Georgetown University’s full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program in the McDonough School of Business (MSB) ranked 23rd overall in Bloomberg’s Businessweek annual ranking of MBA programs released on Sept. 16, increasing one spot from last year.
The Businessweek ranking evaluates schools based on five key categories — compensation, learning, networking, entrepreneurship and diversity — using scores derived from the business school, student, alumni and employer surveys. Georgetown’s MBA improved its standing in four of the five indexes; it advanced to 19th from 35th in entrepreneurship, 15th from 22nd in learning, 19th from 21st in networking and 22nd from 23rd in compensation.
Sudipta Dasmohaptra, senior associate dean for MSB’s MBA programs, said its success is due to its value-based education and commitment to Jesuit values.
“Our biggest, I would say, distinguishing factor is our focus on the global perspective and ethical leadership, or principal leadership,” Dasmohapatra told The Hoya. “We have multiple courses that focus on leadership and especially principal leadership and the Jesuit values and so those are part of the MBA curriculum. But I also want to say that the curriculum focuses on a lot of the skills that [students] need for their career.”
Dasmohapatra said MSB innovates the learning experience through prioritizing experiential learning.
“We have signature events like the Executive Challenge, which is to get [students] boardroom ready,” Dasmohaptra said. “They go through a case with alumni leaders that show up in the Hariri building as part of the leadership communications class.”
“They have a global business experience, which is where they are doing a global project, consulting project, as well as other Ethical Leadership projects, where they get $1,500 to actually complete a project that makes an impact on the world,” Dasmohapatra added.
Matthew Cypher, a professor of real estate in the MSB, said the MSB’s growth over recent years to its three named centers — the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, Baratta Center for Global Business and the Steers Center for Global Real Estate — was responsible for the ranking.
“I think those named centers have brought visibility to MSB and have brought credibility to MSB,” Cypher told The Hoya. “They have brought an ability to do things that maybe we historically haven’t like very high quality convening.”
“When you’re looking as a prospective student at what the differentiating factors are, I do think you look at things like areas of expertise that you can go and study in and learn under,” Cypher added.
Vineet Bhasin (GRD ’28) said MSB experiential learning and the implementation of certificates in specific areas of study — sustainable business, healthcare, nonmarket strategy and consumer analytics — promote a personalized learning experience for himself and other MBA students.
“These are certificates which are intense courses for people who have interest in them,” Vineet told The Hoya. “It caters to a larger audience and a more specific niche that people would want to follow, rather than a generic MBA program, which probably would cater to just the high level needs of everyone. It’s better for the students and it contributes to the rankings.”
Although MSB’s reputation as a top 25 MBA program is impressive, Cypher said the school’s commitment to prioritizing the growth of the student as a whole should not be overlooked.
“The Steers Center talks a lot about the fact that we care more about the student than any other program in the country,” Cypher said. “If somebody genuinely and authentically cares about you as a person, cares about you and your your ability to learn and your career prospects, and you’re just not a number or a body or a tuition check, that means a lot, and that might not necessarily be reflected in rankings per se, but I believe that’s our competitive advantage.”