Freeman jumps 19 spots in latest US News MBA ranking

Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business climbed 19 spots to No. 62 in the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of the nation’s best full-time MBA programs.

The 19-spot increase was one of the biggest year-to-year changes among ranked programs and represents Freeman’s highest U.S. News ranking since 2015.

“Rankings are an imprecise measure of program quality, but I’m pleased to see that the effort and resources we’ve devoted to our full-time MBA program are yielding positive outcomes,” said Paulo Goes, Freeman School dean. “We are moving in the right direction, and it’s exciting to see the signs of that improvement.”

U.S. News derived this year’s rankings by scoring programs on indicators of placement success, program quality and student selectivity. While the Freeman School showed improvements over last year in virtually every ranking criterion, the jump in this year’s ranking was driven in large part by improved employment statistics, including the percentage of graduates employed at graduation and three months after, which increased to 71.4% and 93% respectively for the class of 2023.

Under Dean Goes’ leadership, the Freeman School has invested significant resources into the full-time MBA program. In 2023, the Freeman School unveiled a major revision of the full-time MBA curriculum, with a new emphasis on analytics and data-driven decision making, cross-functional experiential learning, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles. During the school's recent AACSB re-accreditation, the review team commended the redesigned MBA program and praised Freeman's focus on data literacy and analytics, sustainability and social impact. The review team also singled out the Schwartz Family Center for Experiential Business Learning, a new center of excellence within the business school that will connect MBA students with major companies for hands-on learning experiences.

“In addition to better employment outcomes, we also improved our reputation among employers, and the quality of our students, as indicated by GMAT scores, undergraduate GPAs and acceptance rates, also increased,” said Xianjun Geng, senior associate dean for academic programs and Freeman School Distinguished Chair in Business. “We still have ambitious goals to accomplish for the full-time MBA, but this ranking shows we’re making significant progress.”

To learn more about the Freeman School’s full-time MBA program, visit http://freeman.tulane.edu/mba.