Foster's MBA Rankings Calculator Helps Students Find Their Best Fit

In the complex world of MBA admissions, rankings often dominate the conversation. But what if these rankings don’t align with what matters most to prospective students? The University of Washington’s Foster School of Business has developed an innovative solution: the Foster MBA Rankings Calculator. This free tool empowers applicants to create personalized rankings based on their own priorities.

Putting students in control

“Business school rankings provide valuable information about MBA programs, but their methodologies may not align with applicants’ priorities,” explains Foster School of Business Director of Marketing Analytics Andrea Bowers, who spearheaded the calculator’s development at Foster. The idea was sparked by an opinion piece from former Columbia dean Glenn Hubbard, proposing a new ranking based on student quality and outcomes. Bowers and the Foster design and website teams took this concept further, consulting prospective and current MBA students to identify the ten most important ranking metrics.

The result is an elegant, user-friendly tool that has attracted more than 59,000 visitors from 82 countries. “We wanted to give MBA candidates direct access to the data so they could create their own ranking,” Bowers says.

How the MBA rankings calculator works

Redesigned by Foster Design Director Stephanie Fink, and built by Katie Ta, Assistant Director of Digital Strategy, with the support of a contract developer, the Foster MBA Rankings Calculator uses intuitive sliders to assign weights to different ranking metrics. Users can adjust these weights to reflect their priorities, whether focused on post-graduation salaries, academic research, low student debt, or networking opportunities.

The calculator then generates a custom ranking of the top 30 U.S. business schools based on the user’s preferences. Each school in the ranking includes a profile with valuable statistics:

• Average salary and bonus
• Job placement rate
• Average GMAT score
• Program enrollment
• Annual tuition and fees
• Average student debt

Users can easily compare schools using data scorecards and refine their rankings as they clarify their priorities. On average, prospective students update their ranking three times as they explore different scenarios.

Beyond the numbers

What sets the Foster MBA Rankings Calculator apart is its commitment to helping students find the right fit, even if that fit isn’t the Foster School of Business. The tool incorporates data from the Financial Times, Businessweek, Poets & Quants, and Forbes’s rankings, providing a comprehensive view of each business school.

While the data in the calculator comes from top U.S. rankings, prospective students get to determine the methodology. If they are most interested in job placement and networking, they can find the schools that perform well in those areas.

Perhaps most importantly, many rankings don’t factor return on investment or student debt into their methodologies—and the calculator does. The school information tiles make it easy to compare tuition levels and earnings.

The calculator also considers the lasting impact of a degree, measuring salary percentage increases for alumni rather than just starting salaries. This broader perspective helps applicants understand the long-term value of their investment.

However, even the most sophisticated calculator can’t measure everything. Bowers emphasizes the importance of factors that can’t be quantified:

• Location and community fit, ranging from outdoor recreation, cultural communities and access to medical care and specialists
• Partner and family considerations, such as great schools for your kids or the local job market for your partner
• Regional industry strengths that align with your career goals
• Travel convenience, such as a major international airport with direct flights to your hometown

Weighing the actual value of scholarships

Bowers encourages all students to carefully calculate the cost of earning an MBA, especially if they receive scholarship offers.

Bowers explains that some schools may have lower starting tuition, so the scholarships offered may go further. For example, if an admitted student has a $25,000 scholarship from a school that costs $50,000 a year and a $30,000 scholarship from a school that costs $80,000, they have a lower total cost with the smaller scholarship.

“I’m also surprised when applicants take a ranking number at face value instead of learning what the rankings measure and then deciding if that formula aligns with their values,” Bowers concludes.

Making an informed MBA decision

For prospective MBA students navigating the application process, Bowers offers some key advice:

1. Look beyond a school’s prestige to performance, such as career outcomes

2. Verify the data sources and methodology of information you rely on to weigh your decision

3. Consider the graduation and retention rates, especially for online programs

4. Remember the intangible benefits that a program can provide, such as an extensive alumni network, individual career coaching, one-on-one mentoring, or in-depth leadership training

Whether it’s the opportunity to pivot careers or hone your expertise, an MBA’s value extends far beyond what any ranking or calculator can measure. The Foster MBA Rankings Calculator simply aims to make the decision-making process a little more transparent, helping students find a program where they can truly thrive.

“At the end of the day,” Bowers concludes, “we want students to find the right fit for their goals, whether that’s the Foster School of Business or another program. The calculator is just one tool to help them make that important decision.”

The bigger picture

The Foster MBA Rankings Calculator reflects the school’s values: innovation, personalization, and a commitment to its public mission of access and social mobility. Foster is known for its high return on investment among the top 25 business schools, combining competitive salaries with relatively low average debt.

“The calculator says a lot about who we are,” Bowers explains. “It’s innovative, like the Seattle business ecosystem. It’s also personalized, like Foster’s small Full-Time MBA program that provides individual career coaching and many opportunities to customize your learning experience.”

Using the Foster MBA Rankings Calculator

Ready to create your own MBA ranking? The Foster MBA Rankings Calculator is free, and no login or subscription is required. As you explore different scenarios, remember that the best MBA program isn’t necessarily the most well-known—it’s the one that aligns with your personal, professional, and financial goals.

Learn more about Foster MBA programs here.