As prospective business students increasingly focus on outcomes, business school rankings are no longer the whole story, but merely the start, according to Nalisha Patel (Graduate Management Admission Council). Patel points to a recent GMAC study showing that while student research into business school rankings dropped, research into ROI and career outcomes climbed. Using this evidence, she argues that business schools should “treat rankings as the beginning of a conversation,” with information like employment and salary data being used to convince prospective students of their value. “[T]he schools that will stand out aren’t those with the highest ranking – they’re the ones that can tell a prospective student exactly what the degree did for someone like them,” concluded Patel.
