Students considering a future college major often favor business, with its multitude of options. These include Accounting, Business Analytics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management, Marketing, and Supply Chain Management/Logistics. Many local students prefer to attend college in the Northeast, allowing for easy transportation between their home and college campus.
The 2024 edition of the “Best Colleges” guide by U.S. News & World Report lists five Northeast institutions among the Top 8 business programs in the country. These are University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), New York University (NYU), Carnegie Mellon University, and Cornell University.
Additional business programs that are somewhat less competitive, but still rank in the Top 50, are offered at Penn State University, University of Maryland, Boston College, Babson College, Boston University, George Washington University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Rochester, Northeastern University, Syracuse University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and University of Connecticut.
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College-bound students who have identified a specialty within the field of business would do well to consult the “Best Colleges” guide which identifies the top schools for each particular field. While many of the Top 8 fill these spots, additional schools are listed – mostly outside the northeast area.
For Supply Chain Management/Logistics, for example, four of the top five schools listed are Michigan State University, Arizona State University, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Ohio State University, with overall acceptance rates, respectively, of 88%, 90%, 68%, and 53%. The other school in the category is MIT with an overall acceptance rate of 4%.
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Indiana University-Bloomington, with an overall acceptance rate of 82%, is ranked in the Top 5 for Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Management, and Marketing.
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, with an overall acceptance rate of 45%, is ranked No. 2 in the country for Accounting.
While quite competitive for admissions, additional top business programs are offered at University of Texas-Austin, University of Michigan, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of California-Berkeley.
Students seeking a major in the field of business can often apply to the business school at their universities of choice, and later decide on their niche. But if they know their preferred specialty in advance, it makes it even easier to target the schools that would likely offer the best academics for their education and future career.
Susan Alaimo is the founder & director of Collegebound Review, offering PSAT/SAT® preparation & private college advising by Ivy League educated instructors. Visit CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362.
