The impact of U.S. news & world report rankings on MBA programs at eight public institutions

U.S. News & World Report has published a ranking of the top 50 MBA programs since 1990. Today, the rankings are so popular and powerful, that prospective students, alumni, legislators, college presidents, deans, and admissions officers wait with bated breath to see where their school will be ranked. The purpose of this qualitative study was to look behind the numbers of the rankings to discover the impact of the U.S. News & World Report rankings on eight differentially ranked, public MBA schools, as perceived by 45 faculty and administrators. Three schools from the top 25, three from the bottom 25, and two unranked schools participated. Data for the study was obtained from interviews, a selected year's US News survey form, field observations and each school's marketing materials. Nine themes emerged from the data. The dominant theme was that the rankings matter. Another theme was that the rich kept getting richer, as these highly ranked schools attracted the best students, more recruiters and more resources. There was also an 800-pound gorilla that hung over the policy and decision-makers at each school. And though schools generally did not believe the U.S. News rankings measured the academic excellence of a school, nevertheless, they did believe that the rankings, in general, reflected the top schools. The study also found that schools reacted to the rankings with curriculum changes, more student amenities and more student services. The rankings also reinforced the perception of the MBA program as the flagship of the college of business and this status created a halo effect (good or bad, depending on rank) onto the other programs within the college. The rankings also strongly affected the career services and admissions staff, resulting in growth and increased turnover. Finally, while many considered the rankings an imperfect measure of quality, they did see some benefits in the rankings. This study should provide administrators, faculty and other interested parties with an interesting look at the complexity and passion that hides behind the numbers that are the rankings, while also providing suggestions for how they might deal with these impacts.