College rankings: Impact on MBA admissions policy and practice.

摘要

U.S. News & World Report produces an annual ranking of top business schools. This annual publication is a perennial money maker for the publisher, a trusted source of information for potential students, and a necessary part of any business schools strategic planning due to its influence on higher education institutions. The purpose of this multiple-case study was to examine how senior admissions officers in Masters of Business Administration (MBA) programs at four public universities across the United States pay heed to and formulate responses to their institutions U.S. News & World Report MBA rankings.; Data was collected from four case subject sites, utilizing multiple sources of evidence---structured questionnaires, open-ended interviews, and reviews of brochures, supplemental materials, and each study subject sites MBA program Web site. Data analysis revealed five emergent themes: (1) MBA admission departments find identity in MBA rankings; (2) MBA admission departments market MBA rankings; (3) MBA admission departments pay heed to the importance of MBA rankings to potential and existing students; (4) MBA admission departments use data from MBA rankings to improve program processes; and, (5) MBA admission departments change policies and practices to improve their MBA rankings.; The audiences that could benefit from this study include college and university administrators, consumers of higher education, producers of proprietary ranking publications, and future researchers of topics related to the ranking of educational institutions.