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BUILDING PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS

One of the most important aspects of any MBA is building a professional network that can connect you to opportunities far after graduation. Even in online programs where students may be looking to advance in their own companies or organizations, a good professional network can open opportunities you may not have previously imagined.

This year, 100% of 2025 graduates at 12 programs said they were able to create a strong network during the pursuit of their degree. Another nine programs had 90% or more of alumni say the same.

Were you able to create a network of contacts as a result of the program?
Question Rank	School	Percent ‘Yes’
1	American University (Kogod)	100.0%
1	Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)	100.0%
1	Case Western Reserve University (Weatherhead)	100.0%
1	Hofstra University (Zarb)	100.0%
1	Indiana University (Kelley)	100.0%
1	Lehigh University	100.0%
1	University of Florida (Warrington)	100.0%
1	University of Maryland (Smith)	100.0%
1	University of Michigan (Ross)	100.0%
1	University of Utah (Eccles)	100.0%
1	University of Washington (Foster)	100.0%
1	VIllanova University	100.0%
13	Syracuse University (Whitman)	96.3%
14	Bowling Green State University (Schmidthorst)	95.0%
14	San Jose State University (Lucas)	95.0%
14	University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)	95.0%
17	Ohio University	94.1%
17	University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business	94.1%
19	Rice University (Jones)	92.9%
20	Auburn University (Harbert)	90.0%
20	Santa Clara University (Leavey)	90.0%
22	Fairfield University (Dolan)	87.5%
22	University of California-Davis	87.5%
24	Kennesaw State University (Coles)	85.7%
24	MIssissippi State University	85.7%
24	University of Denver (Daniels)	85.7%
24	University of Texas at Dallas (Jindal)	85.7%
24	Wake Forest University	85.7%
29	University of Iowa (Tippie)	84.0%
30	Bryant University	83.3%
30	Clemson University	83.3%
30	Rogers State University	83.3%
30	Southern Methodist University (Cox)	83.3%
30	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	83.3%
35	William & Mary (Mason)	82.4%
36	Pepperdine University (Graziadio)	82.1%
37	Jack Welch Management Institute	81.9%
38	North Carolina State University (Poole)	81.8%
39	University of Massachusetts Lowell (Manning)	81.4%
40	Baylor University (Hankamer)	80.0%
40	University of South Florida (Muma)	80.0%
42	Temple University (Fox)	77.8%
42	University of Delaware (Lerner)	77.8%
44	Longwood University	75.6%
45	Seattle University (Albers)	72.7%
45	University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium	72.7%
47	George Mason University (Costello)	71.4%
48	University of Cincinnati (Lindner)	68.8%
49	Texas Tech University (Rawls)	66.7%
49	University of Connecticut	66.7%
49	University of Houston (Bauer)	66.7%
49	University of Michigan-Dearborn	66.7%
53	Louisiana State University (Ourso)	63.6%
54	Florida International University	62.5%
55	Drexel University (LeBow)	58.3%
56	University of Massachusetts at Amherst (Isenberg)	53.7%
57	University of North Texas (Ryan)	47.1%
58	SUNY Oswego	45.5%
59	University of Missouri (Trulaske)	44.4%
60	University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (Rollins)	42.9%
61	Creighton University (Heider)	28.6%

NETWORK SATISFACTION

Rating their satisfaction with these networks, 2025 graduates of Case Western Reserve University (Weatherhead) rated their networks the highest at 9.6 out of 10. Alumni at University of Washington (Foster) rated their networks at 9.5.

Rate your satisfaction with your new network in terms of how valuable it is to you for encouragement, support, and career opportunities.
Question Rank	School	Network Satisfaction
1	Case Western Reserve University (Weatherhead)	9.60
2	University of Washington (Foster)	9.50
3	American University (Kogod)	9.40
3	Fairfield University (Dolan)	9.40
3	Hofstra University (Zarb)	9.40
3	University of Michigan (Ross)	9.40
7	University of Delaware (Lerner)	9.30
7	University of Denver (Daniels)	9.30
7	University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium	9.30
10	Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)	9.20
10	University of Maryland (Smith)	9.20
12	Indiana University (Kelley)	9.10
13	Kennesaw State University (Coles)	9.00
13	University of Michigan-Dearborn	9.00
15	Lehigh University	8.90
15	University of Florida (Warrington)	8.90
15	University of South Florida (Muma)	8.90
15	VIllanova University	8.90
19	University of Utah (Eccles)	8.80
20	University of Texas at Dallas (Jindal)	8.70
21	San Jose State University (Lucas)	8.60
22	Wake Forest University	8.60
23	Bowling Green State University (Schmidthorst)	8.50
23	Bryant University	8.50
23	Ohio University	8.50
26	Jack Welch Management Institute	8.40
26	MIssissippi State University	8.40
26	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	8.40
26	University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business	8.40
30	University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)	8.30
31	George Mason University (Costello)	8.20
31	Rogers State University	8.20
31	Syracuse University (Whitman)	8.20
34	Auburn University (Harbert)	8.10
34	Rice University (Jones)	8.10
34	Texas Tech University (Rawls)	8.10
37	Baylor University (Hankamer)	8.00
37	North Carolina State University (Poole)	8.00
37	Pepperdine University (Graziadio)	8.00
40	Longwood University	7.90
40	William & Mary (Mason)	7.90
42	Santa Clara University (Leavey)	7.80
42	Seattle University (Albers)	7.80
42	University of Iowa (Tippie)	7.80
45	Louisiana State University (Ourso)	7.60
46	Clemson University	7.50
46	University of Cincinnati (Lindner)	7.50
48	Temple University (Fox)	7.40
48	University of Massachusetts Lowell (Manning)	7.40
50	University of Connecticut	7.30
50	University of Houston (Bauer)	7.30
50	University of Massachusetts at Amherst (Isenberg)	7.30
53	Florida International University	7.10
54	SUNY Oswego	6.90
54	University of California-Davis	6.90
56	Creighton University (Heider)	6.80
56	Southern Methodist University (Cox)	6.80
56	University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (Rollins)	6.80
59	Drexel University (LeBow)	6.60
60	University of North Texas (Ryan)	6.30
61	University of Missouri (Trulaske)	5.80