Choosing where to study business is an important decision for prospective students, so Times Higher Education has published a world ranking of business and economics degrees.
The subject ranking for business includes more than 700 universities in 62 countries.
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The majority of the top 20 universities in the business ranking are US colleges, with Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the top.
Although the US dominates the ranking, universities in the UK and across Asia also do particularly well.
The UK has four universities in the top 20, which also features three institutions from two Asian territories.
Canadian, Dutch and Australian schools also perform well for business and economics degrees.
The ranking uses the same methodology as the World University Rankings, but with slightly more weight given to teaching and research metrics and slightly less to citations. The complete methodology can be found here.
Scroll down for a full list of degrees covered by the ranking and the career paths that they open up.
Best universities worldwide
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Top 5 universities for business and economics degrees
1. Stanford University
Stanford’s graduate business school admits students for MBA, PhD, master’s and executive degrees.
The school’s dean is Jonathan Levin, a renowned expert in industrial organisation.
In 2006, the school received what was then the largest endowment ever given to a business school: $105 million from Phil Knight, an alumnus and the founder of Nike.
The business school at Stanford is known to be the most selective in the US, based on the competition for acceptance on to a course. Typically, less than 7 per cent of applicants secure a place.
Postgraduate students can take joint degrees at other schools, combining business with subjects such as earth sciences, education and law.
Although there is no specific business and management programme for undergraduates, students can choose to major in economics, international relations or management science and engineering.
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Sloan School of Management, also known as MIT Sloan, offers business programmes at the university.
In addition to MBA courses, executive training programmes and other postgraduate degrees, the school also teaches undergraduates through “Course 15”, which provides business skills to students with a technical and quantitative background.
The classes feature problem sets that make use of real-world business cases, tackling them with scientific approaches. The course also provides opportunities to do research and to take part in entrepreneurship competitions.
Business courses at MIT cover a variety of topics, including operations research, consulting, entrepreneurship, finance, information technology, product development and marketing.
There is an emphasis on innovation across all these topics. Many influential new ideas in business, including the field of system dynamics, were born out of work at the Sloan School.
MIT is one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, next door to Harvard University, it is a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship.
3. University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is made up of 29 separate colleges.
The university is also home to more than 100 libraries, which hold a total of more than 15 million books.
Business and economics degrees are generally taught at the Cambridge Judge Business School. Courses include the MBA, master of finance, master of accounting and a number of MPhil programmes.
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4. University of Oxford
Undergraduate business students at the University of Oxford study economics and management within the traditional degree framework, and they are taught primarily in small group tutorials.
Oxford’s academic department for business is the Saïd Business School, which teaches business, management and finance.
The school is just over 20 years old – fairly new compared with other prestigious business schools around the world.
The current dean, Peter Tufano, was at Harvard Business School before joining Oxford.
The postgraduate programmes on offer include the popular MBA programme, an executive MBA programme, a PhD in management studies and master’s degrees in financial economics, law and finance and strategic management.
MBA students can also extend their one-year degree to combine the course with one of the specialised master’s programmes.
All business students are members of an Oxford college and participate in university life outside the business school. Although not all colleges accept business students, the majority do.
5. Harvard University
Harvard University’s Business School is one of the most prestigious postgraduate business schools in the world.
The school offers a two-year MBA that promises a focus on real-world practice. There are also eight doctoral programmes leading to a PhD or DBA.
At the moment Harvard does not offer an undergraduate business programme, but students are able to study economics at the undergraduate level.
Student experience of business and economics degrees
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International perspective: an American student in China
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Starting a business at university
International perspective: a Dutch student in Denmark
International perspective: a Malaysian student in the UK
Top 200 universities for business and economics 2021
Click each institution to view its World University Rankings 2021 profile
Business and economics rank 2021 | Business and economics rank 2020 | University | Country/region |
1 | 2 | Stanford University | United States |
2 | 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | United States |
3 | 4 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom |
4 | 3 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom |
5 | 10 | Harvard University | United States |
6 | 8 | The University of Chicago | United States |
7 | 6 | London School of Economics and Political Science | United Kingdom |
8 | 11 | Yale University | United States |
9 | 5 | University of California, Berkeley | United States |
10 | 7 | Duke University | United States |
11 | 9 | University of Pennsylvania | United States |
12 | =12 | ETH Zurich | Switzerland |
13 | =12 | Northwestern University | United States |
14 | 14 | National University of Singapore | Singapore |
15 | 17 | New York University | United States |
16 | 16 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | United States |
17 | 19 | Tsinghua University | China |
18 | 15 | Columbia University | United States |
19 | 18 | University of California, Los Angeles | United States |
20 | 21 | UCL | United Kingdom |
21 | 20 | Peking University | China |
22 | 26 | University of Warwick | United Kingdom |
23 | 22 | Cornell University | United States |
24 | 27 | University of Toronto | Canada |
25 | 28 | Erasmus University Rotterdam | Netherlands |
26 | 29 | Carnegie Mellon University | United States |
27 | 25 | University of California, San Diego | United States |
28 | 24 | University of British Columbia | Canada |
=29 | 32 | Copenhagen Business School | Denmark |
=29 | 34 | Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Hong Kong |
=29 | 23 | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology | Hong Kong |
32 | 37 | University of Manchester | United Kingdom |
33 | 31 | The University of Tokyo | Japan |
34 | 45 | Boston University | United States |
35 | 35 | University of Minnesota | United States |
36 | 30 | University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
37 | 33 | Tilburg University | Netherlands |
38 | 36 | University of Washington | United States |
39 | 41 | University of Mannheim | Germany |
40 | 38 | University of Melbourne | Australia |
41 | =55 | The University of Queensland | Australia |
42 | 43 | University of Southern California | United States |
43 | =55 | University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom |
44 | 42 | LMU Munich | Germany |
=45 | NR | University of California, Davis | United States |
=45 | =60 | Indiana University | United States |
47 | =48 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | United States |
48 | 44 | Dartmouth College | United States |
49 | =48 | Arizona State University (Tempe) | United States |
50 | 39 | Michigan State University | United States |
=51 | 40 | University of Texas at Austin | United States |
=51 | 51 | University of Zurich | Switzerland |
=53 | 54 | Aalto University | Finland |
=53 | =46 | Pompeu Fabra University | Spain |
55 | 67 | University of Bonn | Germany |
56 | =58 | Ohio State University (Main campus) | United States |
57 | =63 | UNSW Sydney | Australia |
58 | 52 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | Singapore |
59 | =60 | Chinese University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
60 | =46 | Penn State (Main campus) | United States |
61 | =83 | University of Surrey | United Kingdom |
62 | 73 | Maastricht University | Netherlands |
63 | 66 | KU Leuven | Belgium |
64 | 62 | Technical University of Munich | Germany |
65 | =91 | University of Leeds | United Kingdom |
66 | 79 | University of St Gallen | Switzerland |
=67 | =94 | Fudan University | China |
=67 | 101–125 | Monash University | Australia |
=69 | =63 | Australian National University | Australia |
=69 | 57 | Johns Hopkins University | United States |
=69 | 75 | Lund University | Sweden |
72 | =58 | City University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
=73 | =80 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | United States |
=73 | 70 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | China |
=75 | =83 | Kyoto University | Japan |
=75 | 69 | University of Virginia (Main campus) | United States |
77 | 72 | University of Sussex | United Kingdom |
78 | 68 | Boston College | United States |
79 | 65 | University of Maryland, College Park | United States |
80 | =76 | University of Amsterdam | Netherlands |
81 | =80 | University of Groningen | Netherlands |
82 | =96 | McGill University | Canada |
83 | 101–125 | Lancaster University | United Kingdom |
=84 | =91 | University of Florida | United States |
=84 | =98 | National Taiwan University (NTU) | Taiwan |
86 | 90 | University of Sydney | Australia |
87 | =76 | University of Vienna | Austria |
88 | =76 | Washington University in St Louis | United States |
89 | 86 | Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – Pisa | Italy |
=90 | 93 | University of Alberta | Canada |
=90 | =88 | Federal University of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées | France |
=92 | 71 | Georgia Institute of Technology | United States |
=92 | 53 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | United States |
=92 | 101–125 | Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey | United States |
95 | 50 | Zhejiang University | China |
96 | 82 | Texas A&M University | United States |
97 | 74 | Seoul National University | South Korea |
98 | 151–175 | University of Montreal | Canada |
=99 | =98 | Polytechnic University of Milan | Italy |
=99 | 101–125 | University of Twente | Netherlands |
=99 | 101–125 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | Netherlands |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Arizona | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | Aston University | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 151–175 | University of Auckland | New Zealand |
101–125 | 176–200 | University of Bath | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 101–125 | Cardiff University | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 151–175 | Chalmers University of Technology | Sweden |
101–125 | 101–125 | City, University of London | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 176–200 | George Washington University | United States |
101–125 | 176–200 | University of Glasgow | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 101–125 | Griffith University | Australia |
101–125 | 126–150 | King’s College London | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 101–125 | Korea University | South Korea |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Lausanne | Switzerland |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Massachusetts | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | Nanjing University | China |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Notre Dame | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Nottingham | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 87 | Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris | France |
101–125 | 85 | Queensland University of Technology | Australia |
101–125 | 151–175 | University of Reading | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 100 | Sun Yat-sen University | China |
101–125 | 101–125 | Technical University of Berlin | Germany |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Technology Sydney | Australia |
101–125 | 101–125 | York University | Canada |
126–150 | 126–150 | Aarhus University | Denmark |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Antwerp | Belgium |
126–150 | 101–125 | Autonomous University of Barcelona | Spain |
126–150 | 201–250 | University of Bayreuth | Germany |
126–150 | 201–250 | Beijing Normal University | China |
126–150 | 151–175 | Central South University | China |
126–150 | 126–150 | Charles University in Prague | Czech Republic |
126–150 | 201–250 | Durham University | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 101–125 | University of Essex | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 176–200 | Ghent University | Belgium |
126–150 | =94 | HSE University | Russian Federation |
126–150 | 151–175 | University of Malaya | Malaysia |
126–150 | 151–175 | Newcastle University | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 101–125 | Northeastern University | United States |
126–150 | 126–150 | Renmin University of China | China |
126–150 | 101–125 | Rice University | United States |
126–150 | 151–175 | Royal Holloway, University of London | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 126–150 | Sejong University | South Korea |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Sheffield | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of South Australia | Australia |
126–150 | 126–150 | Stockholm University | Sweden |
126–150 | 201–250 | University of Waikato | New Zealand |
126–150 | 126–150 | Western University | Canada |
126–150 | 151–175 | Yonsei University (Seoul campus) | South Korea |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of York | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 201–250 | University of Birmingham | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 126–150 | Free University of Berlin | Germany |
151–175 | NR | University of Geneva | Switzerland |
151–175 | 126–150 | Georgetown University | United States |
151–175 | 126–150 | Georgia State University | United States |
151–175 | 176–200 | University of Hamburg | Germany |
151–175 | 101–125 | Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Israel |
151–175 | 176–200 | King Abdulaziz University | Saudi Arabia |
151–175 | 126–150 | Lomonosov Moscow State University | Russian Federation |
151–175 | 201–250 | Loughborough University | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 101–125 | Université Catholique de Louvain | Belgium |
151–175 | 151–175 | Macquarie University | Australia |
151–175 | 201–250 | McMaster University | Canada |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Navarra | Spain |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Newcastle | Australia |
151–175 | 151–175 | NOVA University of Lisbon | Portugal |
151–175 | 176–200 | Radboud University Nijmegen | Netherlands |
151–175 | 176–200 | University of Rochester | United States |
151–175 | 126–150 | Simon Fraser University | Canada |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Southampton | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 101–125 | University of St Andrews | United Kingdom |
151–175 | =88 | Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) | South Korea |
151–175 | 126–150 | Temple University | United States |
151–175 | 151–175 | Tongji University | China |
151–175 | 151–175 | Trinity College Dublin | Republic of Ireland |
151–175 | 151–175 | The University of Western Australia | Australia |
176–200 | 126–150 | Aalborg University | Denmark |
176–200 | 251–300 | Beijing Institute of Technology | China |
176–200 | 201–250 | Bournemouth University | United Kingdom |
176–200 | 151–175 | Case Western Reserve University | United States |
176–200 | 176–200 | University of East Anglia | United Kingdom |
176–200 | 151–175 | Emory University | United States |
176–200 | 176–200 | University of Erlangen-Nuremberg | Germany |
176–200 | 126–150 | University of Exeter | United Kingdom |
176–200 | 201–250 | Hong Kong Baptist University | Hong Kong |
176–200 | 201–250 | University of Innsbruck | Austria |
176–200 | 201–250 | King Saud University | Saudi Arabia |
176–200 | 151–175 | Kyung Hee University | South Korea |
176–200 | 176–200 | Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT | Finland |
176–200 | 201–250 | Université libre de Bruxelles | Belgium |
176–200 | 251–300 | Linköping University | Sweden |
176–200 | 176–200 | National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) | Taiwan |
176–200 | 201–250 | Queen’s University | Canada |
176–200 | 201–250 | University of São Paulo | Brazil |
176–200 | 151–175 | University of Strathclyde | United Kingdom |
176–200 | 126–150 | University of Texas at Dallas | United States |
176–200 | 201–250 | University College Dublin | Republic of Ireland |
176–200 | 176–200 | Washington State University | United States |
176–200 | 151–175 | University of Waterloo | Canada |
176–200 | 126–150 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | United States |