Freeman makes big gains in latest U.S. News & World Report rankings

Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business posted significant gains across multiple categories in U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Business Schools rankings.

The rankings, which cover MBA and specialty master’s programs, were released April 7 as part of U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Graduate Schools rankings.

The Freeman School topped last year’s results in six different rankings, including notable improvements in three MBA categories.

• The Executive MBA, Freeman’s accelerated program for experienced managers, shot to No. 39 after previously being unranked.
• The Professional MBA, Freeman’s part-time, flexible program, vaulted 19 spots to No. 49.
• The full-time MBA climbed one spot to No. 53, the program’s highest rank in more than 15 years and a 28-point improvement since 2023. 

In addition, three Freeman School master’s programs that had previously been unranked entered this year’s rankings.

• The Master of Finance was ranked No. 46 on the list of Best Finance Master’s Programs.
• The Master of Business Analytics and AI was ranked No. 54 on the list of Best Business Analytics Master’s Programs.
• The Master of Accounting was ranked No. 56 on the list of Best Accounting Programs.

U.S. News & World Report evaluates business programs on multiple factors, including student selectivity, employment outcomes, peer and recruiter assessment, and other indicators of quality. The Freeman School’s improvement in this year’s survey was driven not by any single metric but rather multiple metrics across multiple rankings. The full-time MBA program, for example, reported a 9.1% decrease in acceptance rate coupled with an 8.6% increase in graduates’ average starting salary and bonus. The Professional MBA, meanwhile, reported a significant increase in average work experience of students along with modest increases in the median GPA of students and total number of students.

“More than numerical ranks, I’m proud of the measurable improvements we’re achieving in terms of student quality, employment outcomes, and the reputation of our programs among recruiters and academic peers,” said Paulo Goes, Freeman School dean. “These are the categories that truly drive institutional excellence and, based on the data that inform this year’s rankings, we are achieving that goal.”

The U.S. News & World Report results come on the heels of three other recent ranking achievements. In September, Bloomberg Businessweek recognized Freeman for having the largest increase in return on investment among schools in its Best Business School Rankings; in February, Fortune ranked Freeman’s full-time MBA program at No. 46 in its Best Business Schools and MBA Programs ranking; and in March, Poets&Quants ranked Freeman at No. 30 in its Best Undergraduate Business Schools ranking. 

To see this year’s complete rankings and methodology, visit usnews.com.