The World's Best Business Schools

Having an MBA can give you an edge in the cutthroat world of business—but only if you pick the right school.

The wrong school could be a critical waste of time and money.

For our fourth annual survey of the World's Best Business Schools, we asked hundreds of American professionals with experience hiring MBAs to determine the best business school in the world.

They came back with a loud and clear answer: Harvard University.

Harvard pushed last year's winner, Stanford, down to number 3. In addition to the usual top American schools, international institutions like Cambridge University (#8), Oxford University (#9), and the London School of Economics (#19) also placed in the top 20.

The majority of respondents said that skills and knowledge is the most important takeaway from business school (69%), while 22% said that a network of contacts was a valuable B-school bonus.

Note that we only asked American hiring professionals to weigh in, so these 42 business schools are best for getting you a job in the U.S.

#42 INSEAD (Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires)

3.2% of respondents called it a top tier school.

Location: Fontainebleau, France

Tuition and fees: $80,000

INSEAD, the "Business School for the World," has campuses in Europe, Asia, and Abu Dhabi. It was ranked third in the world by Businessweek, and sixth by The Financial Times. Last year, it took the #10 spot on our list of the Best Business Schools.

For this survey, we asked hundreds of professionals with experience hiring MBAs to select the 10 most prestigious business schools. Tuition was used as a tiebreaker, with cheaper tuition pushing a school to a higher spot. Read the full methodology.

#41 Thunderbird School of Global Management

3.2% of respondents called it a top tier school.

Location: Glendale, Ariz.

Tuition and fees: $78,000

Thunderbird is known for having the best program in the world for international business studies, but it fell from #33 on our list last year. U.S. News ranked the school number 45 in their MBA program rankings.

For this survey, we asked hundreds of professionals with experience hiring MBAs to select the 10 most prestigious business schools. Tuition was used as a tiebreaker, with cheaper tuition pushing a school to a higher spot. Read the full methodology.

#40 Babson College (Olin)

3.5%of respondents called it a top tier school.

Location: Wellesley, Mass.

Tuition and fees: $103,000

Babson's MBA program has been ranked #1 in entrepreneurship by U.S. News for the last 20 years running. Last year Babson ranked #40 on our list, but this year respondents ranked Babson higher than other news outlets. U.S. News ranked Babson #56, Businessweek ranked them #42, and The Financial Times #80.

For this survey, we asked hundreds of professionals with experience hiring MBAs to select the 10 most prestigious business schools. Tuition was used as a tiebreaker, with cheaper tuition pushing a school to a higher spot. Read the full methodology.