Business Mangement

 A new school sits atop Poets&Quants’ ranking of the best online MBA programs in the United States. University of Texas at Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management rose two spots from No. 3 in last year’s ranking, topping our list for the first time since we began the exercise.

The move caps a rather dramatic four-year upward trajectory for the school after it debuted at No. 10 on our first online MBA ranking in 2019. From 2020 to 2021, UT Dallas Jindal went from No. 13 to No. 18, and then it dropped all the way to No. 45 in 2022. It has been on an upward swing ever since.

Jindal skyrocketed 38 spots in 2023 to No. 7 and jumped another 4 to No. 3 last year.

“The UT-Dallas MBA was the perfect balance for me – highly ranked, yet cost effective. The flexibility offered by the online program was also wonderful as I needed to continue to work,” a 2024 graduate and manufacturing operations manager told Poets&Quants.

“I genuinely feel like I was able to take classroom learnings and apply them at my job as soon as the first semester. I have no doubt this degree will be a great foundation for my career in management.”

POETS&QUANTS’ BEST ONLINE MBA PROGRAMS OF 2025

This year, we have a tie at the No. 2 spot, with just 0.01 points separating the next two schools in the raw score (out of a possible 300). They are University of Michigan Ross School of Business and last year’s No. 1 school, Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Kelley is one of the most dominant programs on our ranking so far, finishing in the top five in every single year. In 2021, P&Q named Kelley Direct our MBA Program of the Year, the first time the honor was awarded to an online program.

This is the third year Michigan (Ross) has participated in the ranking, landing at No. 4 the two previous cycles. It rose to No. 2 for 2025, based on particularly high career scores (as reported by its most recent graduates) and strong showings in admissions and experience categories. Launched in 2019, Ross graduated its first cohort in 2021.

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See the top 10 online MBA programs for 2025 in the table below.

The online MBA programs at University of Washington Foster School of Business and Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business rounded out the top five.

At $149,058, the Tepper Online Hybrid MBA is the most expensive program in the 2025 ranking. But, you’re also getting a brand-name degree from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, and a consistently strong career trajectory during and after the program. Tepper has topped our OMBA ranking two times in eight years (2018 and 2020). It came in second in 2023 and fifth in 2024.

Tepper also offers an accelerated hybrid OMBA that gives students credit for past business courses at a cost of $111,676. It also shaves a full semester from the time commitment.

OMBA students from University of Texas at Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management travelled to Sweden this May for an international immersion as part of their program. Courtesy photo

OMBA DIFFERENTIATORS AT UT-DALLAS JINDAL

University of Texas at Dallas has a long history in teaching and researching cutting-edge technology. The school started as a private research facility of Texas Instruments, and was established as a university to develop needed technical expertise in the region. The MBAs programs at Naveen Jindal School of Management, therefore, stand out as highly analytical and innovative. In fact, the school recently finished an AI and Generative AI review of all courses and is currently updating more than 50 courses to reflect best practices.

At just $64,685 for Texas students ($109,257 for out-of-state residents), it’s also a great bang for your buck. Jindal ranked third overall in our Admissions Standards category, finishing fifth highest in average undergraduate GPA (3.45), third-highest in acceptance rate (46%), and posting a 96% retention rate from last academic year. It enrolled 425 students in all 2023-2024 intakes.

In terms of career outcomes – as provided by the most recent graduating classes through our alumni survey – Jindal came out above all other 57 schools in the ranking. Some 62% of its responding graduates from the most recent class secured promotions and/or salary raises either during or just after the program, while 100% said they were able to build a relevant professional network as a result. The alumni rated Jindal’s career services and coaches an average of 9.8 out of 10 possible points.

Jindal School of Management online MBA graduates pose during their December 2023 commencement ceremony. Courtesy photo

Jindal’s Professional MBA Online allows a lot of room for customization offering 13 different specializations. These include all those you might expect from a leading MBA – accounting, finance, supply chain management and more – as well as those for more targeted markets or emerging fields – business analytics, energy management, systems engineering and management, and others. Online MBA students can also add online MS degrees, allowing them to complement their MBA with a functional Master’s degree.

Jindal OMBAs can also choose from more than 150 electives. Within these, they can select courses with international or domestic trips, capstone, and/or consulting projects, depending on their course of study, schedule, and own career goals.

“We focus our coursework on the needs of the changing marketplace, delivering high value educational experiences, and focus on helping students achieve their desired outcomes,” the school tells us. “Our program allows students to gain the breadth of an MBA along with a deeper dive into areas of high marketability such as analytics, AI, supply chain, and cybersecurity.”

Online students can also engage with any of Jindal’s 75 student organizations, and they have access to the same career programming that all other Jindal students get.That includes resume consultations, interview practice, employer engagement, job board access, and more. They are also invited to international immersions – like the one Jindal is taking to Japan this spring – as well as alumni meetups, consulting immersions, case competitions, virtual coffee chats and more. It recently created a new online MBA Leadership Council as well as a student directory for students to share information across Full-Time, Part-Time and OMBA students.

“Even though I was an online student, I still felt connected to the community. There were many opportunities for me to get involved, where I got to know my fellow classmates on a personable level,” a 2024 graduate told P&Q.

“That’s what the MBA experience should embody. We are more than just professionals or students, we are also human beings. The UT Dallas online MBA program had me personally connect with individuals who I still keep up with even post-graduating.”

 Hello P&Q readers, and welcome to my advice column! My name is Karen Marks, and I am the Founder and President of North Star Admissions Consulting. I have been helping people get into their dream schools since 2012, and prior to that I was the Associate Director of Admissions at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Today, my goal is to give applicants the accurate, insider information that they need in order to succeed and make good decisions. Want your question answered in a future column?

Currently, many of you are putting the finishing touches on your Round 2 applications. Ideally, you have been working on your materials for months. However, if you find yourself applying to business school last minute, it’s especially important to prioritize your efforts.

• Calendar

The key to pulling off great last minute business school applications is organization. 

Create a calendar with all of your upcoming deadlines, planning to submit each application at least 3 business days before it’s due, and work backwards. (This avoids last minute essays or application form completion, which tend to lead to typos and other errors.)

• Elevator Pitch

After organizing your work, organize your thoughts. At the heart of any strong application is a clear and persuasive articulation of your goals, and why you need an MBA to accomplish them. (Also known as your elevator pitch.) Before you write anything else, make sure that you can confidently explain what you want to do. 

• Key Themes

Next, generate content by thinking about your key themes. What do schools need to know about you in order to understand what you bring to the table? What formative experiences have shaped you, and what are you most proud of? When have you failed, and how did you react? 

• Research

To sell your interest in and alignment with each school, you need to research each program’s classes, professors, clubs, experiential learning opportunities, and other distinctive features. Spend at least an hour per school gathering relevant details that you can weave into your materials.

• Essays

Save yourself time by answering the questions clearly and directly. The best business school essays are honest and straightforward, so write as though you are answering a direct question from a close friend. 

• One School at a Time

I highly recommend completing one full application, including the form, before moving on to the next one, instead of working on multiple application simultaneously. (This is not to say that you can’t re-use essays, including goal statements, since your story shouldn’t change from school to school.)

• Application Forms

The forms themselves take longer than most people think, and they can include hidden mini-essays. Also, spell-check doesn’t work in the forms – I can’t tell you how many applications I have reviewed, both now and when I was the Associate Director of Admissions at Tuck, that were ridden with egregious typos. Avoid this by giving yourself enough time to proofread.

• Resume

Update this right after you craft your goal statement, making sure to highlight your transferrable skills.

• Recommendations

It’s notoriously hard to get recommenders to complete last minute forms over the holidays. Make sure that you are communicating proactively and supporting them as much as possible, without writing anything for them.  Also, definitely let your recommenders know that you will be submitting several days before the deadline.

• Don’t Procrastinate

That aforementioned calendar? Stick to it. This is NOT the time to put anything off. Also, if you wind up reapplying the committee will likely review this year’s application, so it’s especially important to make sure that your materials are polished and thoughtful.

  You’re working with a wide range of clients, industries, and regions. You’re tackling issues ranging from organizational transformation to AI implementation.  If you work in the MBB, you could collect a starting base over $175K to start and clear over $500K in a decade. If you take the off-ramp, you can enter the c-suite without ever paying your dues beating projections.

Exposure. Versatility. Networking. On top of that, consulting gives you daily access to top leaders – a front row seat to how they think, prioritize, and communicate. Not surprisingly, many top leaders started in consulting. JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon spent two years at the Boston Consulting Group. Bain & Company’s alumni roll boasts former CEOs at Hewlett Packard, eBay, Dell, and Burger King. And the CEO of Alphabet, Sunder Pichai, is a McKinsey alum.

THE BEST PLACES TO LEARN LEADERSHIP

Sure, many lawyers, CFOs, and engineers have carved out their own paths to power. If you want to learn how to influence how things get done and run far-flung enterprises, there is no better place to learn than McKinsey & Company according to Time Magazine.

Before Thanksgiving, Time released its latest “Best Companies for Future Leaders” ranking. As a whole, consulting firms rank among the very best spots for aspiring leaders. Near McKinsey, you’ll find Accenture holding the 4th spot, along with PwC (6th), Deloitte (8th), and Ernst & Young (10th). That’s five consulting-driven firms among the Top 10 companies. And KPMG just missed the cut at 12th (with Booz Allen Hamilton landing at 24th).

The big surprise? Think the Boston Consulting Group, which finished 23rd, and Bain & Company, which held the 59th spot. In fact, McKinsey scores way ahead of its MBB counterparts, with McKinsey’s perfect 100-point leadership index score besting BCG and Bain by 15.51 and 17.42 points respectively. That may come as a surprise after McKinsey has seemingly fallen behind Bain and BCG in the Vault Consulting 50, which surveys consultants on quality of work and life satisfaction measures. Beyond the top half of the ranking, however, consulting’s impact was minimal. Aside from the Top 25 (and Bain), there are no other consulting firms that make Time’s Top 100 for leadership.

With exposure to new challenges within different industries, McKinsey accelerates its colleagues’ pace of learning and growth

WHY MCKINSEY IS #1

What sets McKinsey apart in developing leaders? For starters, there is sheer size, with McKinsey stretching across 130 cities and employing over 45,000 people – not counting another 34,000 highly-engaged alumni members across 150 countries. Add than that, there is McKinsey know-how, backed by a hundred years of experience working with the majority of leading companies and public institutions. Even more, McKinsey has invested heavily in both the breadth and depth of its expertise, explains Usama Arshad, who joined the firm in 2023.

“The sheer volume of knowledge and resources the firm has left me astounded. You can think of any topic under the sun, and McKinsey can connect you to internal experts, external experts, knowledge documents—this place has everything.”

Another 2023 McKinsey hire, Eddie Shih, points to intensive mentoring and feedback, describing the latter as frequent”, “straightforward”, and “honest”. In fact, the firm reported last year that it invests $3,200 per employee per year in training and development. Benno Rosenwald, a third McKinsey hire from the 2023 class, also emphasizes how the firm places new hires right in the room with their client’s decision-makers. This gives them daily exposure to varying strategic approaches, communication styles, and political alignments – all while giving them a platform to make an impact.

“During my internship, I appreciated the significant level of access to leadership I was granted, including weekly meetings with the chief strategy officer and the CEO,” Rosenwald adds. “This exposure not only highlighted the human aspects of high-level executives, but also aligned with my future aspirations to become a C-suite executive myself. It reinforced my belief that McKinsey could provide opportunities to interact with and learn from individuals in roles I aspire to hold.”

TECH AND HEALTHCARE LAG BEHIND

IBM snapped up the #2 spot in Time’s 2025 Best Companies for Future Leaders ranking, knocking out General Electric – which tumbled completely out of the Top 100 after being last year’s runner-up. Despite critiques that big banks have lost their appeal, Goldman Sachs climbed four spots to 3rd. In fact, along with consulting, banking was another prime developer of banking talent, as Bank of America (8th), JPMorgan Chase (14th), Citigroup (20th), and Morgan Stanley (22nd) also performed well according to Time’s metrics. Accenture and Procter & Gamble round out the Top 5 respectively.

Big Tech’s influence also swelled once you get past the Top 10 firms. Beyond IBM – which some might classify as a consulting firm – Microsoft and Alphabet can lay claim as the top tech firms for developing leaders. The firms ranked 11h and 13th respectively, ahead of HP (16th) and Honeywell (21st). In a surprise, Apple ranks just 44th – but still ahead of Amazon at 50th. NVIDIA, the world’s leading developer of AI hardware and software, didn’t even crack Time’s Top 100 – despite maintaining the world’s second-largest market cap. Another big name – Meta – only finished 48th. NASA, technically a public institution, held the 17th spot in the tech sector.

Looking for head-scratchers? Neither Berkshire Hathaway nor Tesla made Time’s list, despite posting Top 10 market caps. Disney may excel at creative, but trails in leadership, finishing at 58th. Starbucks just missed the Top 50 by hitting 51st. However, it is a far better fate than McDonald’s – historically a leadership incubator for American teenagers – which didn’t even crack the Top 100 (Try 164th). The same could be said for Target, which ranked 89th – a full 63 spots below Walmart. And let’s just say you shouldn’t feel too optimistic about leadership in healthcare. Among American companies in the Fortune 500, there are four healthcare firms: UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, McKesson, and Cencora. Only CVS Health ranked in the Top 100 (60th), while the UnitedHealth Group managed to finish just 174th in Time.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

AN AMERICA FIRST LIST

Iron sharpens iron, as the saying goes. In certain regions, there are several leadership-heavy organizations clustered together. That starts with New York City, where 15 of the 38 highest-ranked firms are located. Overall, 24 of the 100 highest-ranked are found in New York – and that doesn’t count another six collectively headquartered in nearby New Jersey and Connecticut. California is home to another 17 Top 100 firm in Time (18 if you count 101st-ranked Salesforce). Illinois – namely Chicago – hosts another 10 firms, followed by Massachusetts with 6 firms dotting the Top 100 for Time’s Best Companies for Future Leaders. While everything is bigger in Texas, that saying doesn’t play out for leadership. Just four Texas companies reached the Top 100 – the same number as Michigan, Washington, and the District of Columbia (with the latter also able to draw from four Top 100 firms in Maryland and Virginia).

According to Time, the 2025 Best Companies for Future Leaders ranking is designed to “identify organizations in the U.S. that excel in nurturing highly influential leaders.” Hence, it excludes top firms that are based or primarily do business outside the United States, such as BP and Volkswagen. To compile the ranking, Time partnered with Statista, identifying and analyzing materials from “4,000 of the most influential leaders from various areas of US society” across various industries and fields.

“The CVs of all of the leaders were meticulously compiled, documenting all publicly available information about their educational and professional experiences” Time explains in its methodology. “Research sources included personal websites, CV/resume documents, corporate bios, social media pages, and news media articles. The selection criteria for leaders in the sample focused on their current roles, emphasizing the paths they took to reach these highly influential positions. For this reason, current positions were removed from consideration, meaning that the data focused exclusively on the roles that brought leaders to their current positions.”

WHAT THE BEST COMPANIES DO RIGHT

The methodology, while ambitious, certainly invites criticism. For one, by excluding current positions and emphasizing past achievements, the ranking serves as a lagging indicator that doesn’t account for the current achievements of selected leaders in an already fast-paced business environment. By favoring the long-term, The ranking also fails to supply underlying data and weights to the variables it evaluated, making it less transparent than it should be. In addition, Time gives an advantage to older and larger firms – a gap it acknowledges during its story in relation to tech firms.

“Strikingly, none of the country’s big five tech firms—Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft—are in the list’s top 10,” explains Scott Anthony, a professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, who was quoted by Time in the story. “This probably relates to the relative youth of these companies, says Anthony says. “People are still making careers in these companies,” versus purposefully developing for a few years and then heading for the door. An exception is Microsoft, which is the oldest of the cohort, founded in 1975; it clocked in at #11, up from 21 last year. Meta, Alphabet, and Apple also rose higher, signs that more alums of these companies are now spreading their wings in leadership.”

What does Anthony see as the top qualities that enable some companies to produce better leaders than others? Anthony says it starts early in employees’ tenures and boils it down to three dimensions: leadership opportunities, regular feedback, and ongoing investment in employes.

 In Portugal, the dean of the country’s leading business school is especially well-equipped to lead the next generation of students into the AI Revolution.

“For many decades, digital wasn’t part of the MBA core, but now, bringing digital skills to MBAs is critical,” says Jose Esteves, dean of the Porto Business School at the University of Porto.

Esteves is a true pioneer of AI, having studied the topic for 30 years, going back to when it was purely theoretical.

DIGITAL SKILLS ARE A CRITICAL PART OF AN MBA

Jose Esteves: “Students need to understand that in two to three years, technical skills will be outdated. We need to focus on soft skills.” Courtesy photo

As a software engineer by trade, Esteves has long been at the forefront of digital innovation, serving as both CEO and chief innovation officer at various companies. He has also been a professor at neighboring Spain’s IE Business School.

Now, he’s driving a major shift in business education at Porto School of Business, where students are encouraged to discover the unknown.

“That’s a different mindset than the mindset we were taught when I was pursuing my MBA,” Esteves tells Poets&Quants.

While some business schools emphasize teaching the processes behind AI through digital information, Esteves says PBS teaches for digital transformation.

While they still teach students how to use AI as a tool, this next-level way of thinking is essential for keeping up with the way that AI is radically transforming work processes, Esteves says.

In fact, AI is affecting the business landscape so significantly that Porto finds it integral for all students to study it, which they do in their core course “AI For Business.”

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP ESSENTIAL AS AI DEVELOPS FURTHER

As AI is rapidly transforming the business landscape, teaching ethical leadership is now more important than ever. “We need to get to another level of responsible management.”

Machines already have primarily function roles in some organizations, heading tasks like invoicing, travel planning, and word processing to name a few things, says Esteves.

“Students need to understand that in two to three years, technical skills will be outdated. We need to focus on soft skills, because it’s something that AI isn’t going to be an expert at or replace in humans.”

CONNECTED TO THE COMMUNITY

Deciding which roles are best suited for humans and which are better handled by machines is easier said than done, but navigating these challenges becomes easier when you have the kind of close-knit partnerships and strong community support that Porto does.

“We sometimes become so global that we disconnect from the local community around us. Here at PBS, you don’t see that,” says Esteves.

While some MBA programs often pair students with companies at the end of their degree to tackle real-world challenges, Porto integrates this experience midway through the program through their Business Impact Challenge. Why mid-program? The goal is to help MBAs forge connections and build lasting relationships early on.

“Students really love this because they haven’t yet finished their MBA and they can already see how they will translate their knowledge to real situations,” Esteves says.

 The results of the US presidential election have injected a large dose of uncertainty into the global arena. Yet uncertain times often present the ideal opportunity to invest in yourself—and an MBA is one of the smartest ways to future-proof your career.

While markets reacted favorably to the business-friendly agenda of the new administration, questions remain about the global business environment. Despite potential trade tariffs and shifting policies, one thing is certain: business will remain an international endeavor. As the former admissions director at INSEAD, I have long been an advocate of the benefits of an international business school education, and in the current environment, it’s a perfect time to consider earning an MBA abroad. 

Whether you’re drawn to Europe, Asia, or beyond, international MBA programs offer distinct advantages, from often exceptional ROI to immersive global leadership training and unparalleled diversity in the classroom. Add to that the shorter program lengths and later deadlines offered by many international schools, and the timing couldn’t be better.

Why An International MBA?

International MBA programs, particularly those in Europe, stand out for several reasons:

1. Impressive ROI: One-year programs, common in Europe, allow for quicker returns on investment with significantly lower opportunity costs.
2. Global Perspective: International MBA programs immerse you in diverse environments, fostering cross-cultural understanding critical for leadership in today’s globalized world.
3. Diverse Classmates: Sharing a classroom with peers from dozens of countries enriches your learning experience and builds a global network for life.

If you’re considering studying abroad, here’s why Europe—and international MBA programs in general—deserve a spot on your shortlist.

1. Exceptional ROI With Shorter Programs

Many European MBA programs offer a condensed, one-year format that delivers top-tier education while minimizing the cost of lost wages. Schools like INSEAD, HEC Paris, and Cambridge Judge have built a reputation for delivering high salaries and fast payback periods. INSEAD pioneered the one-year MBA, while LBS offers flexible options to complete its MBA in 15, 18, or 21 months, catering to various career goals.

The latest Financial Times ranking shows that European MBA graduates typically reach their payback point within three years—an advantage over the 3.5–4+ years it often takes at U.S. schools.

INSEAD comes in at #2 in the Financial Times 2024 Global MBA rankings, with SDA Bocconi School of Management, IESE, and London Business School (LBS) all in the top 10.

HEC Paris, ranked sixth globally in the 2025 QS Global MBA Rankings, boasts a near-perfect ROI rating, outperforming the pricy U.S. heavyweights like Stanford GSB and Wharton. With lower costs and competitive outcomes, the value proposition of a European MBA is hard to beat.

2. Global Exposure And Career Opportunities

International MBA programs like INSEAD, London Business School (LBS), and IESE place a premium on global leadership training. Their diversity is unmatched: INSEAD’s MBA program includes students from over 80 countries, while LBS’s class is 91% international, representing 63 nationalities.

This exposure prepares graduates for careers that span continents, offering access to deeply connected alumni networks and top-tier global recruiters. European programs often go beyond the classroom with global immersion trips, projects, and partnerships, from LBS’s global hubs to IESE’s affiliations with 15 business schools worldwide. These schools often serve as a springboard to an international career: INSEAD graduates take up positions in over 60 countries around the world each year. 

3. Flexible Timing And Later Deadlines

Timing is another compelling advantage. European schools typically have later application deadlines than their U.S. counterparts. Many, like IMD, INSEAD and HEC Paris, offer January intakes, allowing students to start their MBA journey without waiting for the next academic year.

For instance, INSEAD’s January 2026 intake deadlines extend to August 2025, while HEC Paris encourages early applications but accommodates rolling deadlines. This flexibility can be a lifeline for candidates who need more time to apply or investigate funding options.

Schools like IE Business School in Madrid and IMD in Switzerland accept applications on a rolling basis, further easing the process for international candidates.

Beyond Europe: Expanding Horizons

While European schools dominate global rankings, strong MBA programs can be found worldwide, particularly in Asia and India—regions that are expected to drive business growth in the 21st century. Programs in these areas often offer lower tuition and living costs, adding to their appeal. CEIBS in Shanghai, HKUST in Hong Kong and NUS in Singapore all offer popular MBA programs. 

Top schools from the US and Europe have also expanded their global footprints, for example INSEAD’s MBA program in Singapore, NYU Stern’s one-year MBA in Abu Dhabi and Kellogg’s Guanghua-Kellogg EMBA in China.

What You Need To Know

Applying to an international MBA program comes with unique considerations. Be prepared to demonstrate cross-cultural competency and international experience in your application. Language requirements and visa processes also vary, so research thoroughly to ensure a smooth transition.

Ultimately, the decision to pursue an international MBA is a strategic investment in your future. In an interconnected world, the skills, experiences, and networks gained from a globally focused MBA will pay dividends for years to come.

Ready to explore your options? At Fortuna Admissions, we specialize in helping candidates craft compelling applications for top MBA programs worldwide. Schedule a free consultation with one of Fortuna’s expert coaches today. We’ll help you identify the right schools, craft a winning application strategy, and make your MBA dreams a reality.