The Economist released the list of top MBA ranked colleges in 2022.

Sonalika S.

The Economist, a British weekly newspaper, has released yet another yearly list of top-ranked MBA colleges in 2022. Aside from the list’s unpredictability, there are many surprises in the ups and downs of college rankings. We have provided a summary of changes from 2019 to 2022 to provide a clear understanding of the changes in college rankings, as in 2021 many colleges were not able to participate due to COVID.

The Economist’s MBA ranking's top gainers.

hese 17 universities are the double digit gainers in the Economist’s MBA ranking. The University of Hong Kong and Michigan State University Board Colleges of Business are the universities that advanced 24 ranks from positions 43 and 48, respectively, in the years 2019 to 2022 that includes:

School	Country	Improvement From 2019 to 2022	2019 Rank	2022 Rank
University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	+24	67	43
Michigan State University Broad College of Business	USA	+24	72	48
Washington University Olin Business School	USA	+22	41	19
EMLYON Business School	France	+21	51	30
International University of Monaco	Monaco	+21	71	50
George Washington University Business School	USA	+21	85	64
Texas Christian University Neeley School of Business	USA	+21	87	66
Mannheim Business School	Germany	+19	44	25
Ohio State University Fisher College of Business	USA	+16	50	34
University of Nottingham Business School	UK	+15	84	69
North Carolina State Poole College of Management	USA	+15	93	78
MIT Sloan School of Management	USA	+14	19	5
EDHEC Business School	France	+14	32	18
University of Rochester Simon Business School	USA	+13	57	44
University of Exeter Business School	UK	+13	86	73
University of Glasgow Smith Business School	UK	+12	99	87
ESADE Business School	Spain	+11	40	29

Source: Poets&Quants Analysis Of The Economist Ranking

The Economist’s MBA ranking's top decliners.

These 7 universities dropped from The Economist’s list by double digits. The Cranfield School of Management has dropped 34 ranks since 2019, plunging from rank 93 to 59, whereas, the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad has dropped 24 ranks.

School	Country	Decline From 2019 to 2022	2019 Rank	2022 Rank
Cranfield School of Management	UK	-34	59	93
Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad	India	-24	75	99
UC-Davis Graduate School of Management	USA	-20	61	81
University of Birmingham Business School	UK	-16	82	98
University of Southern California Marshall School of Business	USA	-15	18	33
UCLA Anderson School of Management	USA	-14	6	20
Edinburgh Business School	UK	-13	66	79
Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business	USA	-11	47	58

Source: Poets&Quants Analysis Of The Economist Ranking

How Can Applicants Use This Ranking To Choose Colleges for themselves?

MBA applicants from all over the world can use this ranking to make an informed decision about which university they should apply for. These rankings are usually based on survey data collected from over a thousand of students.

Although, when students were asked to rate their educational experience in MBA colleges, IMD came out first, followed by Wharton. However, The Economist has ranked Wharton at 71st on this list.

Conclusion

Although this ranking given by The Economist can play a part in narrowing down the universities best suited for you, applicants should also do their own research. Many would say this ranking is meaningless, as universities like Wharton, NYU, and Harvard are ranked at 71, 56, and 28, respectively. Applicants are advised to make their own judgment about this ranking before deciding which college to apply for.