Explore the best schools for finance.
Having an MBA can help boost your salary, but having a specialized MBA in a field like finance can really improve your pay and job opportunities. While it might not be for everyone, the world of finance can put students on Wall Street, interacting with some of the most prestigious and high-paying banking and corporate finance firms. Here are the 10 Best Business Schools for Finance.
10. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross)
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 13 (tie)
Acceptance rate (fall 2020): 37%
Key fact: This business school has multiple student-run investment funds and advertises itself as having more of them than any other MBA program. Student investors here have collective control over $10 million, according to the school website.
Learn more about the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
9. University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
Location: Los Angeles
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 18 (tie)
Acceptance rate (fall 2020): 34.4%
Key fact: Four people on the faculty at this business school have been president of the American Finance Association. Academic discoveries at this B-school have helped banks set appropriate interest rates.
Learn more about the Anderson School of Management.
8. Harvard University (MA)
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 5 (tie)
Acceptance rate (fall 2020): 9.2%
Key fact: Harvard offers its MBA students a variety of finance-related elective courses, including one that focuses on creating value through corporate restructuring and another that concentrates on financial management of smaller firms.
Learn more about Harvard Business School.
7. University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
Location: Berkeley, California
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 7 (tie)
Acceptance rate (fall 2020): 23.3%
Key fact: Berkeley’s finance faculty includes experts on asset pricing, credit ratings, financial regulation, exchange rate dynamics and securities trading.
Learn more about the Haas School of Business.
6. Stanford University (CA)
Location: Stanford, California
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 1
Acceptance rate (fall 2020): 8.9%
Key fact: Stanford’s finance faculty aim to publish finance-related scholarship relevant to academic researchers, policymakers and business professionals, its website states.
Learn more about the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 5 (tie)
Acceptance rate (fall 2020): Not provided
Key fact: MIT offers a finance track certificate program, and MBA students who complete it receive a certificate alongside their MBA degree.
Learn more about the Sloan School of Management.
4. Columbia University (NY)
Location: New York City
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 7 (tie)
Acceptance rate (fall 2020): 13.6%
Key fact: Columbia MBA students interested in a particular niche within finance — such as risk management or sales, trading and research — can take a series of classes coordinated with that goal in mind.
Learn more about Columbia Business School.
3. New York University (Stern)
Location: New York City
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 10 (tie)
Acceptance rate (fall 2020): 29%
Key fact: NYU offers an MBA specialization in finance, and the school provides finance classes on topics ranging from valuation to volatility.
Learn more about the Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
2. University of Chicago (Booth)
Location: Chicago
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 3
Acceptance rate (fall 2020): 27.6%
Key fact: Distinguished service professor Eugene F. Fama is often called the “father of modern finance” and is a 2013 Nobel Prize laureate in economic sciences.
Learn more about the Booth School of Business.
1. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
Location: Philadelphia
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 2
Acceptance rate (fall 2020): Not provided
Key fact: Wharton’s finance MBA graduates land jobs in finance departments within nonfinance companies and also find work as investment bankers, asset managers and management consultants.
Learn more about the Wharton School.
Learn more about the Best Business Schools.
Get advice on applying to business school, and check out all of the 2022 Best Graduate Schools rankings. You can also sign up for a free U.S. News account to receive content like this via email and stay up to date on education news by following U.S. News Education on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Highest-ranked finance MBA programs
1. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
2. University of Chicago (Booth)
3. New York University (Stern)
4. Columbia University
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
6. Stanford University
7. University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
8. Harvard University
9. University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
10. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross)
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See the 10 Best Finance MBA Programs originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 06/16/21: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
