Dartmouth, Brigham Young, and ESADE Are Highest Ranking Business Schools Among National, Regional and International Categories in the Seventh Annual Business School Survey by Harris Interactive and The Wall Street Journal

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – September 17, 2007 – Harris Interactive® and The Wall Street Journal released today the Seventh Annual Business School Survey that reveals how top business schools internationally rank based on ratings by more than 4,400 corporate M.B.A recruiters.

As in previous years, the survey presents three separate rankings – national, regional and international. The national and regional rankings are comprised of U.S. schools only. The international ranking includes schools that attract a high number of recruiters who place graduates in jobs outside of the United States.

Beth Forbes, Senior Vice President for the Harris Interactive Brand and Strategy Consulting Practice at Harris Interactive states, "The Business School Survey provides schools with an opportunity to gain insight into perceptions of recruiters on today’s business school talent and to understand important factors that recruiters consider when hiring graduates. Throughout the years, many schools have successfully used the results of this study to enhance their marketplace position.

Recruiters give top ratings to Tuck for its students’ well-roundedness, their personal ethics and integrity, interpersonal and communication skills, and team work abilities. Following Tuck are Berkeley (#2), Columbia University (#3), MIT (#4) and Carnegie Mellon (#5).

The 19 U.S.-based M.B.A. programs share many of the same recruiters, primarily those from companies based in the eastern United States and who offer the highest compensation.

Recruiters give top ratings for BYU students’ personal ethics and integrity, their work ethic and leadership potential. Ranking behind BYU are Wake Forest University (#2), Ohio State University (#3), University of Rochester (#4), and Indiana University (#5).

Three new schools were included in this year’s ranking of regional schools: American University, Tulane University, and the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Regional programs are smaller, for the most part, with a fairly even mix of private and public universities represented. In addition, regional schools, on average, receive more positive ratings than do national schools from recruiters on nearly all measures—and the regional schools, not surprisingly, are more likely than the national schools to enjoy a close relationship with their recruiters. Regional recruiters tend to recruit within a network of schools that, generally, are geographically close.

ESADE receives top ratings for its student’s personal ethics and integrity, their team work abilities and the Career Services Office. The international ranking includes nine U.S. schools, eleven European, three Canadian, and two Latin American schools. Ranking behind ESADE are IMD (#2), London Business School (#3), IPADE (#4), and MIT (#5).

Four new schools were included in this year’s ranking of international schools: Essec Business School in France, University of Oxford in the U.K, Northwestern University, and New York University.

Schools qualified to be ranked in the year-seven survey, as in previous years, vary in size, location and program/specialties. They also differ in terms of the recruiters they attract.

Although some differences in recruiting patterns do exist among the three ranking groups, overall, recruiters are more similar than different when it comes to what matters most to them. Communication and interpersonal skills remain at the top of the list of what matters most to recruiters.

• Yale received the most votes by recruiters for the school with the most improved M.B.A. program, followed by Carnegie Mellon.
• Stanford University tops the list among recruiters for being the school that produces the most creative and innovative M.B.A. students, followed by MIT.
• More than 40 percent of recruiters indicate that their company is recruiting at more schools than in previous years because of the competition for top talent. In addition, recruiters are increasingly looking to attract those students who have more global experience and who are versatile and adaptable to change.
• Recruiters continue to place tremendous value on M.B.A programs, with more than 40 percent of recruiters stating that an M.B.A. today is worth more to their company than it was five years ago.
• Approximately 40 percent of recruiters believe there is a shortage of U.S. minorities when they recruit potential candidates from schools. In addition, about 20 percent of recruiters believe that it is difficult to retain minority M.B.A. hires because they are in high demand. Recruiters cite the University of Michigan as being among the best schools for hiring minority M.B.A. students.

This survey was conducted online internationally by Harris Interactive in collaboration with The Wall Street Journal between December 19, 2006 and March 23, 2007, among 4,430 M.B.A. recruiters who hire full-time business school graduates. The 4,430 recruiters who were asked to rate schools with which they had recent experience provided a total of 6,151 school ratings. To qualify for a ranking, a school needed a minimum of 20 recruiter ratings. Overall, 30 percent of recruiters rated one school, 16 percent rated two, and 53 percent rated three. As in previous years, business schools did not have control over which schools recruiters chose to rate. Data for this survey were not weighted.

Though we believe the final sample of recruiters rating each school can be considered representative of recruiters for that school, the results based on these smaller sample sizes may prevent drawing conclusions about statistically significant differences. All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

These results have been published by The Wall Street Journal’s Online Edition and in a special section of the paper. More about the results of this study and its complete methodology are posted at www.harrisinteractive.com/bschools and at www.CareerJournal.com/bschool/.

This is the seventh consecutive year that the Harris Interactive Brand and Strategy Consulting Practice has conducted this business schools research in conjunction with The Wall Street Journal. The Practice provides effective research and counsel at every point in a brands’ life cycle, from strategy development to implementation and evaluation of an organization’s return on investment.

About Harris Interactive®

Harris Interactive is the 13th largest and one of the fastest growing market research firms in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its North American, European and Asian offices, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com. To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.

To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.

The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ; www.dowjones.com), is the world's leading business publication. Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal has a print and online circulation of nearly 2.1 million, reaching the nation's top business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. Holding 33 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, The Wall Street Journal provides readers with trusted information and knowledge to make better decisions.  The Wall Street Journal print franchise has more than 750 journalists world-wide, part of the Dow Jones network of nearly 1,800 business and financial news staff. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with total circulation of 2.6 million, include The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com, the largest paid subscription news site on the Web. In 2007, the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the eighth consecutive year.  The Wall Street Journal Radio Network services news and information to more than 280 radio stations in the U.S.

Nancy Wong
Harris Interactive
609-919-2426
nwong@harrisinteractive.com

Tracey McNerney
Harris Interactive
585-214-7756
tmcnerney@harrisinteractive.com