The residential MBA program at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University is now ranked No. 54 in the nation, up from No. 66 last year and No. 84 a few years ago, by U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Graduate Schools. This is the highest ranking for Whitman by U.S. News in more than 25 years. 

The Whitman Entrepreneurship MBA was also ranked No. 29. These specialty rankings are based solely on ratings by business school deans and directors of AACSB-accredited MBA programs from the list of schools surveyed. They were asked to nominate up to 15 programs for excellence in each area listed. 

Whitman’s MBA program is currently ranked closely with the University of Miami, University of Maryland, Tulane University, Fordham University and others.

Half of the ranking formula evaluated institutions on the successful job attainment and earnings outcomes of the graduating students. The other half is a combination of academic achievement metrics of entering students and overall program quality assessments of other business school leadership and corporate recruiters. The rankings assess academic quality and graduate success—factors that are universally important to prospective students, according to Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News & World Report.

Data were collected in fall 2024 and early 2025. U.S. News surveyed 508 institutions with master’s level business programs in the U.S. accredited by AACSB International. Eligible schools reported on their full-time in-person programs—as defined by Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) guidelines. A total of 337 business schools responded and U.S. News ranked the top 133 business schools with eligible programs.  This year for the first time, U.S. News used collected data on both the old GMAT test and the new GMAT test that was introduced in fall 2023.

 “Whitman is once again proving that we are a school on the rise. This latest achievement for our MBA program showing our highest ranking in over 25 years acts as another proof point that the work we are doing is making a difference. Our investments into our programming and emphasizing student placement success—something that is central to our students’ decisions to pursue an MBA—are paying off. This is a strong testament on the accomplishments of our team and the trajectory of our MBA program,” says Interim Dean Alex McKelvie.

“It’s incredibly exciting to see Whitman rise to No. 54 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings for our residential MBA program—our highest in decades. Rankings aren’t everything, but they do matter to prospective students making one of the biggest decisions of their lives. This recognition reinforces what we already know: a Whitman MBA offers strong career outcomes, meaningful connections and long-term value. It’s a great time to be part of this community,” says Mary Collier, executive director of graduate admissions and student recruitment.

See full list of U.S. News graduate business school rankings: https://usnews.com/best-graduate-schools

For more information on the methodology: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/business-schools-methodology