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It’s no secret people who invest in an MBA are looking to secure high-level positions. But having alumni who actually land those executive-level jobs isn’t always the determining factor in where business schools show up in rankings. For example, “the best business schools.”
Let’s take the latest (and highly respected) US News rankings of the top business schools, for example. It may come as no surprise to see the likes of University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton school, Stanford, Harvard and MIT atop that list. But when we cross-referenced that list with LiveAlumni data that ranks the top 10 business schools by the percentage of C-Suite titles in those school’s alumni bases, the overlap — and the top of the list — shifts.
US News Top Business Schools vs. LiveAlumni Top 10 Business Schools
Northwestern has the largest percentage of C-Suite alumni based on our data. This is interesting since Northwestern is actually ranked No. 6 by US News, even though its graduates statistically have a better chance of securing a senior executive level position than those from, say, Penn or Harvard.
What Makes a Successful Graduate?
Graduate programs at top institutes come at a hefty price. All students considering attending grad school want to feel confident that they will maximize their return on that investment. One question prospective grad students should ask themselves is: what makes a successful graduate?
One way to calculate how successful a school is at creating employable graduates is simply by looking at the rates of employment post-graduation. However, just being employed doesn’t necessarily equate to being “successful.” If a student has invested $70,000 a year to study an MBA, only to be employed in a role unrelated to their degree where they do not earn enough to repay their significant student debt, would this be considered “successful”?
Probably not.
Capturing Alumni Employment Data
This is where having access to accurate employment and alumni data becomes really valuable.
We were able to generate these reports in just a few minutes using LiveAlumni. Being able to access accurate employment data, can help universities provide important information to potential students considering applying to their school. If nearly 5% of your MBA graduates go on to become senior executives, that’s information you want prospective students to know.
At LiveAlumni, we capture real-time employment data from professional public social media profiles. For instance, segmenting the data you can compare how many of your alumni hold specific positions, have continued their education, or what industry.
These are just a few quick examples of the ways in which you could use statistical data to inform institutional publicity. For example, if you are trying to attract more diversity in your students, you could identify what proportion of international CEOs have graduated from your school in comparison with others.
Not only will this data help you to complete your database and compile graduate outcome reports, employment data can also be used in departments across the whole institution. This data can be used to effectively target potential donors and improve annual giving, as well as to create accurate, up-to-date marketing campaigns to highlight your school’s strengths.
To find out more about how LiveAlumni has access to such large amounts of accurate, detailed data on your alumni, contact us today.