SEATTLE, March 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Prospective MBA students have a new tool to use when trying to find the right school: the "MBA Rankings Calculator." Designed by the University of Washington's Foster School of Business, the web-based tool allows users to create a custom list of MBA programs by choosing the factors that matter most to them, including salary and placement, employer reputation, and return on investment.
Around 250,000 students in the US pursue an MBA each year, and according the US Department of Education the average cost for a year in an MBA program is $30,000. That means the MBA market amounts to more than $8 billion annually. It's a big business and rankings play a strong role in guiding early decision-making.
The Foster School's Rankings Calculator was developed to help MBA applicants make informed decisions and access diverse rankings metrics in one convenient place. Prospective and current MBA students helped shape the calculator design and select the metrics.
"Obviously, we urge MBA candidates to always consider the culture, the community, the location, the student services, program performance and other areas that matter to them when choosing an MBA program," said Dan Poston, assistant dean of master's programs at the Foster School. "But we know for nearly all candidates the rankings are a consideration. Not only does this tool help them filter data from multiple rankings to see the results that that are most important to them…it's just fun to explore how school rankings change based on different priorities."
To achieve this, the calculator leverages data licensed from U.S. News & World Report, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Financial Times, Forbes and M7 Financial. Prospective applicants distribute 100 points across up to 10 metrics. Based on the results, candidates can fine-tune their formula to develop an optimal list of schools that best align with their priorities.
The free MBA Rankings Calculator is available online at http://foster.uw.edu/business-school-rankings.
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SOURCE University of Washington Foster School of Business
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