Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for Business Administration

50 Business Administration programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion - from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

Quick answer

For Business Administration, University of California-Berkeley (California) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $144,599. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion - not reputation or cost - across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$144,599	$11,300	409	96.4
2	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$135,874	$14,239	332	94.6
3	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$144,654	$19,000	598	93.7
4	Emory University Atlanta, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$136,731	$19,500	358	92.2
5	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$110,902	$16,633	753	90.8
6	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$109,128	$15,750	832	90.7
7	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$123,144	$18,125	94	89.8
8	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$136,806	$20,348	106	89.4
9	Bismarck State College Bismarck, ND	Bachelor's Degree	$122,948	$15,250	47	88.8
10	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$105,544	$11,000	107	88.8
11	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$160,783	$23,250	138	88.6
12	Western Governors University Salt Lake City, UT	Master's Degree	$98,950	$13,165	3,991	88.6
13	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK	Master's Degree	$111,874	$18,682	153	88.5
14	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Master's Degree	$113,503	$20,525	910	88.4
15	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$111,366	$19,500	239	88.3
16	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$117,733	$14,975	50	88.2
17	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA	Master's Degree	$119,730	$21,720	430	88.1
18	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	Master's Degree	$118,876	$20,500	185	88
19	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN	Master's Degree	$141,749	$20,500	60	87.7
20	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA	Master's Degree	$147,635	-	265	87.5
21	Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, TX	Master's Degree	$99,331	$16,327	623	87.3
22	University of Georgia Athens, GA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$111,392	$19,550	118	87.1
23	Providence College Providence, RI	Master's Degree	$120,118	$20,500	99	87
24	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$107,904	$19,087	136	86.9
25	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	Master's Degree	$151,760	-	137	86.6
26	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND	Master's Degree	$126,170	$20,220	44	86.1
27	Wichita State University Wichita, KS	Master's Degree	$118,940	$20,585	76	86
28	University of North Texas Denton, TX	Master's Degree	$106,253	$20,500	330	86
29	California State University-Chico Chico, CA	Master's Degree	$109,161	$18,750	62	85.5
30	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX	Master's Degree	$124,819	-	254	85.5
31	University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL	Master's Degree	$102,853	$17,000	88	85.4
32	University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC	Master's Degree	$118,289	$24,000	259	85.4
33	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$106,155	$21,500	359	85.1
34	Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$99,031	$15,361	94	84.9
35	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	Master's Degree	$150,316	$24,750	62	84.9
36	Babson College Wellesley, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$107,520	$22,766	564	84.8
37	Boston University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$108,412	$23,196	678	84.8
38	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	Master's Degree	$128,133	-	117	84.6
39	Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL	Master's Degree	$106,907	$21,537	204	84.6
40	University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$103,856	$20,577	223	84.6
41	Bryant University Smithfield, RI	Master's Degree	$129,664	-	109	84.5
42	Drake University Des Moines, IA	Master's Degree	$137,890	-	85	84.4
43	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Bachelor's Degree	$100,005	$20,000	222	84.4
44	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT	Master's Degree	$126,408	$26,383	286	84.2
45	University of Southern Indiana Evansville, IN	Master's Degree	$93,352	$18,311	650	84.2
46	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	Post-baccalaureate Certificate	$159,290	-	-	84.1
47	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	Master's Degree	$165,473	$32,030	448	84
48	University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA	Master's Degree	$131,832	$22,000	37	84
49	Idaho State University Pocatello, ID	Master's Degree	$99,523	$15,202	60	83.9
50	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC	Master's Degree	$122,997	$25,700	175	83.9

Filter Business Administration by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for Business Administration

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Business Administration - the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Bismarck State College Bismarck, ND Strong Business Administration outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$122,948	-	88.8
2	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN Strong Business Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$141,749	95%	87.7
3	Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, TX Strong Business Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$99,331	89%	87.3
4	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND Strong Business Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$126,170	77%	86.1
5	Wichita State University Wichita, KS Strong Business Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$118,940	94%	86
6	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX Strong Business Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$124,819	99%	85.5
7	University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL Strong Business Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$102,853	69%	85.4
8	Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL Strong Business Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$106,907	98%	84.6
9	Bryant University Smithfield, RI Strong Business Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$129,664	65%	84.5
10	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT Strong Business Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$126,408	96%	84.2
11	University of Southern Indiana Evansville, IN Strong Business Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$93,352	96%	84.2
12	Idaho State University Pocatello, ID Strong Business Administration outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$99,523	-	83.9

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0-100 within the Business Administration field (CIP 52.02) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Business Administration programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded - never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Business Administration program?+

By our outcome score, University of California-Berkeley (California) ranks #1 for Business Administration, with median graduate earnings of $144,599.

How are these Business Administration programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0-100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Business Administration programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

Business Administration rankings (filterable)All major rankings Browse colleges Tuition-free colleges All Best-Of guides

Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “-” and never estimated. GetInto.College does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.