The Princeton Review, a leading test preparation, tutoring, and college admission services company, released a new online MBA ranking last month. This is the first time that the Princeton Review exclusively ranked online MBA programs. The ranking lists the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the number one spot, then Indiana University-Bloomington and the IE Business School in Madrid as number two and three respectively.
While Forbes reviewed the new ranking without criticism, it has received a scathing review from Poets and Quants, an MBA news website. Poets and Quants states that the new Princeton Review online MBA ranking is laughable and should be ignored because the methodology is not articulated in quantifiable terms or made transparent to the public, and because its results differed so greatly from other rankings.
Princeton Review Ranking Methodology
The Princeton Review's methodology states that the ranking is determined by "comprehensive surveys conducted in the 2014 academic year of students and administrators at MBA programs offering at least 75% of their program of study online." When looking at a ranking based on quantifiable data, without biases, this methodology leaves a lot to be desired. Anyone that has ever taken a statistics course should see red flags. Compared to the US News & World Report online MBA ranking, the Princeton Review methodology is deficient in content and explanation. But even though the technical aspects of the Princeton Review ranking can be taken with a grain of salt, it should still be taken into account. What is important is the viewer's perspective. There is something that needs to be remembered when viewing this ranking:
The Princeton Review Ranking is different.
Each ranking has its own views of what makes a top business program. They value things differently, just like the public. The Princeton Review obviously did not try to reproduce a ranking by US News & World Report. Maybe the point is that it is different.
If you look into the questions that the Princeton Review asked the students and administrators, almost all of them were subjective, whereas US News & World Report wanted hard facts and figures. Out of the five data points that US News & World Report used, only one data category is subjective: peer review. The Princeton Review on the other hand, seemed to want to produce a ranking that caters more to the left-brain than the right. If this list can be viewed with a better understanding of the focus of the data that was obtained, then prospective students can use this ranking as a resource in an appropriate way.
Ranking Comparisons
Another criticism of this list is that when comparing it to the US News & World Report Ranking, the scores differ dramatically. Based on this dramatic difference, Poets and Quants states that this Princeton Review ranking cannot be taken seriously. They state that "In judging the value of any list and a school's standing on it, you tend to look for consensus across several different rankings. If numerous organizations rank a school similarly, you can interpret that ranking more confidently. When numerical ranks substantially diverge from one list to another, there's plenty of reason to doubt the authenticity of a school's showing." But that is not necessarily the case. The online MBA world is lacking in enough rigorous rankings to give a good view of that. If you compare the ones available now, US News & World Report, Princeton Review, and The Financial Times, you see quite a bit of discrepancy.
| PrincetonReview | USNWR | Financial Times | Business-week | Economist | Forbes | |
| North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) |
1 |
1 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Indiana (Kelley) |
2 |
1 | 5 | – | – |
– |
| IE Business School |
3 |
NR | 1 | – | – |
– |
| Arizona State (Carey) |
4 |
4 | 12 | – | – |
– |
| Temple (Fox) |
5 |
1 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Florida (Hough) |
6 |
4 | 3 | – | – |
– |
| Rochester Institute of Tech (Saunders) |
7 |
25 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Thunderbird |
8 |
21 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Texas-Dallas (Jindal) |
9 |
6 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Northeastern (D'Amore-McKim) |
10 |
36 | 4 | – | – |
– |
| James Madison |
11 |
12 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Auburn (Harbert) |
12 |
10 | NR | – | – |
– |
| North Dakota |
13 |
32 | NR | – | – |
– |
| North Texas |
14 |
47 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Hofstra (Zarb) |
15 |
41 | NR | – | – |
– |
| South Dakota (Beacom) |
16 |
41 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Nebraska-Lincoln |
17 |
21 | 10 | – | – |
– |
| Syracuse (Whitman) |
18 |
57 | 8 | – | – |
– |
| George Washington |
19 |
44 | NR | – | – |
– |
| North Carolina State |
20 |
9 | NR | – | – |
– |
| West Georgia (Richards) |
21 |
44 | NR | – | – |
– |
| State University of New York-Oswego |
22 |
57 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Memphis (Fogelman) |
23 |
66 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Nevada-Reno |
24 |
29 | NR | – | – |
– |
| Washington State (Carson) |
25 |
21 | NR | – | – |
– |
But this is actually the norm for the ranking world. If you look at the top rankings of on-campus MBAs, it will give you a better picture. Compare the rankings of US News & World Report, Businessweek, Finanical Times, The Economist, QS, and Eduniversal.
| On campus MBA rankings | USNWR | BusinessWeek | Forbes | Financial Times | Economist | QS | Ed-universal |
| Stanford University |
1 |
4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
3 |
| Harvard University |
2 |
8 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
1 |
| University of Chicago (Booth) |
3 |
3 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 4 |
10 |
| University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) |
4 |
2 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 1 |
9 |
| Columbia University |
5 |
5 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 5 |
7 |
| Northwestern University (Kellogg) |
6 |
7 | 5 | 14 | 14 | 6 |
11 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) |
7 |
14 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 7 |
4 |
| University of California—Berkeley (Haas) |
8 |
19 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 12 |
5 |
| Duke University (Fuqua) |
9 |
1 | 8 | 21 | 25 | 13 |
6 |
| Yale University |
10 |
6 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 11 |
2 |
| Dartmouth College (Tuck) |
11 |
15 | 6 | 23 | 2 | 24 |
13 |
| University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (Ross) |
12 |
9 | 10 | 24 | 20 | 8 |
20 |
| University of California—Los Angeles (Anderson) |
13 |
11 | 13 | 25 | 13 | 9 |
15 |
| New York University (Stern) |
14 |
22 | 23 | 18 | 8 | 10 |
11 |
| Cornell University (Johnson) |
15 |
13 | 9 | 28 | 23 | 25 |
8 |
| University of Virginia (Darden) |
16 |
20 | 15 | 32 | 3 | 37 |
19 |
| Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) |
17 |
10 | 16 | 36 | 22 | 29 |
14 |
| University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler) |
18 |
12 | 11 | 39 | 35 | 27 |
16 |
| University of Texas—Austin (McCombs) |
19 |
23 | 21 | 40 | 32 | 19 |
18 |
| Indiana University—Bloomington (Kelley) |
20 |
16 | 19 | 62 | 31 | 21 |
20 |
| Emory University (Goizueta) |
21 |
18 | 24 | 59 | 17 | 39 |
23 |
| Georgetown University (McDonough) |
22 |
24 | 33 | 42 | 42 | 30 |
35 |
| University of Southern California (Marshall) |
23 |
21 | 37 | 58 | 64 | 23 |
36 |
| Rice University (Jones) |
24 |
25 | 41 | 43 | 33 | 53 |
35 |
| Ohio State University (Fisher) |
25 |
34 | 36 | 69 | 28 | 42 |
35 |
As you can see, there is a lot of discrepancy between the rankings, but that is understandable. Each one has its own views of what makes a top business program, which is expressed in their different methodologies, and results in significant differences in their rankings.
Where do we go from here?
Poets and Quants states that they "don't think online MBA rankings matter all that much … Because online programs largely benefit from the reputation and image of the school's brand which is mostly determined by how well a school's full-time MBA program ranks." But don't lose heart in the rankings available! Each prospective students needs to find the best program for them. Not necessarily the "best program in the country," because it might not have the right focus, concentration, cost, schedule, loyalty of the student, etc.
Just like each ranking has different values to consider, each student does as well. It is important to know the basis and focus of whatever rankings are being consulted. This will help you determine how much you should pay attention to that ranking.
Do not make a decision based on one lone ranking, but research multiple places. Thus, this new ranking from the Princeton Review is one to be put in the mix. So, look at the rankings, all of them. They are helpful. There are hundreds of programs to choose from. Let the rankings narrow that list down. Then research and apply. See which ones you get accepted into. See which ones you like the most. The make the most informed decision that you can.
Happy hunting.
Other reviewed rankings:
Financial Times Online MBA Ranking Review