Drexel LeBow Rankings

Drexel University's LeBow College of Business is no longer participating in the rankings of business school programs conducted by a wide range of print and online news outlets due to our concerns about the value of those rankings.

While several Drexel LeBow programs have been ranked highly by magazines in recent years, “It can be difficult to understand the methodologies used to determine the rankings, and we believe that the general public can be misled,'” said George P. Tsetsekos, Ph.D., the R. John Chapel Jr. Dean of LeBow College. In addition, rankings criteria typically do not include activities that blend theory and practice, such as the College's internationally renowned experiential learning programs, including co-op, which involves more than 1,200 companies worldwide.

Tsetsekos noted with pride that rankings by fellow academics place LeBow professors in finance and in international economics among the best in the world; the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania is the only Philadelphia-area college ranked higher than LeBow in those disciplines.

In addition, LeBow College is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Only one-fourth of U.S. business schools meet AACSB's exacting standards for accreditation.

Read more about rankings confusion at the following links:

Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin
Philadelphia Inquirer
Chronicle of Higher Education
Washington Post

LeBow Top Rankings in Recent Years

LeBow's decision to withdraw from magazine rankings is not based on its performance in those rankings. In fact, among its rankings since 2007, LeBow College has reached:

• No. 1 in the nation for part-time MBA academic quality from Businessweek and Top 10 overall since the inaugural ratings were published in 2008.
• No. 3 in entrepreneurship programs for undergraduate programs and No. 3 in entrepreneurship programs for graduate programs from Princeton Review/Entrepreneur magazine.
• No. 19 for its Executive MBA, including No. 3 for career progression from Financial Times

Disciplinary or departmental rankings have included:

Finance: The most recent rankings place LeBow College 66th in the world, based on faculty research published between 2006 and 2010 in the top four finance journals: Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania is the only other Philadelphia-area school to appear in the Top 100.

International Trade: A worldwide collaboration of economics researchers lists LeBow's department of economics and international business among the top 100 out of 1,400 economics departments in the field of international trade. The University of Pennsylvania is the only other Philadelphia-area school ranked among the Top 10 percent.