Best Universities for MBA in the USA

The University of Pennsylvania was established in the year 1740 when a blueprint was created for developing a charity school in Philadelphia which would also be a worship destination. However, the costs overshot initial estimates, and the project remained stuck for a long duration. In the year 1749, Benjamin Franklin, the legendary inventor, printer and future founding father of the United States of America (USA), published his famous essay Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth. Benjamin Franklin circulated the essay among the citizens of Philadelphia and organized 24 trustees for setting up a higher education institution. This group bought the building, and in 1751, they opened its doors to children of the gentry and working-class called it the Academy and Charitable School in the Province of Pennsylvania. Franklin remained president of the school till 1755 and a trustee till 1790. 

Ultimately, Penn got its own collegiate charter in 1755, a first-class graduate in 1757 and set up the first medical school in the American colonies back in 1765. It was the first American higher education institution to become a university in 1779. It expanded to another campus in 1802 and outgrew the same, leading to the establishment of another new campus in 1872 at West Philadelphia.

The University of Pennsylvania has students representing every state in the USA along with 100 other countries. It is ranked amongst the top-10 national universities while admitting 10,000 UG students and 10,000 PG and professional students annually. Financial aid is offered to several students, with the institution having disbursed $2billion in UG funding since 2004 to 22,000+ pupils. 46% of UG pupils also got financial aid via grants in 2018-19. One of the world’s biggest research institutions with an annual research budget of $1 billion and 4,000+ active members of faculty. The University of Pennsylvania acceptance rate is 9% as of 2020. 

Some famous alumni include Gloria Allred (American civil rights lawyer), Donald Trump (former US President and businessman), Anil Ambani (Indian businessman and chairman of Reliance Group), Elon Musk (founder of SpaceX and Tesla), Elizabeth Banks (actor), Warren Buffet (CEO of Berkshire Hathaway), Tory Burch (fashion designer), Bruce Dern (two-time winner of the Academy Award and noted actor), Jennifer Eagan (author and Pulitzer Prize winner), Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal (co-CEOs at Warby Parker), and others. Some of them include Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple giant Steve Jobs and a successful entrepreneur, Leonard Lauder, chairman emeritus at Estee Lauder; singer-songwriter John Legend, Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of the popular Dr. Oz Show and Ivanka Trump, daughter of former US President Donald Trump.

Columbia University (CU) is the oldest higher education school in New York and the fifth-oldest in the nation. It was founded in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhattan. A private Ivy League research institution in New York City, Columbia University is also known as Columbia University in the City of New York. The Core Curriculum has been the distinguishing feature of a Columbia University education for more than a century. It is a shared learning experience that fosters community-wide conversations and thoughtful reflections on critical literary works, current problems, and life's most important concerns. As a result, they are ranked at #22 in the United States by the QS Top University Rankings for 2023.

Northwestern University is a research-oriented private university in Evanston, Illinois, USA. Founded in the year 1851, it is one of the oldest chartered universities in Illinois, ranked among global academic institutions in the world. The total number of students at Northwestern University is 21,946, with 8,327 graduates and 13,619 postgraduate students. The average tuition fee of Northwestern University is $60,984 (INR 4555718). The university has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools. Northwestern is among the most selective universities in the United States, and Northwestern University admissions are characterized as “most selective” by the US News & World Report. 

Northwestern University offers a wide range of courses and programs for different streams, including humanities, engineering, science, and commerce. Northwestern is one of the country’s leading private research and teaching universities. It continues to be one of the best research centers for discoveries and inventions. 

The University of California, Los Angeles was founded in 1919 and shifted its location in 1929 to Westwood. It has a 419-acre campus. The rate at UCLA is just 14%, as per U.S. News, indicating that it is highly selective about the skills and qualities of its students. California Governor William D. Stephens signed Assembly Bill 626 in 1919, setting up the southern branch of the institution. The campus on Vermont Avenue opened on 15th September, offering undergraduate courses for two years to students along with a Teachers Training program.  Presently, there are 31,600 UG and 14,300 PG students per the university site, 5,400 international students, and 7,790 faculty personnel. UCLA also has 118 countries represented by its students and various schools for management, dentistry, law, arts and architecture, education and information studies, medicine, engineering and applied sciences, theatre, film and television, public health, nursing, and more.  The institution has nine winners of the National Medal of Science, several Nobel Laureates, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, three winners of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and other acclaimed individuals as part of its faculty. It is one of the leading research universities with 5,500 ongoing initiatives. 

As of 2021, 28 Nobel laureates have been associated with UCLA: 12 professors, 8 alumni, and 10 researchers. Two alumni have won the Nobel in economics: William Sharpe in 1990 and Elinor Ostrom in 2009.

Some of the University of California Los Angeles notable alumni include the following names: 

• Rob Reiner (actor and movie director)
• David Silverman (producer/director/animator of The Simpsons and more)
• Paul Bloch (Rogers & Cowan Chairman)
• Nobel Laureates Richard F. Heck, Ralph Bunche, Elinor Ostrom, Robert Bruce Merrifield, William F. Sharpe, Glenn T. Seaborg, Randy Schekman, and Ardem Patapoutian. 
• Rachel Ames (Actress)
• Jack Black (Actor)
• Michael Burns (Historian and Actor)
• Nicolas Cage (Actor)
• Nancy Cartwright (Actress)
• Francis Ford Coppola (movie director and screenwriter)
• Robb Cullen (Writer and screenwriter)
• Mark Cullen (Writer and screenwriter)
• James Dean (Actor)
• Sean Astin, actor
• James Franco, Academy Award-nominated actor
• Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors
• H.R. Haldeman, former White House Chief of Staff

Duke University has a chequered legacy, deriving its origins to a smaller school in 1838 at Randolph County, North Carolina. It was a preparatory institution for young men under the Union Institute Academy. It became chartered into Normal College in 1851 and transformed into Trinity College in 1859. The Cherokee Industrial School also came up here while college president John F. Crowell encouraged a shift to Durham in 1892. With a request from Washington Duke in 1897, the institution began offering admissions to women. The school changed once again to Duke University in 1924 after establishing the Duke Endowment by Washington Duke’s child, James Buchanan Duke. A new campus was built with these funds, while several other changes have taken place over the years. 

Duke University has 6,789 UG and 9,991 PG and professional students on its rolls, while 52% of UG students get financial aid in some form or the other. It also maintains an enviable 8:1 ratio of students to faculty members. 

The Duke University acceptance rate is 7.7% as of 2020. Some famous alumni include comedian and physician Ken Jeong, Mehta Engineering VP and singer Radha Mehta, Apple CEO Timothy Cook, physician-anthropologist-human rights activist Paul Farmer, WNBA President Lisa Borders, Ex-Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, Melissa & Doug Toys Co-Founder Melissa Bernstein, Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson, International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa Kennedy, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood, CBS Sports President, Sean McManus, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, broadcasters and NBA star Grant Hill, Melinda French Gates, Co-Founder at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and former U.S. President Richard Nixon to name a few. 

Kokomo Junior College begins offering a two-year collegiate program, laying the foundation for Indiana University's presence in Kokomo. A number of IU Kokomo's earliest faculty, including Sarah Blossey (pictured here on the far left of the second row), teach at Kokomo Junior College.

In 1945, Indiana University establishes an extension center in the former Kokomo Junior College building at 508 W. Taylor Street. Dr. Virgil Hunt serves as the Center's first director. Here, Dr. Hunt (center) tours the chemistry lab in 1950 with IU President Herman B Wells and chemistry instructor Jack Holloway.

About the Arizona State University

Arizona State University (ASU) was established as the Territorial Normal School, the first higher-education institution in the Arizona state that opened on February 8, 1886, with just 33 students at Tempe. The institution was later named Arizona State University in 1958, courtesy of a public voting procedure. ASU has won several laurels, including recognition as the USA’s most innovative university courtesy to US News & World Report for six consecutive years. The Arizona State University acceptance rate is 88.4% as of 2020. The institution has more than 400 faculty members recognised by National Academies with at least 1,000 scholars and 87 coveted programs ranked amongst the top-25 in the USA with 39 in the top-10 list. It has more than 270 athletic championships under its belt and an economic impact of $4.48 billion on the gross product of the State as of FY21. The institution has more than 559,300 alumni who are successful professionals in their respective fields. 

Arizona State University offers more than 400 UG and 450 graduate degrees, covering everything from journalism and engineering to business and nursing. The list of notable alumni includes the name of the following persons: 

• Barbara Barrett (Philanthropist, businesswoman, diplomat and ex-U.S. Ambassador to Finland)
• Malissia Clinton (Secretary, General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Aerospace and board member at various institutions)
• Matthew Desmond (Recipient of Genius Grant from MacArthur Foundation and Harvard Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Studies)
• Reka Cseresnyes (Founder of SCR Sport in Budapest, Hungary, four-time All-American in Sun Devil women’s tennis) 
• Mary Lou Fulton (Philanthropist, Educator, one of the biggest individual donors to the institution)
• Christine Devine (News Anchor, 16-time Emmy Winner)
• Mary Temple Grandin (Autism spokesperson, author, animal behaviour expert, featured in Temple Grandin, the movie)
• Doug Ducey (Governor of Arizona, former-State Treasurer, ex-CEO, Cold Stone Creamery)
• Gregory Haile (President, Broward College, ex-editor-in-chief at National Black Law Journal)
• Vada Manager (Founder & CEO at Manager Global Consulting Group, ex-director, global issues, Nike, advisor to MLB, PGA TOUR and MLS, ex-advisor to President Nelson Mandela)
• Jan Henne-Hawkins (Two-time gold medal winner at the Olympics, eight-time record holder in the U.S. for swimming, four Olympic medals in total)
• Al Michaels (sportscaster, winner of 5 Emmy Awards and more laurels)
• Phil Mickelson (iconic professional golfer, winner of 5 PGA Championships)
• Aaron Matos (Founder & CEO, jobing.com and recruiting.com and expert on recruitment technologies)
• Kate Spade (Businesswoman, award-winning fashion designer)

The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) is a public research university in Richardson, Texas, USA. It is ranked 351-400th in THE (2022) and 521-530 in the QS world university rankings (2023). The University's inception was Geophysical Services Inc (future Texas Instruments) in 1941. The year 1961 saw the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest. 

August 1969 saw the Texas Legislative Session passing the HB 303 bill for setting up the University of Texas at Dallas. The institution is accredited by the SACSCOC. It has 29,000+ students throughout 7 schools along with 132,000 graduates. 29,689 students enrolled in Fall 2021, 72% of whom were undergraduate students and 28% of them were graduate students. Students at the institution come from 100+ countries. The student-faculty ratio is 24:1. 

The University has its campus in Richardson, Texas. It also has its Office of Research and Innovation and several research centers, including the Centre for Asian Studies, Ackerman Centre for Holocaust Studies, Centre for Translation Studies, and many others. 

UT Dallas offers 146 academic courses, including 56 bachelor's, 59 master's, and 30 Ph.D. courses. There is a professional doctorate program as well. The university has seven schools covering various disciplines such as accounting, interdisciplinary studies, natural sciences and mathematics, economic, political, and policy sciences, behavioral and brain sciences, arts, humanities and technology, and more. 

Notable alumni include Brian Livingston, the chief financial officer at Firebird Restaurant Group; Chad Schieber, the director of client services at The Beck Group; and Dan Healy, chief executive officer at Civitas Capital Management LLC. Other alumni include Indian businessman-politician Naveen Jindal and politician-physician Michael C. Burgess. 

The University has its own Career Center, which offers varied services for students and alumni. There are interview preparation tips, resume-building assistance, Handshake for virtual career appointments, events, and internship/job searches. There are various types of internships, other learning opportunities, and student employment opportunities on campus. Career resources are readily available for students, along with assessments, guides, and much more. The UCC Connect platform is another hub for career-related queries, networking, collaborative discussions, and much more. UT Dallas has several employer partners as well. 

UC Irvine Division of Continuing Education (DCE) was established in 1962 and has served the lifelong learning and career development needs of individuals, organizations, and the community on a local, regional, and global scale. Through a wide range of educational opportunities including certificate and specialized studies programs, short courses and strategic partnerships, we provide learning pathways for those seeking career advancement or personal enrichment. Today, we offer 80+ industry-relevant certificates and specialized studies programs on campus, online, and at corporate sites. The UCI Division of Continuing Education (DCE) is dedicated to serving our global student community by providing highly valued, innovative and practical learning experiences that promote personal and professional success at any stage of life. With a commitment to integrity, quality, accountability, and personal leadership, our team fosters an inclusive, collaborative environment to empower and transform the lives of our students and each other.