Top 20 undergraduate business schools: 2016

Did you go to business school? What was the one thing that helped you make the decision to study business at a specific university?

Today, prospective business school students pay attention to other parameters besides published “best of” lists, such as the amount of debt incurred on the way to their degree. Parents also need to be aware of the price tag associated with particular colleges, as they might be getting the bill.

It follows that financial advisors need to be aware of any debt or money that might be tied to their clients’ childrens’ educations. Assets that might otherwise go toward a retirement account could get shifted to fund a kid’s college tuition and related expenses.

One possible way to mitigate this resides in 529 plans. (For more on 529s, read this article: 11 best & worst 529 college savings plans of 2015: Morningstar). But prospective students can also look at potential salaries, which can help them pay down the debt once they start working.

A recent Bloomberg Businessweek report appropriately titled “Best undergraduate business schools, 2016,” details a survey of nearly 30,000 students and recruiters at almost 600 companies. The report, which has rated the top U.S. undergraduate business programs since 2006, ranked the colleges using four main metrics:

• An employer survey
• A student survey
• Starting salaries (or the base salary of students who lined up jobs right after graduation)
• The percentage of a school’s graduates who had at least one internship during college.

(You can read the full methodology on the Bloomberg article here.)

Here are the top 20 undergraduate business programs from Bloomberg’s list of around 114 schools.

No. 20: Michigan State (Broad)

Last year’s rank: 42

Employer survey rank: 15

Student survey rank: 29

Salary rank: 41

Internship rank: 55

No. 19: Penn State (Smeal)

Last year’s rank: 30

Employer survey rank: 8

Student survey rank: 38

Salary rank: 40

Internship rank: 61

(Image: Penn State Smeal Facebook)

No. 18: Brigham Young (Marriott)

Last year’s rank: 13

Employer survey rank: 19

Student survey rank: 20

Salary rank: 37

Internship rank: 34

No. 17: Georgetown (McDonough)

Last year’s rank: 18

Employer survey rank: 49

Student survey rank: 17

Salary rank: 4

Internship rank: 14

No. 16: Pennsylvania (Wharton)

Last year’s rank: 7

Employer survey rank: 66

Student survey rank: 14

Salary rank: 1

Internship rank: 8

(Image: Wharton Facebook)

No. 15: Emory (Goizueta)

Last year’s rank: 9

Employer survey rank: 51

Student survey rank: 9

Salary rank: 14

Internship rank: 11

(Image: Emory Goizueta)

No. 14: Ohio State (Fisher)

Last year’s rank: 32

Employer survey rank: 7

Student survey rank: 18

Salary rank: 65

Internship rank: 37

No. 13: Wake Forest 

Last year’s rank: 11

Employer survey rank: 54

Student survey rank: 6

Salary rank: 12

Internship rank: 5

No. 12: William & Mary (Mason)

Last year’s rank: 22

Employer survey rank: 39

Student survey rank: 3

Salary rank: 28

Internship rank: 41

No. 11: Cornell (Dyson)

Last year’s rank: 3

Employer survey rank: 67

Student survey rank: 4

Salary rank: 2