LinkedIn Top Colleges List
LinkedIn released a ranked list of 50 universities in the United States on August 12, 2025, named "The 50 best colleges for long-term career success in the U.S." using the website's own data in its calculations. The primary list focuses on bachelor's degrees, but being a highly business based platform, LinkedIn released separate ranking for MBA programs (general business schools). They also released a ranking of public universities, Liberal arts colleges, and HBCUs.
50 Top Colleges in the U.S.
The 15 highest ranked colleges on the primary list is as follows:
Ranking |
College |
Logo |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Princeton University |
|
Princeton, New Jersey |
2 |
Duke University |
|
Durham, North Carolina |
3 |
University of Pennsylvania |
|
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
4 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
|
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
5 |
Cornell University |
|
Ithaca, New York |
6 |
Harvard University |
|
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
7 |
Babson College |
|
Babson Park, Massachusetts |
8 |
University of Notre Dame |
|
Notre Dame, Indiana |
9 |
Dartmouth College |
|
Hanover, New Hampshire |
10 |
Stanford University |
|
Stanford, California |
11 |
Northwestern University |
|
Evanston, Illinois |
12 |
University of Virginia |
|
Charlottesville, Virginia |
13 |
Vanderbilt University |
|
Nashville, Tennessee |
14 |
Brown University |
|
Providence, Rhode Island |
15 |
Bentley University |
|
Waltham, Massachusetts |
While this ranking is focused on undergraduate education, colleges with strong business programs are highly represented on the list. Babson College describes itself as an entrepreneurial leadership college, which can explain why it's in the top ten amongst colleges generally considered far more prestigious. The other surprising inclusion, Bentley University, also describes itself as business focused.
Compared to the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Ranking, generally considered the gold standard of college rankings, there are several significant differences in the top 15 besides the inclusion of Babson and Bentley. Three universities in the top ten of U.S. news are not featured in the top fifteen of LinkedIn's list, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago, and Yale University. The top fifteen of U.S. News also includes all 8 Ivy League colleges, whereas LinkedIn excludes Columbia University and Yale University as mentioned prior.
Johns Hopkins University at rank #7 is by far the highest ranked university on U.S. News' list that is not featured at all in LinkedIn's top 50. Following it is University of California, Los Angeles at #17, Washington University in St. Louis at #20, Emory University at #24, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at #26.
Here are following entries from the list:
Ranking |
College |
Logo |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|
16 |
Tufts University |
|
Medford, Massachusetts |
17 |
Lehigh University |
|
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |
18 |
Columbia University |
|
New York, New York |
19 |
Yale University |
|
New Haven, Connecticut |
20 |
Carnegie Mellon University |
|
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
21 |
Bucknell University |
|
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania |
22 |
Boston College |
|
Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia |
23 |
Villanova University |
|
Villanova, Pennsylvania |
24 |
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
|
Champaign, Illinois |
25 |
Wake Forest University |
|
Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
26 |
University of Chicago |
|
Chicago, Illinois |
27 |
University of Southern California |
|
University of Southern California |
28 |
Fairfield University |
|
Fairfield, Connecticut |
29 |
Washington and Lee University |
|
Lexington, Virginia |
30 |
University of California, Berkeley |
|
Berkeley, California |
31 |
Rice University |
|
Houston, Texas |
32 |
Georgetown University |
|
Washington, D.C. |
33 |
Purdue University |
|
West Lafayette, Indiana |
34 |
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
|
Ann Arbor, Michigan |
35 |
Miami University |
|
Oxford, Ohio |
36 |
Colgate University |
|
Hamilton, New York |
37 |
Southern Methodist University |
|
Dallas, Texas |
38 |
Bryant University |
|
Smithfield, Rhode Island |
39 |
Worcester Polytechnic Institute |
|
Worcester, Massachusetts |
40 |
Pennsylvania State University |
|
University Park, Pennsylvania |
41 |
California Institute of Technology |
|
Pasadena, California |
42 |
Trinity College (Connecticut) |
|
Hartford, Connecticut |
43 |
Boston University |
|
Boston, Massachusetts |
44 |
University of Richmond |
|
Richmond, Virginia |
45 |
Stevens Institute of Technology |
|
Hoboken, New Jersey |
46 |
University of Texas at Austin |
|
Austin, Texas |
47 |
Indiana University Bloomington |
|
Bloomington, Indiana |
48 |
Lafayette College |
|
Easton, Pennsylvania |
49 |
Providence College |
|
Providence, Rhode Island |
50 |
University of Wisconsin–Madison |
|
Madison, Wisconsin |
Top MBA Programs
LinkedIn first ranked their favorite MBA programs in 2023 and has updated the list most recently on September 15, 2025. Rather than a top 50, they chose their 100 top picks for programs. They also elected for the expansive scope of the entire world rather than limiting themselves to American institutions.
Following is the top fifteen highest ranked MBA programs by LinkedIn as of 2025:
Ranking |
Business School |
Parent University |
Logo |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Stanford Graduate School of Business |
Stanford University |
|
Stanford, California, U.S.A. |
2 |
Harvard Business School |
Harvard University |
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. |
|
3 |
INSEAD |
INSEAD |
|
Fontainebleau, France, Various |
4 |
Wharton School |
University of Pennsylvania |
|
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. |
5 |
Indian School of Business |
Indian School of Business |
|
Hyderabad, India |
6 |
Kellogg School of Management |
Northwestern University |
|
Evanston, Illinois |
7 |
Sloan School of Management |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
|
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. |
8 |
Tuck School of Business |
Dartmouth College |
Hanover, New Hampshire, U.S.A. |
|
9 |
Columbia Business School |
Columbia University |
New York City, New York, U.S.A. |
|
10 |
London Business School |
University of London |
|
London, United Kingdom |
11 |
Booth School of Business |
University of Chicago |
|
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. |
12 |
Saïd Business School |
University of Oxford |
|
Oxford, United Kingdom |
13 |
Fuqua School of Business |
Duke University |
|
Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A. |
14 |
Yale School of Management |
Yale University |
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A. |
|
15 |
Haas School of Business |
University of California, Berkeley |
|
Berkeley, California, U.S.A. |
Of the recognized set of M7 business schools in the United States of America, all but one are featured in the top ten of this list, with Booth School of Business coming in at #11.
Here is an expanded set of some of the business schools LinkedIn considers as some of the greatest:
Ranking |
Business School |
Parent University |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|
16 |
Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta |
Indian Institutes of Management |
Kolkata, India |
17 |
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad |
Indian Institutes of Management |
Ahmedabad, India |
18 |
Darden School of Business |
University of Virginia |
Charlottesville, Virginia |
19 |
Johnson Graduate School of Management |
Cornell University |
Ithaca, New York |
20 |
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore |
Indian Institutes of Management |
Bangalore, India |
21 |
Stern School of Business |
New York University |
New York City, New York, U.S.A. |
22 |
IESE Business School |
University of Navarra |
Barcelona, Spain |
23 |
IMD Business School |
IMD Business School |
Lausanne, Switzerland |
24 |
HEC Paris |
HEC Paris |
Jouy-en-Josas, France |
25 |
Goizueta Business School |
Emory University |
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. |
26 |
Indian Institute of Management Lucknow |
Indian Institutes of Management |
Lucknow, India |
27 |
Anderson School of Management |
University of California, Los Angeles |
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. |
28 |
Marshall School of Business |
University of Southern California |
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. |
29 |
ESSEC Business School |
ESSEC Business School |
Cergy, France, Various |
30 |
Judge Business School |
University of Cambridge |
Cambridge, United Kingdom |
31 |
Hult International Business School |
Hult International Business School |
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A., Various |
32 |
Ross School of Business |
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A. |
33 |
Rotterdam School of Management |
Erasmus University Rotterdam |
Rotterdam, Netherlands |
34 |
F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business |
Babson College |
Babson Park, Massachusetts, U.S.A. |
35 |
IE Business School |
IE University |
Madrid, Spain |
36 |
Indian Institute of Management Indore |
Indian Institutes of Management |
Indore, India |
37 |
Imperial Business School |
Imperial College London |
London, United Kingdom |
38 |
Owen Graduate School of Management |
Vanderbilt University |
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A. |
39 |
ESCP Business School |
ESCP Business School |
Berlin, Germany, Various |
40 |
Simon Business School |
University of Rochester |
Rochester, New York, U.S.A. |