum and career development opportunities to reach their professional goals. Our Northern California location near the dynamic Sacramento region, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Napa/Sonoma, opens doors to internship and career opportunities in tech, healthcare, wine, CPG and more.

Our high-quality faculty, collaborative community and diverse students from California and worldwide who go on to rewarding careers is reflected in our recent upward moves in various MBA surveys, including among the top 20 full-time MBA program at public universities in Poets&Quants most recent ranking.”

P&Q: What is the most underrated aspect of your MBA program? How does it set you apart from other programs and enrich your MBA students’ experience?

Unnava: “One of the most underrated aspects of our MBA program is the limited visibility of our faculty’s intellectual contributions to both academia and the industry. One reason for this is possibly the small number of our research faculty (32 tenure-track faculty) whose volume of contributions is noticed less when compared to schools with larger numbers of faculty. However, for many years, UC Davis management school faculty were ranked in the top 10 in the world by The Economist. The per-capita research output of our faculty in Financial Times-50 journals is among the top in the world. So, our students are taught by very accomplished faculty with deep connections in both the industry and academia. Our students are at an advantage when it comes to learning from our accomplished and well-connected faculty, as the knowledge faculty generate and impart in today’s classrooms often finds its way into wider circulation in textbooks or case studies.

The high quality of a small number of faculty translates to a small and intimate program, development of carefully designed courses that are substantive, encourages collaboration across programs (e.g., joint academic activities between MSBA and MBA students), provides students with both theoretical and practical knowledge via experiential learning, and offers customized research and independent study courses that cater to student demand. Our curriculum and faculty are high quality but do not get noticed as much because of the small size of the program.

That said, we have developed close partnerships across campus to tap into UC Davis’ global research leadership in many areas. For example, our unique Industry Immersions are based on the strengths of the campus faculty overall. Students are exposed to high-quality curriculum, industry connections, and project experiences in Food and Agriculture, Biotechnology, Sustainable Energy, and Innovation Finance. Students pursuing this enrichment opportunity often team up in class with graduate students from the relevant disciplines and solve case study problems in multidisciplinary teams. This type of experience is made possible because of the high-quality research faculty and the collaborative environment that allows graduate students across UC Davis to take classes with our MBA students—and preparation for career opportunities in specific industries. We know of no other program that focuses on industries and cross-department curricula to prepare MBA students for the jobs of the future.

The consequences of a high-quality faculty are many. First, the curriculum is constantly updated and upgraded to cater to industry demands while keeping the academic integrity of the curriculum intact. Second, experiential opportunities created in the curriculum (e.g., projects, required consulting project, case competitions) prepares our graduates as ready to make an impact on day one of their job. Third, the solid curriculum provides placement opportunities in a range of industries, with high average starting salaries.”

P&Q: In 2-3 sentences, tell us what your stackable credentials are. And more broadly, tell us how these credentials give UC Davis an advantage in the graduate business school marketplace?

Unnava: “We will begin offering our MBA program via stackable certificates in April. Our faculty designed each certificate to closely mirror an employee’s professional advancement at work. This design approach differs from offering a plethora of certificates and letting students take whatever certificates are available to amass credits needed to earn an MBA. Further, our students can take certificate courses online, in-person or hybrid format, making it easier for them to feel integrated with our community and other UC Davis MBA students.

The program vastly expands our student base, sets up important connections with corporate partners, generates opportunities such as projects, internships and career placements for our students and alumni. This continues to differentiate us as one of the most innovative business schools in the U.S. To reiterate, the certificates closely follow one’s professional advancement in management careers, which is different from a few other stackable certificate models which are designed with full-time MBA curriculum as the base model.”

P&Q: What does success look like in your MBA and graduate business school programs (i.e. what are you ultimately working towards)?

Unnava: “Success to us is the ability to graduate students who can participate in meaningful professional opportunities that are consistent with their values and life goals. The new generation of students seek collaboration (which is emphasized in our MBA experience via our Collaborative Leadership Program), meaningful contributions to business (we deliver this via our curriculum that integrates sustainability, corporate social responsibility and entrepreneurship), and to make an impact (we scale individual contributions via participation in alumni networks with similar value systems). We aim to make the two- or three-year experience in our MBA program to be the best years of our students’ lives because they lay the groundwork for lifelong success and achievement.”

P&Q: Can you tell us a little about your upcoming undergraduate business major?

Unnava: “We are excited to have received preliminary approval to launch an undergraduate major in business. The target start date is Fall 2025. The major proposal has received endorsement from the UC Davis Academic Senate and is in the final stages of formulating the laws and by-laws. The major is quite unique because it brings together three groups of expertise at UC Davis: the Economics Department, the Agricultural Resource Economics Department, and the Graduate School of Management. This powerful academic collaboration led to a curriculum that is rigorous and grounded in economics. Students will be required to take six courses in economics, and multiple electives in economics are part of their concentration. Initially, the major will be limited in size—250 students per year—with 175 students admitted as first-year undergraduates and 75 slots made available to transfers from community colleges and other UC Davis departments. This relatively small size of the major (leading to high selectivity), coupled with a focus on key strengths of UC Davis—in economics and business—is expected to result in an academic experience that is highly desirable to the industry.”

Next Page: University of Virginia, Darden School

University of Virginia, Darden School of Business

They won’t say it. Most people feel tired, disrespected, and overwhelmed. Maybe a little afraid too. To win them over, you make the feel welcome, valued, special – pampered even. You treat them to the good life and give them a moment’s peace.

You could say the Forum Hotel is an extension of the Darden School spirit: warm, cosmopolitan, energizing, . Architecturally, it reflects the Jeffersonian aesthetic common to the University of Virginia: Classic white columns, red clay brick, arched windows, and a gigantic lawn. Inside, you’ll find spacious walkways and cozy rooms, a quiet place to gather with loved ones or unwind after a productive day. It feels cultured and relaxed – a place you want to stick around and savor.

Clearly, Darden has hospitality down pat after opening the Forum Hotel last year. Think five stories and 195,000 square feet. 198 guest rooms and 9 suites that can accommodate 600 guests. Combined with the renovated C. Ray Smith Alumni Hall – 48,000 square feet itself – Darden socked $130 million dollars into the venture. And man, does it look like money well spent! That’s because the amenities are the stuff of luxury.

Picture a ballroom, a wine cellar, a fitness center, and a library. It also comes with a 6-acre arboretum with 5,500 trees, not to mention a botanical garden and walking path. Want to unwind? Visit The Good Sport for craft beers from all over Charlottesville. Fine dining? Try the Birch & Bloom for everything from a Seafood Tower to a Filet Mignon. If you get there between 5-6 p.m., you can enjoy complimentary Belgian beer too.

If anything, the Forum Hotel sends a message. For one, it says the Darden doors are open to the Charlottesville community. Overlooking the Darden grounds, the location is a natural spot for the Darden community to gather. More than that, the hotel personifies how Darden is all about the people and the experience.

“In this building, they will see a lot of potential,” says Yael Grushka-Cockayne, senior associate dean for professional degree programs, in a 2023 interview. “Before we would put prospective candidates up in random places around town or in the Darden Inn. You get to know people when you break bread with them and this place invites that kind of interaction and is a world-class experience with small town hospitality.”

Yes, it was good to be Darden again in 2023. Their MBA graduates enjoyed record starting pay last year. The school also topped its $400 million goal two years early in its Powered By Purpose campaign. You can thank David and Kathleen LaCross for some of that. After all, they gave an estimated $56 million dollars to Darden in the second part of their $100 million dollar gift. According to the school, past LaCross gifts have supported the launch of Darden Artificial Intelligence Initiative, with the latest money being funneled towards the Institute for Business in Society, the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics, and the Collaboratory for Applied Data Science in Business.

“I recognized well before graduation that I owed a tremendous debt to Darden for its effective use of the case method, an incredibly special faculty that really knew how to get the most out of a class and my classmates,” David LaCross stated in 2022. “I hoped from the outset that I would be in a position to give something back some day.”

You’ll find plenty of Darden MBAs following in his footsteps who feel the same way. That’s particularly true of current students and recent alumni who were surveyed by The Princeton Review last year. The Darden School ranked in the Top 10 across more schools than any other MBA program. That included finishing 2nd in three categories: Classroom Experience, Campus Environment, and Career Prospects. Darden also ranked 4th for Best Professors and Top 10 for Family Friendliness, Least Competitive Classmates, and Resources For Women. True to Darden’s reputation for stellar academics, the school’s programming finished among the world’s ten-best in four disciplines: Management (3rd), Consulting (4th), Finance (7th), and Marketing (8th).

The Princeton Review wasn’t the only ranking where Darden stood out. In December’s Poets&Quants ranking, Darden climbed six spots to 8th. With Bloomberg Businessweek, the school tied with Dartmouth Tuck for 3rd, its highest ranking ever, thanks to high scores in the Compensation and Learning categories. Darden even scored a #1 ranking –  in its Carbon Footprint from The Financial Times. Thirty years ago, Darden was among the first MBA programs to teach sustainability. Practicing what it preached, Darden also became one of programs to achieve carbon neutrality in 2019. How did they do it? Mike Lenox, the school’s senior associate dean and chief strategy officer said it happened through good business. Darden partnered with Dominion Energy to help build a solar plant and then purchased power through it. Now, Lenox adds, Darden is taking their commitment to practicing sustainability a step further.

“We believe we can do more, which is why we created a new set of 2030 goals around “how we live” (operations) and “how we learn” (student engagement),” he explained in a 2023 interview with P&Q. “The University of Virginia publishes an annual Sustainability Report that Darden contributes to each year, and we are also in the process of creating our own dashboard and reporting documents.”

Despite its prowess in sustainability, Darden will long be known as a general management program, perhaps the world’s best graduate business school for faculty excellence and case study mastery. The school estimates that students will complete 500 or more cases during their two years in the program. Through these narratives, they learn to quickly size up situations, identify what’s relevant and important, work amid uncertainty and contradictions, and craft positions and solutions that they are able to defend in the classroom. Better still, the case method enables Darden MBAs to learn through the experiences of their peers, adds first year Jeremy Halversen.

“If the 70 people in my classroom each have just 4 years of work experience, we’re talking about nearly 300 years’ worth of interactions with managers and leaders… While none of us in the room are perfect managers, we have all witnessed and been a part of moments of near perfect leadership. Darden’s case method is so good at providing a framework for that experience to be shared in a constructive, formulaic way. It’s amazing to have a helicopter pilot who spent nearly a decade in the US military sitting next to the founder of a tech startup in India. They show up to class, start discussing a case, and pretty soon, without even trying. they are teaching each other what great leadership looks like.”

What makes the Darden case method so effective is the faculty – sometimes described as “high touch, high tone, high octane”. You won’t students taking issue with that description. “Darden’s professors are a different breed,” writes first-year Jade Kimpson. “They really live and breathe what they do. They want us to learn and succeed. I signed up to learn from the passionate ones, and Darden delivered. Learning from people who love what they do? That’s what it’s all about.”

Yes, the Darden difference is more than faculty and cases. There is the Darden Cup, where the five sections compete against each other in everything from basketball to trivia to talent competitions for bragging rights. There is the First Coffee tradition, held each morning at 9:30, where students, faculty, and guests gather to mingle and network.  Of course, there is the one of school’s signature experiences, Darden Worldwide Courses, where students can head overseas to study anything from Italian luxury goods to German AI. Still, Darden will always remain a program to watch because they overdeliver on what their MBAs want most: a great experience.

“Dean Scott Beardsley often says students who come to Darden can expect a great education, a great career, a great network, and a great lifestyle while at school,” explains Dawna Clarke, the school’s senior assistant dean, in a 2023 Q&A with P&Q. “That’s all true, but in terms of what sets us apart, it is that total education experience. Students come to the Darden School because they want to learn and they want to love the way they learn. Students and faculty are serious about the depth of learning that takes at Darden, but the classroom experience is also frequently a lot of fun, and students quickly learn to thrive in an environment of mutual support. Students leave Darden with the tools to grow and lead over the course of a career.”

Next Page: SDA Bocconi

SDA Bocconi

Some critics charge that rankings are too prohibitive. The deck is stacked and the tiers are set. Schools really can’t move up. When they do, they eventually slide right back down. It doesn’t matter what schools do, they add. Their fate is ultimately sealed.

Try telling that to SDA Bocconi School of Management. In 2008, the school ranked 48th in the world according to The Financial Times. Respectable – but hardly compelling. Five years later, it climbed to 39th – and 10 spots higher to 29th in 2018. At that rate, you might expect it to crack the Top 20 this year. Instead, it ranked 6th in 2023 – better than Chicago Booth, Northwestern Kellogg, MIT Sloan. Better still, it finished above London Business School and HEC Paris.

Bottom line: 6th represents a pretty substantive jump from ranking 12th and 13th in the previous two FT rankings.

An aberration? A product of a skewed methodology? You might have thought that…until the Bloomberg Businessweek ranking backed up everything the FT showed – and more. SDA Bocconi finished #1 in Europe – even ahead of INSEAD and IESE, which ranked ahead of it in The Financial Times. Equally impressive, the school moved up four spots over the previous year.

What’s behind SDA Bocconi’s success? Let’s start with The Financial Times. Here, the school notched the second-highest score for its carbon footprint, which is based on a school’s net zero target for carbon emissions using the school’s audit reports over the previous three years. SDA Bocconi’s alumni pay, within three years of graduation, came in at $192,815 – second only INSEAD among European MBA programs. The school also ranked among the best in Value For Money (6th), International Course Experience (9th), Industry Sector Diversity (11th). At the same time, SDA Bocconi made noticeable improvement in The FT’s Academic Research and Career Progress categories.

Add to that, the program boasted the highest alumni satisfaction rate (9.89 out of 10) in 2022, not to mention a Top 10 career services center.

Bloomberg Businessweek offers additional clues to what sets SDA Bocconi apart. Like The Financial Times, Bloomberg Businessweek data confirmed that SDA Bocconi grads pull in the second-highest Compensation among European programs after graduation. The school also produced the highest European score for Networking – which measures how accessible and supportive alumni are towards MBA students. In addition, the school ranked 5th and 10th respectively in the Learning and Entrepreneurship dimensions. Notably, SDA Bocconi moved up seven spots in Learning, while holding steady at 2nd in Compensation.

Together, these rankings serve as a testament to SDA Bocconi’s increasing influence. Another is the re-opening of its new Milan campus, which was shut down by COVID-19 after being open only few months. Spanning 50,000 square meters – and five buildings – the campus features the usual: breathtaking views, roomy classes, video cameras and microphones, laboratories and study areas, colorful artwork and green spaces. Even a gym and restaurant.

What’s different? How about an Olympic-size pool!

“This was a huge investment,” says Giuseppe Soda, the school’s former dean and current professor of organizational design. “But we’re happy with our students’ reactions.”

Clearly, SDA Bocconi’s students are happy with their experience. What has propelled SDA Bocconi to rank among the business school elites? In January, P&Q reached out to Stefano Pogutz, the full-time MBA academic director at the SDA Bocconi School of Management. Here are his thoughts on what has made the program stand out.

P&Q: What have been the two most important developments in your MBA program over the past year? What type of impact will they have on current and future MBAs?

Pogutz: “The fast-changing business landscape, transformations in the job market, and the demands from the new generations of MBA participants, call for continuous improvements and adaptations to the curriculum of MBA programs. At SDA Bocconi, we believe that future leaders must integrate foundational competencies in business management and finance with a coherent worldview that reflects the complexity and uncertainty we are experiencing, as well as sustainability challenges facing us (e.g., the climate crisis, inequality, DE&I, AI).

Over the past year, we have incorporated new courses, workshops, and boot camps centered around these topics to provide a solid system-thinking framework that integrates traditional vertical skills. For instance, all students embark on the MBA journey with a full week of interactive and engaging sessions on future scenarios (new technologies and AI, energy and climate, geopolitics, demography). This course, jointly taught by a team of professors from economics and strategy, exposes participants to keynotes from top-notch guests and orchestrated class discussions. The aim is to create a lasting impact on our students, introducing critical issues that will benefit them in their future careers.

Another significant change has been a stronger focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. We anticipate that, in the coming years, more MBAs will be interested in launching startups or joining new ventures. To address major sustainability problems and build a more equitable society, innovation, technologies, and new business ideas are essential. We envision that all students need to acquire these competencies to become agents of change and make a real positive impact.

A final change in the program has been a reorganization of the concentrations to increase the level of modularity and flexibility in the curriculum. This involves adding new elective courses and incorporating new learning experiences such as study tours, business projects, and a pathway of collaboration with our accelerator, Bocconi 4 Innovation, which is based on mentoring programs and internships.”

P&Q: Give us your one-minute pitch for your full-time MBA. What makes you unique?

Pogutz: “Our new motto, ‘Change Together, Lead with Impact’, encapsulates the ethos of our MBA program—its spirit and beliefs. These fundamental concepts set our program apart. Many MBAs claim to offer a transformative experience centered around new technical and behavioral skills, competencies, networking, and access to the job market. At SDA Bocconi, we aspire to change together.

We build on a key feature of our program: the size and diversity of our class. Our full-time MBA prioritizes a small and intimate learning environment. The 2024 class comprises 112 students from 38 different nationalities, providing participants with a genuine experience of cultural diversity and fostering high levels of interaction every day. To enhance inclusivity, we employ various tools such as group assignments and project rotations throughout the MBA journey.

Our services, including the Career Development Center, offer focused approaches to support each student’s unique journey. The smaller class size also facilitates regular interaction with faculties, program officers, the Deans, and the Director. Students can easily have lunch with the Dean or meet with favorite professors to delve deeper into class content over coffee at the cafeteria. ‘Together’ also means maintaining an open channel for constant conversation, one-to-one meetings, and feedback sessions to continually improve the program.

The second component of our motto, “Lead with Impact”, aligns with our overarching goal, which is firmly rooted in the DNA of our School of Management. Since its foundation, our school has been dedicated to stakeholder capitalism and value generation. This dedication carries over to our MBA program, where our aim is to cultivate responsible leaders that care about purpose and making a positive impact on society.”

P&Q: In the 2023-2024 Bloomberg Businessweek ranking, SDA Bocconi ranked #1 in Europe, earning the highest mark for Networking along the way. How does SDA Bocconi help students connect with alumni to enhance their career opportunities and campus experience? What does the career services team do to better position MBA graduates for long-term professional success?

Pogutz: “In the last six years, we have introduced some relevant changes in the way we connect our students with the Alumni network. This has happened, under the coordination of the Associate Dean for our Master Programs, Professor Enzo Baglieri, in order to create higher integration and more chances for all our students.

First, to facilitate the connection between the on-campus students and our network of alumni, we have experimented the so-called “forever” program platforms. We started with the Executive MBAs and now we’ve approached the Full-Time MBA cohorts. These platforms are a mix of events and seminars, offered online and in presence, to both the on-campus students and the alumni. The former have the chance to interact with the network, the latter benefit from the continuous updating of their competences and are motivated to keep on contributing to the school’s networking activities.

Second, we have introduced the Alumni Engagement Manager, a dedicated profile whose goal is to preserve, I would say, one-to-one, the relationship among the alumni and the school, and to create opportunities for networking.

Third, we have created a bridge between the Career Development activities dedicated to students when on campus and the so-called Executive Career Curriculum, which is a sequence of events, seminars, ad hoc coaching sessions, and counselling that we provide to all our MBA alumni, with a special focus on the first 3-5 years after their graduation.

Finally, we would like to underline that a large part of the work we have done so far on networking is based on clearly explaining to students what networking really means. Many people simply expect to either participate in an event or meet an inspirational leader, and – because they are going to graduate from SDA Bocconi School of Management – then they get the job of their life. Networking is both an attitude and a skill; we must all be prepared to give first, without expecting to take. It is based on dedicating time and caring about others. We do spend time on that with our students, through the coaching service and ad hoc sessions and meetings with experts.”

P&Q: What is the most underrated aspect of your MBA program? How does it set you apart from other programs and enrich your MBA students’ experience?

Pogutz: “I’m not sure if it’s undervalued, but one aspect that every student, including exchange students, consistently mentions whenever we inquire about what has been uniquely significant in the entire MBA journey is the “class experience”. As previously noted, our small and intimate learning environment is genuinely distinctive, according to everyone. Our responsibility is to facilitate the formation of friendships among them, assisting them in interacting, embodying their values, and positively and carefully challenging themselves. The outcome is that, after a few weeks, all students get to know each other, forming a cohesive and solid community. This collaborative spirit cannot exist without the establishment of trust, and we believe that this is one of the significant opportunities our MBA provides to our students. Trust, now more than ever, is crucial in preparing leaders capable of listening and managing in a complex, conflict-ridden world.”

P&Q: A decade ago, SDA Bocconi ranked 48th in The Financial Times ranking. This past year, you’ve climbed to 6th. What are two areas that drove this marked improvement and why did they make such a difference in how SDA Bocconi’s full-time MBA program has performed?

Pogutz: “Ten years ago, SDA Bocconi was the leading Italian school of management, with the moderate ambition of becoming an international player. The first change was in our own mindset. Over these ten years, our focus has been on transforming this institution in a real global point of reference for the best management education. The faculty has become more-and-more international and diverse; professionals are hired from other industries and countries, and technologies have advanced. Finally, the new campus in Milan in 2020 and the one in Rome in 2022 are tangible demonstrations of the cultural and strategic change we put in place.

The second factor marking this improvement is the attention we pay to both the need to create the value, to our students and to any stakeholder of ours, and to preserve the values, that is our Dean Stefano Caselli’s mantra. We do feel the responsibility of educating a future generation of business leaders who can manage the business with a strong ethical approach.

I guess that this is what our students feel when they come to Milan and visit our campus. They perceive this cultural specificity of our MBA program, and they let these values to pervade their future decision-making, both professionally and personally. Looking at the FT Ranking, it pays off!”

Next Page: Columbia Business School

Columbia Business School

The World Cup. The Super Bowl. The Olympics.

The Pulitzer. The Nobel Prize. The Golden Globes.

Be it head-to-head competition or voting, each recognizes excellence, execution, and innovation. In education, rankings often substitute for lavish spectacles. When it comes to business schools, some argue that The Financial Times is the ranking to watch. After all, it is the only major ranking that compares MBA programs globally against each other using the same criteria.

Most deans will claim that rankings really don’t matter. They’re biased and dated, measuring the wrong dimensions in the wrong amounts. Of course, their marketing materials and sales pitches say otherwise. Rankings may not rack up bull’s eyes, but they grab attention from educators, students, alumni, and employers. They make applicants think and administrators act.

Columbia Business School certainly made headlines in 2023, notching the top spot in The Financial Times’ Global MBA Ranking. Let’s just say it has been a long time coming. CBS was the runner-up in the 1999, 2007, and 2022 full-time rankings. And the school has made the FT’s Top 5 in 17 out of the 25 years that the FT has ranked business schools. One reason: High pay. Looking over graduate pay within three years of graduation, Columbia MBAs earned $226,359, behind only the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Business School. The school also finished 2nd for the volume and quality of faculty research. CBS Graduates also performed well in job placement and pre-MBA pay increases. At the same time, alumni satisfaction hit 9.51 on a 10-point scale,

“These factors suggest that graduates are enjoying high-level returns on investment in an increasingly unpredictable market,” says Michael Malone, the former associate dean of admissions at CBS. “Columbia has added to its traditional strengths in consulting and financial services by building stronger employment relationships in areas including e-commerce, fintech, and real estate. By diversifying career opportunities, Columbia can provide its graduates with what every MBA student wants most: choices.”

Choices. Opportunities. Investments. That’s the real appeal of Columbia Business School.  While CBS reached the proverbial top of the mountain, the school is taking pains to make the move permanent. That starts with the school’s Digital Future Initiative, which it launched in 2022. Call it a means to help students keep pace with the breakneck speed of the digital economy. To do this, CBS developed four research labs and programming that connect MBA students with leading business practitioners and CBS faculty to harness these advances. The four labs cover digital financial markets, algorithmic decision-making, human-centered technology, and media and entertainment technology. In the digital financial markets lab, for example, students will complete projects involving blockchains, decentralized market microstructure, and mechanisms for decentralized organization and governance mechanisms, says Clare Norton, the school’s senior associate dean of enrollment management. In contrast, Norton notes the human-centered lab will provide hands-on experience in areas ranging from workforce composition to reimagined workplaces to best automation practices.

“These labs operate in synergy with a diverse and comprehensive team comprising research scientists, industry fellows, and student researchers, Norton adds in a 2023 interview. “Notably, the labs capitalize on Columbia Business School’s rich tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration, tapping into the reservoir of knowledge spanning engineering, law, policy, and medicine across Columbia University. This multifaceted approach amplifies the labs’ potential and fosters the advancement of ambitious projects, seamlessly knitting academia, industry, and society into a tapestry of progress.”

CBS has been equally ambitious in other aspects of its curriculum. Norton notes that a decade ago, the school began to expand its programming in areas like machine learning and coding. What’s more, faculty has devoted intensive focus on cutting-edge areas like integrating health care and machine learning and labor force automation. At the same time, the school has been busy adding new courses that address the future of business and work in various fields. These range from Real Estate Analytics to Legal Matters in Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets.

“Our curriculum now contains courses that include tech fundamentals, applied AI, digital product management, blockchain, crypto, and climate tech, among others,” Norton pointed out in a 2022 interview wth P&Q. “Today, more than 88% of our students take an elective in data, tech, or analytics and ~67% take two or more electives in this space…The number of data and digital-related classes on offer at CBS continues to grow with 3 times more sections and more than double the number of students taking classes in this area. 88% of 2022 MBA graduates took at least one full-term elective focused on product, tech, digital, analytics, or programming.”

That doesn’t count climate change and sustainability, areas where CBS seeks to become the world’s undisputed leader. Long known for being one of the top MBA programs in Finance – and an incubator for Wall Street talent – CBS has now incorporated climate and sustainability across its MBA programming, says Norton, with an emphasis on “environmental and social responsibility.” That sets the program up for several university partnerships, including the Columbia Climate School. Not surprisingly, Norton observes, faculty research has entered areas like carbon reduction pledges, behavioral nudging, and clean growth. On top of that, the school has recently been rolling out courses like Climate Finance, Measuring and Managing Climate Risk, and Climate Change and Energy Transition.

Not only have these efforts enabled CBS to do good, but also do well by attracting news students like first-year Isabella Todaro. “It was important to me that the business school has dedicated resources to developing curricula specifically tailored to my interests and to solving such a key global issue,” she tells P&Q. “CBS offers many courses dedicated to climate change and business and I’m looking forward to taking advantage of experiential learning and fellowship opportunities focused on climate change.

How serious is CBS about sustainable practices? They guided the construction of its Manhattanville campus. Opened two years ago, the building received the LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council – but that’s really just an anecdote. Reality is, Columbia Business School’s Manhattanville campus – the Henry R. Kravis Hall and David Geffen Hall – reflect the school’s prestige. More important, it can accommodate the resources of an urban, Ivy League institution that ranks among the world’s best. Picture two glass-encased high-rises, filled with light, covering 492,000 feet – more than double the space of its predecessor, Uris Hall. Imagine spacious and teched-out classrooms, not to mention two dozen interview rooms that pamper employers (and hopefully stick around campus a little longer). Yeah, it may have cost $600 million dollars, but it provides a state-of-the-art learning experience designed to bring together all stakeholders – students, faculty, employers, experts – with amenities that bring out their best. Maybe the new campus’ most underrated feature, says Norton, is its stair system, known as “The Network.”

“[It] acts as the connective tissue of the school, linking all levels of each building, joining a myriad of intimate lounges, classrooms, study rooms, and informal hang-out spaces. In addition, the space includes an Innovation Lab, dedicated space for nurturing new business ventures conceived of and led by members of the Columbia community, student screening room, student game room, fitness room, dining hall, and café. Connecting the buildings is an underground Link, which houses a variety of shared service groups and amenities, allowing our new space to truly function as one unit on our new campus.”

Alas, Columbia Business School boasts – maybe – the biggest advantage of any business school: Location. In New York City, as students say, you’re a cab ride away from every industry, company, function, or area of expertise. The region is home to 47 Fortune 500 companies, along with the presence of large outposts for big names ranging from Google to McKinsey. Not only is it a financial, artistic, and media center, but it nurtures a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem. Think $22 billion dollars in early-stage investment (and 98 unicorns) from 2020-2022. And Columbia Business School MBA competes in the thick of it all. Case in point: Among the 15 MBA startups that drew the most investment from 2018-2022, four were founded by CBS MBA graduates – more than any other business school.

For MBAs, that translates to access and opportunity. Clare Norton points to internship opportunities, something that students can enjoy any time of the year. Even more, they can learn from some of New York City’s top c-suite executives and business thinkers through adjunct faculty and executives-in-residence. More than anything, Columbia Business School positions MBAs for long-term success, whether it is through its deeply-connected faculty and alumni, wide-ranging and cutting-edge programming, or the possibilities only afforded by living in the Big Apple.

“Quoting a line from a CBS alum and the former VP of Entrepreneurship Club,” says first-year Uvika Chaturved, “a CBS MBA will already put you at the top in the business capital of the world.”

Next Page: Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

Death and taxes.

They’re the only certainties in life. While MBAs have flocked to finance for generations, there is one business school that has gone all in on “the business of health”: Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Why not? After all, Johns Hopkins is “synonymous with health” says Dean Alexander Triantis. Home to 29 Nobel Prize winners, Johns Hopkins ranks as the United States’ top school for Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health according to U.S. News & World Report. The school is equally formidable in Engineering, Hard Sciences, Education, and Global Policy. This proximity enables MBAs to tap into leading experts to develop programs and commercialize ideas. With healthcare accounting for 20% of American GDP, that makes for huge opportunities to build a healthcare career with access and impact. At the same time, healthcare expertise is equally coveted in the larger marketplace.

“That other 80% has woken up to the opportunities”, says Dean Triantis in a 2023 interview with P&Q, “whether it is the tech sector that sees great application opportunities or whether it is any industry thinking about the well-being or healthcare of their employees and thinking about the impact of services and products on the health and well-being of their customers. As terrible as COVID was, it has awoken interest in this field and many of the companies that are not in the 20% of the economy now have chief medical officers focused on that whole ecosystem. Everyone is focused on the cost, the quality and the accessibility of healthcare.”

Carey MBAs have certainly noticed the difference. Vanessa Battista, a pediatric nurse who earned a dual MBA-Doctor in Nursing Practice, quickly experienced how relevant the programming was to her work. The program’s focus on outcomes, she says, was invaluable in tasks like drafting memos and organizing events.

“We did that all the time, learning practical skills that just helped you do your work even better,” Battista told P&Q in a 2023 interview. “This may sound a little bit hokey but not a day goes by that I don’t use the skills I learned in the program. When you are in leadership, you are always thinking about what you say and how you say it and how the message is received. Those are all skills I learned in the MBA program.”

More than communicating, Battista adds, the Carey MBA taught her how to think beyond her functional confines that had been ingrained from years in her profession. “There were certainly many working in the health care space but also there were business people, engineers, lawyers, and teachers. It was so refreshing to think about problems from different perspectives. That was really enriching.”

Shrey Kapoor, a 2023 MBA graduate who’ll earn his MD this spring, came to Carey as an entrepreneur who founded MetSetGo, am AI-driven telemedicine platform. The curriculum, Kapoor says, trained him on the key nuances of developing a pitch deck – lessons that helped him land a $250K investment. More than that, the team-driven Carey model sharpened his soft skills – the ones he’ll need to manage his 15-member team. Kapoor’s classmate, Mehaque Kohli, lauded the program’s experiential learning opportunities, highlighting the Innovation Field Project where her team worked with executives and clients for a Nashville telehealth firm looking to broaden its services. Another grad, Jon Ilani, loved how he was taught by researchers and practitioners deeply versed in the distinctive rules governing healthcare finance and marketing. Even more, he appreciated how the MBA program went above-and-beyond to help him advance his career while being an applicant and student.

“While every school talked about their potential to help me, Carey Business School went the extra mile to make it happen. They arranged an interview for me with a Carey alumnus for an internship at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, setting me up with a pre-MBA internship and leveraging their strong alumni network. This experience provided me with valuable real-world experience, which was immensely helpful when I applied for internships for the following summer.”

Carey’s experiential and multidisciplinary nature is one advantage it enjoys. However, a real differentiator is flexibility. Dean Triantis notes that the two-year, full-time MBA program now includes a Health, Technology, and Innovation track – not to mention a 12-week paid internship. The Flex MBA can be completed online or include a mix of on-campus residencies and weekend courses. At the same time, Carey maintains an impressive portfolio of programs and certificates.

“In our Flexible MBA, we have a variety of specializations but one of them is in healthcare management, innovation and technology, Dean Triantis tells P&Q. “You can see a theme in not only focusing on health care but on the role that innovation and technology have in disrupting the healthcare system. If you are interested in pharma, medical devices, learning about all the types of insurance structures and the economics of healthcare, we have something for you.  We have a specialized master’s of science program in healthcare management, both full- and part-time. We have executive education with academies and courses. And then the dual degrees with the schools of medicine, nursing, public health and biotechnology. We cover the gamut if you are looking to go deeper as well as having the breadth of the MBA.”

Another advantage that Carey enjoys? The school is relatively young. That translates to an openness that is undermined by silos or entrenched practices. “As schools grow, they tended in the past to develop departments of finance and accounting and so on,” Dean Triantis admits. “We really promote and create inter-disciplinary research. The modern business school is focused on addressing really complex problems that require you to integrate functional areas. Our faculty do that and our students learn that this is the way they are going to address problems.”

Of course, there is the vaunted Johns Hopkins ecosystem. How does it stand up? Shrey Kapoor frames it this way: “As one professor told me, ‘We don’t read books. We write them.’ There are resources here that are not available anywhere else in the world.”

“There’s no better place to do health care than Hopkins,” adds Mehaque Kohli. “The entire ecosystem, from the alumni network to the cases discussed in class and even extra-curriculars, you are immersed in health care.”

Last year, the Carey School reached a milestone: It became one of ten American business schools to achieve a STEM designation. The upshot: Carey graduates are eligible to extend their stay in the United States to 36 months. What else makes Carey a business school to watch in 2024? This month, P&Q reached out to Dean Triantis. Here are some additional thoughts on what to expect from the Carey Business School.

P&Q: What have been the most important new developments in your MBA program over the past year? What type of impact will it have on current and future MBAs?

Triantis: “Offering the distinction of Hopkins online, Carey expanded its part-time Flexible MBA to allow students more opportunities to personalize and customize their program to fit their goals and needs. Students can choose from eight in-demand specializations, including business analytics; health care management, innovation, and technology; and public and private sector leadership. The part-time Flexible MBA is Carey’s largest academic program, drawing students from across the U.S. and around the world with a mix of online courses and unique in-person experiences.

As a growing and agile b-school, Carey plans to add more specialization opportunities including areas such as artificial intelligence, and even more experiential learning opportunities for online-learning students.

Of course, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School also offers a full-time MBA and eleven carefully designed dual-degree MBA programs that give students more opportunities to specialize.”

P&Q: Give us your 30-second pitch for your full-time MBA. What makes you unique?

Triantis: “Johns Hopkins Carey Business School is part of America’s first research university, world-renowned in health, engineering, and other fields. With this pedigree, Carey Business School is leading the business of health through unparalleled interdisciplinary collaboration with the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Whiting School of Engineering. Even outside the business of health, Carey provides a highly personalized student experience that intentionally integrates more than a dozen experiential learning opportunities and puts students’ program needs above departmental regimen without sacrificing rigor. It champions a focus on faculty, drawing prestigious experts like economist Michael Keane, management scientist and digital health expert Ritu Agarwal, and Poets & Quants 40 Under 40 Professors Tinglong Dai and Christopher Myers. Plus, Carey’s total student population and its full-time MBA cohort are more than 50 percent women, a distinction few b-schools can claim, but that Carey has had for four years in a row.”

P&Q: What is the most underrated aspect of your MBA program? How does it set you apart from other programs and enrich your MBA students’ experience?

Triantis: “With students from 64 countries, Carey Business School is culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse. Plus, it is one of only a handful of business schools to achieve gender parity in its MBA programs; Carey’s full-time MBA cohorts have been at least 51 percent women for four years in a row. In fact, Carey has gender parity across the entire student body.

Carey is a place for entrepreneurs interested in impacting the future of business and society through innovation and experience. Its MBA program provides more than a dozen experiential learning opportunities, from impact sprints to immersive international excursions. Carey’s approach to experiential learning is so impressive that, in 2021, the MBA Roundtable recognized it with an Innovator Award for General Excellence. The previous year, Carey integrated AI into its MBA program. In 2022, Carey launched the new Center for Digital Heath and Artificial Intelligence; In 2023, Johns Hopkins University formed its multi-disciplinary Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Institute, which will accelerate and deepen Carey students’ exposure to and understanding of AI.”

P&Q: Give us two examples of how your MBA program leverages the Johns Hopkins health care ecosystem or the larger health care industry as a whole.

Triantis: “The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School is leading the business of health. Fully 25 percent of its faculty are engaged in business-of-health-related research, and Carey offers eight academic degrees with a focus in the field. Through dual-degree MBAs with the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Nursing, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Whiting School of Engineering, students capitalize on the interdisciplinary collaboration and expertise of the world’s most respected and trusted experts in health-related fields. Plus, Carey students can transform ideas into action with access to the Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures and Hexcite, the university’s AACSB Innovations that Inspire Award-winning medical software start-up generator. Both programs focus on moving scientific discoveries into commercialized products and services. For example, Carey MBA graduate Christoph Lengauer helped raise funding for a cancer-detection blood test developed by Johns Hopkins researchers. The company was acquired for $2.1 billion in 2020.

P&Q: What does success look like in your MBA and graduate business school programs (i.e. what are you ultimately working towards)?

Triantis: “Johns Hopkins Carey Business School expands Johns Hopkins University’s pursuit of research, discovery, and education through dynamic learning opportunities, innovative faculty, and interdisciplinary collaborations to help shape leaders who seize opportunities to create lasting commercial and societal value. Because solutions to the world’s most complex challenges require more than one area of expertise, Carey uses a de-siloed approach that focuses on areas of academic interest instead of disciplinary departments. Carey’s faculty and academic directors continually reassess the best interests of students and society through business, adapting curricula, experiential learning opportunities, and external partnerships to meet those needs.”

Next Page: Yale School of Management

Yale School of Management

Time plays a funny trick on us. What seems normal now was once viewed as revolutionary. Take the Yale School of Management. In 2011, Ted Snyder was named the Dean of a school that he says operated like a “family business.” It boasted an Ivy League pedigree, but lacked an identity that distinguished it form other MBA programs. Thankfully, he only needed to look at the larger Yale University for answers. His vision involved an interdisciplinary, international, and mission-driven MBA program. It would focus on leveraging the Yale community, become a truly global extension, and establish leadership development across all sectors and regions.

That’s now the SOM DNA: a future-centered, globally-focused, socially-conscious MBA program that’s heavily informed by the liberal arts and STEM disciplines. Its mantra says it all: “Educating leaders for business and society.” At Yale SOM, students are learning more than frameworks and formulas. They’re here to use business to tackle the complex and enigmatic issues that keep the best minds awake at night. That means MBAs come to New Haven with passion and purpose, always balancing big picture goals with small constituent needs.

“The Yale School of Management is a place for people who want to have a positive impact on their organizations, their community, and the world more generally,” explains Bruce DelMonico, the assistant dean for admissions, in a in a 2023 interview with P&Q. “Our founding mission to educate leaders for business and society continues to animate everything we do at the school, from our integrated core curriculum to our distinctive global offerings to our deep programmatic connections to Yale University. We attract students who have the broad-mindedness and intellectual curiosity to leverage the many interconnected and interdisciplinary opportunities available to them at Yale SOM; the humility to lead teams effectivity in a diverse, global context; and the optimism to believe that they can make a difference in the world and that this is a worthy goal to which to aspire.”

That sounds like the mission of every modern MBA program…with varying degrees of success achieving it. A decade ago, the societal element often took a backseat to profit-and-loss, with the ‘why’ rarely explored. At Yale SOM, these commitments have become a cornerstone – a vocation even – that drives decision-making and has filtered into every corner of the curriculum. Just ask graduates like Elizabeth Varughese, who earned her MBA at Yale SOM in 2022.

“I realized upon coming to SOM is that we are all in search of the intersections of social impact and business through various mediums and industries, including sustainability, energy conservation, technology, resource accessibility, etc.,” she tells P&Q. “We all find our own places where we want to make a difference that are unique. I knew that SOM was diverse, and it is—not only in terms of ethnicity and background, but also in terms of passions, interests, and opinions, all of which add a lot of value to the classroom.”

And it has turned Yale SOM into a Top 10 staple across the major MBA rankings. This year, Yale SOM climbed three spots to 5th in the 2023-2024 P&Q MBA ranking. Before that, the school placed finished 10th (Financial Times), 8th (U.S. News), 10th (CEOWorld), 8th (LinkedIn) and 4th (Fortune). Yale SOM also notched the top score for its Consulting programming In the Princeton Review’s 2023 survey of MBA students and recent alumni. As usual, business school deans and MBA director rated the school as the top school for Non-Profit programming in the annual US News survey.

Many times, in business or education, innovators are punished. The outside world – from customers to stakeholders – just don’t know how to evaluate their success. That’s one reason why Yale SOM’s consistently highly rankings – regardless of methodology – is so striking. After all, the school is among the handful that isn’t afraid to be different. For example, the first year opens with the integrated core. After a quick brush up on the fundamentals of individual disciplines, the core weaves into a multidisciplinary medley. Here, students study business from the perspective of stakeholders like customers and investors, see how disciplines like marketing and finance work hand-in-hand across various levels of an organization and every constituency it serves. What’s more, the program relies heavily on ‘raw’ case studies. Think a normal case study – only supplemented by resources like videos and source materials. Such elements add context to the issues at hand and expose students to the greater uncertainties and inconsistencies involved.

At Yale SOM, you’ll also hear students use the term “intersectionality.” In many ways, it is an ivory tower term for cross-curricular or multidisciplinary – but it extends beyond cases and courses to Yale SOM’s structure overall. For one, it reflects the school’s robust joint degree program, whose cross-campus partnerships cover connect disciplines like Public Affairs, Architecture, Public Health, Global Affairs, Law, Drama, Medicine, and the Environment. During their second year, MBAs can take as many courses as they want outside the SOM.

“A key draw of Yale SOM’s MBA curriculum was the flexibility to take elective courses across Yale’s various academic programs,” explains Eunjee Koh, a second-year MBA. “This is especially true for someone like me, who is interested in exploring the intersection of sustainability and well-being. The ability to attend classes at Yale School of Environment, Yale School of Public Health, and Yale Center on Climate Change and Health will broaden my understanding of the health impacts of sustainability.”

This past year, Yale SOM has been busy expanding its options. Thanks to a $20 million dollar gift, the school has established its Swensen Asset Management Institute. The institute will complement its joint MBA-Master In Asset Management, one of the SOM’s most popular new offerings in recent years. By the same token, the school has launched a range of new courses according to Deputy Dean Anjani Jain, such as Rapid Prototyping in Tech Entrepreneurship, Building a Metaverse Strategy, and Understanding and Reducing Bias in Organizations. That doesn’t count the rollout of another recent hit course: Large Language Models: Theory and Application., Coming this fall, Yale SOM will also be launching a new Master’s degree in Technology Management. At the same time, the school is slated to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the opening of Evans Hall – a building that feels as futuristic as the day it was opened.

In the end, these additions aren’t just about meeting marketplace needs, adds Bruce DelMonico in a 2022 interview with P&Q. Rather, they are efforts to fulfill greater mission of applying business tools serve the greater good.

“Another important aspect of this defining mission is not just how it encompasses diverse fields such as education and asset management, but how it shapes and transforms them as well. It brings heart to a field such as investment management that could otherwise tend toward the technical and impersonal, training leaders who understand the impact their investment decisions have and who steward that responsibility with thought and care. And it allows educators who are passionate and purposeful about their work to approach it with heightened rigor, amplifying the impact they can have in their classrooms and communities.”

With a commitment like that, you have to wonder what Yale SOM will cook up next. This creativity, coupled with a track record for raising the bar and setting the pace, makes SOM a program to watch in the coming year.

Next Page: Duke University, Fuqua School of Business

Duke University, Fuqua School of Business

How do you know what kind of job you’re doing? People will tell you…and they won’t be shy if it’s anonymous.

That’s the real beauty of The Princeton Review’s annual survey of MBA students and recent graduates. You might not get school scores, but you’ll see exactly which MBA programs consistently make the Top 10. When it comes to satisfaction, few schools match up with Duke University’s Fuqua School.

Mind you, Fuqua didn’t rank first in any category. Aside from the Darden School, Fuqua notched more Top 10 marks than any other business school. Classroom Experience and Faculty Quality? 5th and 10th. Campus Environment – 4th. The school’s administration ranked 6th and the campus’ Family Friendliness scored 9th. Career Prospects made 6th, while Admissions Toughness came in at 9th. In terms of academics, Fuqua’s Consulting and Management programming finished Top 10 too.

What makes the difference? Fuqua MBAs want to be in Durham, at Fuqua, and among their peers in the Fox Center. They know exactly what they are getting into for two years. They’ve have already bought into the philosophy. They want to live it and they want to preserve it. By it, they mean Team Fuqua.

Hardly a slogan or marketing gimmick, Team Fuqua is very, very real. It is a way of thinking and acting, an aspiration and an identity, a commitment to their classmates that they will show up and bring out the best in each other every…single…day. Technically, there is no real definition of Team Fuqua, says Audrey Dotson, a second-year MBA. It means different things to different people. Instead, it is something that students witness – and they know it when they see it.

“Team Fuqua is the idea that Fuquans, whether current students or alums, are all on the same team and when one of us succeeds, we all succeed,” Dotson adds. “The sense of camaraderie and ambition, rather than competitiveness, is what makes this community so special and its one I’m proud to be a part of.”

The Paired Principles are the closest you’ll get to decoding Team Fuqua – and why students are so upbeat about the program. Call it the DNA of the program – a set of values that hold classmates accountable to each other. They include Authentic Engagement, Supportive Ambition, Collective Diversity, Impactful Stewardship, Loyal Community, and Uncompromising Integrity. Impactful Stewardship, for example, is a call to use one’s talents for the greater good in communities large and small. This principle personifies what Gabrielle House strives to do.

“Personally, I feel responsible for using the opportunities, experiences, and resources I have to lift and love the people around me,” explains the Fuqua first-year. “From volunteering and mentoring youth in my community to being a good aunt to my five nieces and nephews, nurturing others really fills my cup.”

How does Team Fuqua find MBAs like Dotson and House? In true business school fashion, they rely on a formula. Dean Bill Boulding refers to it as “triple-threat leadership” – or a combination of IQ, EQ, and DQ.

“Many people are familiar with IQ, or intellectual capability, and EQ, emotional intelligence,” explains Russ Morgan senior associate dean for full-time programs, in a 2023 interview with P&Q. “But DQ, or decency quotient, means someone genuinely wants to do right by others. We believe this type of leadership is essential and a winning business strategy, as people will give leaders their best if they truly believe that person has his or her interest at heart. We not only look for students who possess the triple-threat capability in our admission process, but every part of our curriculum helps aid the development of these qualities. It’s why recruiters tell us again and again that our graduates can bring out the best in their teams and harness the power of diversity to truly innovate.”

The school has certainly doubled down on diversity. International students, hailing from 51 countries, accounted for 47% of the fall MBA class. Women made up a 45% share of the class, while underrepresented minority students held 27% of the class seats. That doesn’t count the 18% who fit under the first-generation student category. As much as Team Fuqua is held together by unifying paired principles, differences produce a dynamic where wider perspectives can break down the intricacies of complex problems and ultimately result in more holistic solutions. More than that, differences simulate the world that MBAs will re-enter, where shared purpose connect people far more than shared backgrounds.

“A winning business strategy,” says Dean Boulding, “[is] the ability to build and lead diverse teams where everyone feels included and empowered to be their authentic selves leads to higher performance and creates greater wealth for a company and, ultimately, society.”

That impulse to build bridges extends into Fuqua’s recent innovations in programming. Among the first schools to study CEO activism, the school eventually channeled its passion for business and politics to The Dialogue Project, which seeks to reduce social polarization and division. The faculty’s commitment to fighting climate change ultimately led to the school’s acclaimed Center for Energy, Development, and Global Environment (EDGE). A partnership with legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski produced the Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics (COLE) – further reinforcing the school’s reputation as a ‘Leadership Lab.’ To further expose students to the most urgent and relevant business topics, Fuqua has further innovated by recently rolling out elective ‘short courses’.

“The short courses allow our students to go deep on a topic in a matter of weeks, rather than a full term,” Russ Morgan notes. “The shorter format also enables our faculty to quickly develop courses around the most relevant issues facing business today. For example, we have a short course on sustainable operations. I expect we will see more short courses this academic year. This will allow our students to tailor their experiences even more to their interests, adding to an already wide range of electives we offer.”

Alas, teams are temporary, an endless struggle to focus on the mission and live the principles that produced their success. This year, the school is slated to replace Dean Boulding, who has led the program since 2011. With a distinctive culture, renowned faculty, and spiffy facilities, the new dean will be walking into an ideal situation. As any business professor will tell you, it’s often easier to build than maintain. Who will Fuqua choose to fill Boulding’s shoes – and how will he or she rouse the Team Fuqua spirit? That journey will undoubtedly be worth a case study – and something to watch in the coming years.

Next Page: Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business

Rice University, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business

Success…It’s a great problem to have!

That’s what Dean Peter Rodriguez is facing now.  The word is getting out about Rice University’s Jones Graduate School. This interest has forced the school to make a choice: Do we double-down on our current model – or do we scale up to accommodate more people.

Chances are, you know the path they chose.

For one, the school expanded beyond the graduate business space. In 2021, Jones launched an undergraduate business program. Once Rice’s most popular minor, the undergraduate business program offers concentrations in Finance and Management through a 20-course roster. Let’s just say it has been a success. All you need to know is that a remarkable 25% of the incoming freshmen last fall at Rice declared their intent to major in business. Notably, the school plans to break ground this year on a 110,000 square-foot addition to McNair Hall – which is already 160,000 square feet!

There was a reason why Jones Graduate School had the confidence to open an undergraduate program. In 2018, it had started an online MBA program. Now home to over 300 students, the MBA@Jones ranks as the 6th-best online MBA program in the world according to Poets&Quants. Notably, it rated as the 2nd-best online MBA program for Career Impact, a mix of hard data and survey responses involving promotions, networking, career services, and career goals. What could Jones do for an encore in the online space? Last January, the school announced the start of a new Hybrid MBA program that would begin over the summer.

Call it a happy medium between MBA@Jones and the school’s executive MBA program –  which ranked 18th in P&Q’s latest EMBA ranking. Instead of meeting every other weekend like the executive students or spending most of the program in front of computers like online candidates, Rice Hybrids MBAs head to campus just once a month for 2-3 days on a weekend. In addition, Rice Jones will hold three, week-long immersions on campus over the 22-month program. The rest of the program involves live (asynchronous) and recorded (synchronous) courses. In many ways, the Hybrid MBA is a win-win for the school and students alike. Dean Rodriguez noted that it enables Rice Jones to draw working professionals from the Dallas and Austin markets who may only have one weekend free to travel for coursework. At the same time, he adds, the school can better deliver content like Leadership, which he says is better taught fully in-person.

“We can deliver this program on weekends we already have other MBA formats,” he adds, “so we can increase our elective offerings to all other groups.”

Yes, Rice Jones may be in growth mode, but it hasn’t exactly ignored its flagship full-time MBA program. In 2023, the school’s rankings improved seemingly across the board. In the 2023-2024 Poets&Quants Ranking, Jones jumped from 29th to 18th. That doesn’t count improvements with U.S. News (27th to 24th), The Financial Times (28th to 17th among American programs), and Bloomberg Businessweek (29th to 19th). When it came to the current student and recent alumni survey conducted by The Princeton Review in 2023, Jones ranked among the ten-best for Classroom Experience, Career Prospects and Resources for Women – and Top 5 for its Consulting and Finance curriculum. Still, the program’s highest ranking came in an area that is considered to be its signature: Entrepreneurship.

This fall, Rice Jones climbed from 7th to 3rd in Poets&Quants‘ annual Entrepreneurship ranking. How popular is entrepreneurship in McNair Hall? 100% of faculty is involved in Entrepreneurship according to research conducted by P&Q in 2023. Among students, 73% took an Entrepreneurship-themed elective and 72% completed Entrepreneurship projects. Even more, 9% of Jones MBAs from 2018-2022 joined startups, with 5.6% launching one within three months of graduation.

“We’re not just about the theory of entrepreneurship, but it’s entrepreneurship applied in real-time,” says Kyle Judah, the executive director of the Liu Lab, in a 2022 interview with P&Q. Entrepreneurship is a contact sport. You can’t learn about it just by viewing it from the sidelines. You’ve got to get your hands dirty and learn by doing.”

Jones certainly invests heavily in Entrepreneurship. Startup and Innovation courses account for 29% of the school’s electives. Globally, the school budgets the highest startup funding at $9,217 per student. In addition, Jones ranks first for the ratio of mentor-to-student hours in Entrepreneurship at 22.9 hours. The school is also home to the Lillie Lab, which has produced over 300 startups since 2015. The lab provides student entrepreneurs with everything from coursework to funding to competitions – plus access to potential investors and mentors in the Houston startup ecosystem. University-wide, MBAs can also take advantage of the OwlSpark Accelerator or compete in the annual Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC). Held in the spring, the competition showers winning ventures with over a million in funding. Over the past two decades, competitors have gone on to raise nearly $5.6 billion dollars and create over 5,500 jobs.

“The entrepreneurship culture is a central element of our identity, explains Jessica Krom, director of staff administration, in a 2023 Q&A with P&Q. “A lot of applicants tell us they first learned about Rice because of our No. 1 ranking in entrepreneurship [in The Princeton Review]. As we grow this ecosystem at the school and university level, so does Houston. At Rice, we have the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which has courses for MBAs like New Enterprises and Financing the Startup Venture. But they also have programming and mentoring for all Rice students, alums and even faculty. We also have the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, which hosts the largest and richest graduate business plan competition. The university recently appointed VP of Innovation, which shows how we value the entrepreneurial mindset.”

The location doesn’t hurt either, as Houston is home to 26 Fortune 500 companies – third only to New York City and Chicago. Even more, it is the energy capital of the world, boasting over 4,700 energy companies in every imaginable sector: oil, solar, wind, battery – and many more! That translates to valuable projects for students and jobs for graduates. More than that, Houston is a great place to live. There are nearly 150 languages spoken in the metro area. In fact, second-year Aquib S. Yacoob describes Houston as “what the U.S. population will look like in 2050.” Yacoobs’ classmate, Ryan Flick, echoes his sentiments.

“You can get over 15 varieties of cuisine within a one-block walk to Rice Village. There’s an entire underground (literally) retail ecosystem downtown that spans 95 blocks and connects businesses, restaurants and hotels if you want to stay out of the heat – and the city offers plenty of green space and fresh air. As great as these attractions are though, it’s the truly diverse population in Houston that makes the city great! Houston is a welcoming city that combines southern hospitality with uncommon cultural diversity for a truly unique experience on-campus and downtown. There is something here for everyone.”

Smack in the middle of a city of the future? That’s just one more reason to watch Rice Jones – a popular program in the middle growth spurt. Have to wonder what’s next up their sleeve.

Next Page: INSEAD

INSEAD

Sometimes, it just takes a leap of faith – to go and do what no one else will. It means stepping up, committing, and taking the lead – showing everyone how to turn disruption into convention.

MBA programs love sustainability. Who wouldn’t want a chance to do right, make a difference, and preserve the future? You can even earn a few credits in the process. What if sustainability was more than an elective or specialization? What if it was the cornerstone of the program as a whole? Well, that’s exactly what INSEAD plans to pull off. In 2024.

That’s a big bet for a program ranked 2nd globally by The Financial Times (and 1st internationally by Poets&Quants). Call it a curriculum revamp, where the school will embed sustainability principles into each of its 14 core courses. That’s right: Sustainability will be a key piece of every class, whether it is Introduction to Strategy, Organisational Behaviour, Managerial Accounting, or Macroeconomics. In other words, INSEAD grads will understand how environmental issues impact every field of study. On top of that, INSEAD is adding a capstone project where students can apply these lessons towards a sustainability-related global challenge.

More than raising social consciousness, the change is designed to hone students’ creative thinking and decision-making skills, says Urs Peyer, dean of degree programs at INSEAD, in a 2023 interview with P&Q.

“INSEAD prides itself on continuous innovation. By strengthening its flagship programme’s focus on sustainability, INSEAD once again leads the way in sustainable and socially responsible business education…The renewed curriculum aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools so that they can make the right choices and have their own positive impact during their careers. When they make and create solution for a business, they will take into account the social and environmental impact. When they lead a business and appreciate the financial performance, they also keep in mind progress.”

Of course, INSEAD isn’t just completing a curriculum makeover for the greater good. There are larger forces at play, such as the demands of employers.

“What we’ve heard from businesses is that they will still come to INSEAD to hire general managers. And those general managers, from a vocabulary and a knowledge point of view, need to be able to address sustainability challenges,” explains Peyer in a separate interview with P&Q, “They are very different across different industries and across different geographies. That’s why we decided to give people a holistic point of view as a mandatory part of the curriculum, and then let them specialize through electives for what they’re planning to contribute in the future.”

For these efforts, INSEAD garnered Poets&Quants’ MBA Program Of The Year For 2023. Peyer notes that sustainability can also “showcase” how MBAs can produce “win-win” solutions that “make sense economically, and environmentally and socially.” Even more, the field appeals to what inspires this new crop of MBA candidates.

“I think the generations that are getting to the MBA now are already themselves much more sensitive and much more aware of the challenge of having a more sustainable world, and therefore the need to do something around that,” explains Dean Francisco Veloso, who joined the program last spring. “So in that sense, we are responding to the needs of the world, but we’re also responding to the needs of the students themselves that feel, ‘I know this is important, so I want to learn more about this. I want this to be part of my decision toolkit.’”

While the sustainability revamp has been years-in-the-making, Dean Veloso will be responsible for shepherding it through its infancy. For it to be a success, he says, the school is going to lean heavily on feedback for the constituency that matters most: the students.

“It’s very important that students have voices in the sense that we all assess, we all get feedback from the students at every level. That does not mean that it’s the students that are deciding the curriculum, but it is very important to involve them in the process, especially because the nature of the INSEAD curriculum is that it’s very case-oriented, experiential-driven. So it’s very important to see how that is impacting the learning process of the students and see what adjustments may be needed.”

INSEAD’s deep integration of sustainability isn’t the school’s only innovation n recent years. Notably, the program has been a pioneer in virtual reality. Notably, the school’s VR Immersive Learning Initiative has exposed over 4,500 MBAs and executives to simulations such as overcoming flaws in building design for a new base camp in space or developing strategies to help avocado marketers grow their business. Think of it as case studies come to life – just with interactive VR headsets.

“INSEAD has built the largest VR library in the world for management education, with 20 VR experiences on teaching areas in leadership, strategy, sustainability, innovation, entrepreneurship, and many others,” explains Urs Peyer. “Recently the school also hosted the First Annual Meeting of the Global XR Management Community at our Middle East Campus in Abu Dhabi with 42 scholars from 24 institutions from around the world.  The goal is to start building a community of scholars who are already using these new technologies in their teaching or research.”

The school has also launched a Digital@INSEAD initiative, Peyer adds, which has been churning out new electives in emerging tech areas, such as Web 3.0 and the Metaverse, Pricing Analytics, and The Future of Digital: NTFs. The program is also known as a leadership hub thanks to its Personal Leadership Develop Programme (PLDP) – considered the largest program of its kind by Peyer. Running the length of the program, the PLDP features coursework, professional coaching, psychological evaluations, simulations, and group exercises to enhance students’ interpersonal skills, communication abilities, and self-awareness.

“The PLDP is founded on the belief that leadership is much more than management,” explains Katy Montgomery, associate dean of degree programmes, in a 2022 interview with P&Q. “Today’s leaders must strike a balance between reflection and action to help their organisations adapt to the unknown. They must be flexible, aware of their context, and able to adjust their leadership style to the situation. Just as importantly, they must know themselves and understand their impact on others. I believe this programme provides an irreplaceable chance for students to understand what hinders and what enhances their ability to lead well.”

Still, INSEAD will always be associated with diversity. Think 90 nationalities and campuses in France, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and San Francisco. The school graduates over 1,000 full-time MBAs alone each year, not counting over 65,000 graduates across 180 countries. It truly lives up to its moniker as “The business school for the world.” One reason for its success is its structure: no nationality holds a majority of students. In other words, everyone experiences what it is like to be a minority. Early on, these differences can lend themselves to conflict. Soon enough, something kicks in, says ’22 grad Nana Yaw Kyere Opare-Anim; he compares it to “two pairs of iron sharpening each other.” In other words, students’ differences push them to ask questions and consider alternatives. Coupled with the caliber of classmates, the dynamic just makes everyone better.

“In the professional world, there is a ton of value in having people from different backgrounds around the decision-making table,” writes ’23 grad Juliette Cremel. “They will challenge your perspective and bring a different point of view.”

Cremel’s classmate, Albert Kweku, adds that the 10-month format simulates the realities of working as a global manager overseeing high-level far-flung operations.

“I was surprised to learn how intense and fast-paced the program is. The INSEAD MBA program is like a whirlwind of knowledge and activity, where you’re constantly bombarded with new information and experiences at lightning speed. Despite the intensity, it’s also incredibly rewarding, and I’ve learned a lot in a short time.”

While sustainability has dominated the INSEAD headlines, it is simply an extension of INSEAD’s greater mission – to connect disparate peoples and tackle intractable problems using business tools. Considering INSEAD’s track record in fulfilling this purpose – coupled with its ambitious sustainability designs – it is a school to watch  – and even study – this year.

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