Notre Dame MBA climbs in the rankings

The University of Notre Dame MBA program at the Mendoza College of Business rose in two significant rankings in recent weeks, climbing to No. 25 in Bloomberg Businessweek’s “Best Business Schools 2016” and to No. 24 in Poets & Quants’ “2016 Top 100 U.S. MBA Programs.”

“Moving up in the rankings is, of course, good news for the program, especially as it reflects the dedication and hard work of so many faculty and staff members,” said Mary Goss, senior director of Graduate Business Programs, which includes the Notre Dame MBA. “But on a daily basis, our focus is on educating our students to be true leaders — well-prepared for meaningful, fulfilling careers and to have a continual vision for making a difference. It may sound cliché, but it’s our people who define the program.”

On the Bloomberg Businessweek ranking, Notre Dame MBA moved up six spots from the previous survey, and earned especially high ratings by alumni. Of the 87 schools listed, Notre Dame MBA ranked No. 6.

The program rose one slot on the Poets & Quants survey from its 2015 result. On the ND MBA profile page, P&Q recognized the program’s strong alumni network and its emphasis on ethics and values, quoting a 2012 graduate, “Notre Dame has a stronger focus on ethics and doing things the right way than any other school around. The alumni network is incredible as you will always be a part of the Notre Dame family.”

Bloomberg Businessweek, which has ranked full-time MBA programs in the U.S. since 1988, shifted its methodology in 2015 to focus on how well programs prepare their graduates for job success. The components of its 2016 ranking included an employer survey (35 percent), an alumni survey (30 percent), a student survey (15 percent), job placement rate (10 percent) and starting salary (10 percent.) In all, 87 MBA programs were included in the 2016 listing. (View the full methodology.)

The Poets & Quants ranking, now in its seventh year, is a composite list that combines five of the most influential business school rankings: U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Financial Times and The Economist. Each ranking is weighted separately according to Poets & Quants’ view of the soundness of its respective methodology. (U.S. News is given a weight of 35 percent; Forbes, 25 percent; both FT and Businessweek, 15 percent; and The Economist, 10 percent.) By arriving at a composite score, the ranking aims to diminish the anomalies that can occur in a given year for a single ranking. (View the full methodology.)

The Notre Dame MBA enrolls about 325 students annually and is offered in two formats:

The Notre Dame MBA One-Year program is an intense, May-to-May program primarily for individuals who seek additional knowledge and skills to further their careers, but aren’t necessarily looking to change careers. Requirements include an undergraduate degree from an accredited university where English is the primary language, and three credit hours in both financial accounting and in statistics.

The Notre Dame MBA Two-Year program is intended more for “career changers” who want to better prepare themselves for a long-term career in business. To apply, students must have an undergraduate degree from an accredited university, but not necessarily with an academic background in business. About one-third of the students have business degrees. The remainder come from varied backgrounds; some may have no business background and others may have degrees in the humanities or science.

Notre Dame MBA recently added an intense, five-day session to its annual fall orientation for new students called Integral Leadership Development (ILD). Based on a signature integral leadership program developed for the Mendoza College’s executive programs, ILD offers a quantitatively backed self-examination where students participate in individual and group assignments designed to guide them in examining their values, strengths and weaknesses. The aim is to help students immediately begin to understand leadership from a holistic, values-based perspective.

For more information about the Notre Dame MBA, contact the program at (574) 631-8488 or email mba.business@nd.edu.