Princeton Review Ranking 2025: Darden Comes Out on Top Powered by No. 1 for Best Professors, No. 1 for Best MBA for Management

In a new ranking from The Princeton Review (2025 edition), the University of Virginia Darden School of Business ranked higher in more key categories than any other graduate business school – public or private – in the country. This is the third year in a row Darden came out on top in The Princeton Review’s “Best Business Schools” ranking, based on the strength of multiple Top 10 ranking categories and overall composite methodologies.

Darden is ranked in the Top 5 in nine of 18 categories – the best Darden has ever performed, and more than any other school. That includes No. 1 in the country for Best Professors and No. 1 for Best MBA for Management.

Overall, UVA Darden has 10 rankings in the Top 10 across all categories this year, tied with Northwestern University for the most among business schools. Over the last three years, no business school has had more Top 10 rankings than Darden.

Darden’s 2025 Princeton Review rankings:

• 1 for Best Professors (2024 placement: No. 1)
• 1 for Best MBA for Management (2024 placement: No. 2)
• 2 for Most Family Friendly (2024 placement: No. 8)
• 2 for Best MBA for Finance (2024 placement: No. 3)
• 3 for Best MBA for Consulting (2024 placement: No. 2)
• 3 for Best Campus Environment (2024 placement: No. 1)
• 5 for Best Classroom Experience (2024 placement: No. 4)
• 5 for Best Career Prospects (2024 placement: No. 7)
• 5 for Best Administered (2024 placement: No. 8)
• 6 for Most Competitive Students (2024 placement: not ranked)

“These Top 10 rankings affirm what our students experience every day: world-class professors, a dynamic case method-driven classroom with multiple viewpoints, and preparation that leads to top career outcomes, and lifelong leadership and management success,” said Darden Dean Scott Beardsley.

The results reflect Darden’s enduring strengths – from its renowned faculty and signature case method and Socratic approach to incredible staff and a beautiful Grounds, to its proven success in preparing students for rewarding careers as responsible business leaders.

In April 2025, U.S. News & World Report ranked Darden as the No. 1 public business school in America, a result powered by the School’s leading results in career outcomes and salaries for graduates. It was the School’s first time reaching U.S. News’ top position among public schools, after reaching No. 2 the previous year and No. 3 prior to that.

In the 2024 academic year, Darden was ranked the No. 1 public business school in the world by Financial Times, the No. 1 public business school in the U.S. across all rankings by Poets & Quants, and No. 3 business school overall in the U.S. by Bloomberg Businessweek.

The Princeton Review does not calculate an absolute ranking of programs (although Poets & Quants does make a composite of it). Instead, it evaluates top MBA programs across 18 categories that it deems to be most relevant to prospective MBA students and publishes a Top 10 in each of those categories. Results are based on school-reported data, student surveys, and a combination of them. Their methodology largely reflects current performance and student satisfaction and outcomes as the data comes from recent students.

“The schools that made our lists for 2025 share four characteristics that inform our criteria for designating them as ‘best’: excellent academics, robust experiential learning components, outstanding career services, and positive feedback about them from enrolled students we surveyed,” said The Princeton Review Editor-in-Chief Rob Franek.

Find more about The Princeton Review’s rankings and methodologies at its website.