TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Manderson Graduate School of Business at The University of Alabama placed 34th among public institutions in a new ranking of MBA programs created by John Byrne, former editor of Business Week and founder of the original Business Week rankings back in the 1980s.
The ranking appears on Byrne’s new website, Poets & Quants.
Manderson is ranked 70th among all MBA programs.
Byrne’s new ranking is based on existing rankings produced by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the Financial Times, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes and The Economist. Among public institutions, Manderson ranks 30th in Forbes, and 33rd in U.S. News.
Poets & Quants studied the pros and cons of each ranking, weighted each one based on their authority and credibility, and then used those inputs to come up with the new ranking.
“There are significant and telling flaws in every MBA ranking, no matter where it comes from or how it is put together,” Byrne said on the website.
“The vast disparities in rank across the major rankings show that where a school ranks is more a function of the methodology than any overall indication of quality. That’s why we carefully studied the pros and cons of each ranking, weighted each of them based on their authority and credibility, and then used all of those inputs to come up with our own ranking.”
Dr. Robert M. Morgan, associate dean, Manderson Graduate School of Business, said the Poets & Quants ranking is significant because it is a composite of major rankings that tends to mitigate disparities found in the various surveys.
“I have seen a particular school ranked 16th in one publication’s ranking and the same school ranked 83rd in another publication’s ranking,” Morgan said, “but this one weighs the rankings and comes up with a sum total that is probably more accurate.”
Contact
Bill Gerdes, UA Media Relatons, 205/348-8318, bgerdes@cba.ua.edu