UVA Darden No. 1 Public Business School in Poets & Quants Ranking
By McGregor McCance
The University of Virginia Darden School of Business ranks No. 1 among public, full-time U.S. MBA programs in the country, according to new 2025-26 rankings from Poets & Quants.
It marks the third consecutive year Darden has come out on top among public schools in the publication’s annual rankings – a composite of five leading evaluations, including U.S. News & World Report, the Financial Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, LinkedIn and The Princeton Review.
Darden also retained its No. 5 ranking from Poets & Quants among all U.S. MBA programs, public and private.
The School maintained its impressive composite ranking by performing well in each of the ranking publications that Poets & Quants uses to calculate its overall ranking. These include:
- Princeton Review (No. 1)
- Bloomberg Businessweek (No. 10)
- U.S. News (No. 11)
- Financial Times (No. 11)
- LinkedIn (No. 12)
The Poets & Quants methodology rewards schools for being evaluated across all five rankings, and fewer schools are reaching that achievement in recent years. Including Darden, only 16 of the top 100 MBA programs appeared on every list.
“The methodology continues to reward consistency,” its editors said.
The publication also said its ranking tends to reward and recognize schools that provide exceptional classroom experiences and that see their students find desirable jobs.
“Schools with strength across classroom experience, long-term career outcomes, and employer perception continue to rise,” Poets & Quants said. “Schools with gaps fall – sometimes by double digits.”
Results consistently have underscored those strengths for Darden.
In July, for example, the Princeton Review recognized Darden as No. 1 for Best Professors and No. 5 for Best Classroom Experience and for Best Career Prospects. Poets & Quants also recognized Darden this month with a “Best in Class” award for Student Immersion, highlighting the School’s commitment to providing students global experiences and learning.
Career outcomes data for the full-time Class of 2025 provide further evidence of the success of Darden graduates in securing rewarding careers post-graduation.
In the three months following graduation, 90.2% of Darden graduates who were seeking employment received at least one job offer and within that same time frame, 89.3% accepted a full-time job offer. At six months following graduation, 95% of those seeking employment have secured post-MBA roles.
Darden’s full-time MBA Class of 2025 also maintained a high median compensation of $175,000 base salary and $30,000 signing bonus for the fifth year in a row.
The University of Virginia Darden School of Business prepares responsible global leaders through unparalleled transformational learning experiences. Darden’s graduate degree programs (Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA, Executive 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 20,000 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
