What’s Next for Darden?

30 January 2025

By McGregor McCance


Five big issues that will determine the future for the Darden School of Business

By most measures, the University of Virginia Darden School of Business enjoys an enviable position in the universe of business education. A reputation for the world’s best classroom experience, earned and sustained across decades. Record application volumes, student excellence, career outcomes and rankings from multiple sources that reflect Darden’s consistent excellence. Generous philanthropic support that powers curricular programs and professorships, opens doors to students, and enables research centers and facilities.

But even with its status as the world’s best public business school, nothing is guaranteed for tomorrow.

Scott C. Beardsley reappointed as Dean of UVA’s Darden School of Business for a third term. Photo by Tom Daly.

Competition in the business education space is growing. Enrollment of U.S. students in higher education – and in business schools – is wavering. Schools without robust financial aid inevitably lose quality potential students to others with more assistance to offer. Darden receives no budget or subsidy support from the University of Virginia or the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Now approaching its 70th year since launching in 1955, Darden enters a critical period.

“We must move forward with our eyes wide open,” said Dean Scott Beardsley. “Darden has an exciting future ahead if we are thoughtful, prudent, creative and determined in our response to the enormous challenges and opportunities that we encounter together.”

Here are five key issues Darden will face in the coming years. While the list is not exhaustive, it explores some of what’s ahead.

ISSUE 1: THE EDUCATION EXPERIENCE

Photo of Darden professor Bobby Parmar teaching in front of a chalkboard.

Darden professor Bobby Parmar in the classroom.

 

What we’ve done right: Earning an MBA in a Darden classroom remains unparalleled. The faculty is widely recognized as the best in the world. The School has attracted record numbers of total applicants who demonstrate unprecedented academic excellence, including the best GMAT and GPA in Darden’s history. The number of women enrolled has increased by almost 90% since 2015. US News & World Report has ranked Darden the No. 1 U.S. public MBA for average starting salary and bonus every year since 2017.

What’s next: Scholarships, need-based aid, and domestic enrollment. “Grounds for Success” matches gifts supporting scholarships, and creates opportunities to also name existing beautiful spaces at Darden. A Darden MBA remains in high demand. However, the School is not immune to larger trends in business education. Cost of attendance – reflecting the ever-increasing cost of funding a world-class business education – has climbed dramatically in the past decade (a Full-Time MBA starting this fall has a two-year $250,000 total cost of attendance at Darden), and domestic enrollment at U.S. business schools is declining.

Investments in attracting and retaining top faculty will protect and enhance the student experience. Residential student housing, currently under construction on the Darden Grounds in Charlottesville, will create more opportunities for students, while making the experience more connected. Darden must inspire more philanthropic support that will make the School affordable for students. Donors have funded 29 endowed professorships and 92 scholarships during the Powered by Purpose campaign but the School seeks resources for more as well as for need-based aid, for which Darden has almost no endowment. The School must continue to offer its courses and programs in flexible formats that meet traditional, executive and non-traditional students wherever they choose to pursue their MBAs or other professional certifications.

ISSUE 2: FACULTY AND STAFF

What we’ve done right: Darden today has more faculty members, 99, than ever before. They are competitively compensated and have more options for professional development, meaningful research, online teaching opportunities, and joint appointments at UVA than at any time. The School has invested in growing its professional staff and supporting new initiatives in talent development, employee engagement and career development.

What’s next: Competition for the best faculty among top business schools only grows tougher. The School must continue to offer compensation competitively benchmarked to peer institutions, while striving to attract private support that enables more professorships to become endowed.

Faculty Forward, the final Milestone of the Powered by Purpose campaign, which concludes 30 June, identifies objectives that, if achieved, will give Darden momentum for the years ahead in its efforts to attract new star faculty and retain current best-in-class instructors. Those objectives are:

  • Grow the endowment for faculty excellence
  • Secure an endowment for the Institute for Business in Society
  • Secure sustained funding for the Center for Transformational Learning and to transform the Mayo Center for Asset Management into the Institute for Global Capital Markets

The School’s Master Plan includes a significant expansion and renovation of the Faculty Office Building (FOB) that will emphasize collaborative and innovative spaces, warmly welcome students, and provide amenities that support and energize faculty. Thanks to a generous $6.5 million gift and additional funding support, Darden has established a 1:1, $7.5 million matching challenge for which Darden seeks further gifts to reach the $15 million cost of the renovations. The Master Plan also includes upgrades to the Research Building and creation of the Batten Global Innovation Nexus.

ISSUE 3: GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS

Darden students pose for a group photo on a global course in Morocco.

 

What we’ve done right: Darden has experienced remarkable growth at its Charlottesville Grounds and in the Washington, D.C., metro area, and has expanded its brand presence across the world. The School offers Batten Darden Worldwide grants to help students take a global course, and more students are studying abroad than ever before. International applications and enrollment are at all-time highs, and Darden has representation in China and India. The School expanded its executive education and lifelong learning offerings through added programs and partnerships, and the creation of the Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning. Darden is recognized as No. 1 among all business schools globally for its sustainability commitments and record.

What’s next: Darden faculty and students must continue to travel abroad regularly for study, recruitment and professional development. Darden seeks to grow its Worldwide Scholarship endowment to support global learning for its Part-Time and Executive MBA students.

The School has a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to pursue its maximum potential as an institution for lifelong learning. Today, all degree program courses have virtual options, and new virtual portfolios are available for executive education, digital badges and certificates. The School will seek to reach more lifelong learners globally in different modes of delivery and in collaboration with companies. It will continue to grow corporate partnerships, strengthen The Executive Program and enhance its global reach.

ISSUE 4: RESEARCH AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

What we’ve done right: Since 2015, Darden has increased financial support for faculty research by 150%. It has added data lab staff, six case writers, full-time researchers, Ph.D. students and grants for special faculty projects. The School also has created an Office of Research Services. Peer-reviewed journal articles have increased dramatically.

The School’s capacity for research and thought leadership has grown with the addition of initiatives focusing on venture capital, private equity, leadership, belonging and community, real estate, and sustainability. The launch of the LaCross Institute for Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Business elevates Darden’s and UVA’s capacity to generate practitioner-focused thought leadership.

What’s next: The School must continue to secure resources to attract and retain star faculty who augment and expand our research capacity and elevate its thought leadership profile at the practitioner level. This effort includes securing funding for additional chairs and endowed professorships, especially the Bruner Fund for Faculty Excellence. Darden must also realize its priority of securing an endowment for the Institute for Business In Society.

ISSUE 5: FINANCIAL VITALITY

Aerial view of The Forum Hotel and UVA Darden Grounds.

The Forum Hotel is the home for Executive Education & Lifelong Learning programming and participant accommodations on Darden’s Charlottesville Grounds.

 

What we’ve done right: The Powered by Purpose campaign has delivered a more-than $600 million impact in the past decade, benefitting every part of the School. With pledges and matching funds, the total endowments and assets supporting Darden have doubled to nearly $1 billion, placing Darden among the top business schools in the world. The Forum Hotel, launched thanks to campaign support, is already generating revenue for strategic priorities and will continue to do so in the decades ahead. Revenue from student enrollment, executive education and hospitality, philanthropy, and publishing and auxiliary businesses has increased 60% since 2015.

What’s next: In December, Darden began construction of student housing on Grounds – another avenue for enhancing the education experience while generating revenue for future needs, for which it is trying to raise $20 million to name key buildings and gardens. The School must continue to grow the quality and success of the many options for lifelong learning that complement the Full-Time MBA program, including Part-Time and Executive MBA, the Master of Science in Business Analytics with the UVA McIntire School of Commerce, in-person and online formats, non-degree programs and certificate options. The campaign’s final year will focus on garnering support for faculty as well as for student financial aid and scholarships – both essential to ensuring Darden’s long-term vitality.

About the University of Virginia Darden School of Business

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.

 

Press Contact

Molly Mitchell
Senior Associate Director, Editorial and Media Relations
Darden School of Business
University of Virginia
MitchellM@darden.virginia.edu