UVA Darden Rises to No. 2 Public School in US News MBA Ranking
By Jay Hodgkins
The University of Virginia Darden School of Business rose in U.S. News and World Report’s 2021 Best Business Schools ranking of MBA programs for the second consecutive year, climbing to No. 11 overall and from No. 3 to No. 2 among programs at public universities.
Darden excelled in salary and career success metrics. With 96.3 percent of the full-time MBA Class of 2019 graduates employed within three months of graduation, Darden’s most recent graduates ranked No. 5 overall for the percentage securing jobs. U.S. News said the class also ranked No. 5 for highest average starting salary and bonus, rising more than $4,500 from the previous year to $165,292.
Darden’s full-time MBA wasn’t the only program to climb in the rankings. The School’s Executive MBA program rose one spot to No. 13 overall.
U.S. News named Darden the No. 6 MBA for management and the No. 18 MBA for entrepreneurship.
The U.S. News Best Business Schools 2020 list represents the final major MBA rankings release of the 2019–20 academic year. Additional ranking highlights for Darden this year include:
- No. 1 — MBA Program, among public universities; No. 5 overall (Bloomberg Businessweek)
- No. 1 — Best Education Experience in the United States (The Economist, 2011–19)
- No. 1 — Student Rating of Faculty (The Economist, 2017–19)
- No. 1 — Best Professors (The Princeton Review, 2017–19)
- No. 1 — Overseas Study (The Economist, 2017–19)
- No. 2 — Learning (Bloomberg Businessweek)
- No. 2 — General Management (Financial Times); ranked No. 1 or 2 eight consecutive years
- No. 2 — Best MBA for Consulting (The Princeton Review)
- No. 2 — Best MBA for Management (The Princeton Review)
The University of Virginia Darden School of Business prepares responsible global leaders through unparalleled transformational learning experiences. Darden’s graduate degree programs (MBA, MSBA and Ph.D.) and Executive Education & Lifelong Learning programs offered by the Darden School Foundation set the stage for a lifetime of career advancement and impact. Darden’s top-ranked faculty, renowned for teaching excellence, inspires and shapes modern business leadership worldwide through research, thought leadership and business publishing. Darden has Grounds in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C., area and a global community that includes 18,000 alumni in 90 countries. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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Darden School of Business
University of Virginia
MitchellM@darden.virginia.edu
