American University’s Kogod School of Business rose 70 spots in Corporate Knights’ 2024 sustainability MBA ranking.
A day after Americans voted to send Donald Trump back to the White House, American University’s Kogod School of Business Dean David Marchick wrote an email to his colleagues.
“I am struck that our work in academia is more important today than it was yesterday,” he wrote.
“If you believe we need to address the climate crisis, we should work to create a more sustainable world through business, as progress in the next few years will come through business, not government. If you believe that better business practices can help people of color and those who are impoverished participate more fully in the economy, our scholarship and teaching in that area has never been more critical.”
In other words, it will be up to business, and thus business schools, to make meaningful progress in any of these areas — meaning sustainability in education is more important than ever.
A business school in Australia is leading the way: Griffith Business School topped the Corporate Knights’ 2024 Better World MBA Top 40 for the fifth straight year.
For its ranking, Corporate Knights assessed 174 B-schools across the world on how much their core curriculum is dedicated to sustainable development concepts. This year’s ranking focuses on what is being taught in MBA classrooms in relation to environmental, social, and governance performance. It also considers the percentage of recent graduates who have landed in impact organizations (non-profits) for a bonus of up to 10% of the overall score.
Griffith Business School, located in Queensland, Australia, offers just one MBA program, its MBA in Sustainability. The program earned a 94% sustainability curriculum score, the highest on the ranking, as well as a 24% alumni impact bonus.
It was one of four schools to earn final weighted scores of 100%.
1
1
Griffith Business School
Australia
94%
24%
100%*
2
5
University of Vermont – Grossman School of Business
U.S.
73%
60%
100%
3
4
Bard College
U.S.
71%
60%
100%
4
7
Colorado State University College of Business
U.S.
73%
22%
100%
5
1
Duquesne University – Palumbo-Donahue School of Business
U.S.
69%
20%
96%
Corporate Knights has been ranking MBA programs on sustainability since 2010, though it historically considered the diversity of faculty and the proportion of its research devoted to sustainability issues. Last year, it changed its methodology to focus on what is being taught. All core content relating to environmental, social and governance performance is evaluated with topics ranging from biodiversity to carbon pricing, Indigenous consultation, child labour, corruption reduction and employment equity, according to the publication.
The percentage of recent graduates who have landed in impact organizations is considered as well, eligible for a bonus of up to 10%.
Overall, the United Kingdom had the most schools break the top 40 at 12, while the United States and Canada had six apiece. Germany and the Netherlands each had 3 schools and Australia had 2.
However, the U.S. claims four of the top five business schools for MBA sustainability in the 2024 ranking.
American Kogod, meanwhile, has doubled down on sustainability across all its programs under Marchick’s leadership. Kogod offers both an undergraduate sustainability major and minor, and it’s one of the few schools that requires sustainability courses as part of its MBA core.
Students can also add a sustainability focus to any Kogod Master’s degree. It launched its flagship MS in Sustainability Management (MSSM) more than 10 years ago, becoming one of the first to launch such a sustainability master’s inside a business school.
This commitment helped Washington, D.C., based business school rise an incredible 70 spots in the Corporate Knights sustainability ranking – from 82 in 2023 to 12 in 2024. It scored 53% for sustainable curriculum and a 12% alumni impact score.
Kogod’s MBA program integrates sustainability across its curriculum. Courses and projects focused on sustainable business practices ensure students understand the importance of balancing profitability with social and environmental responsibility. Kogod also offers a one-of-a-kind speaker series, Gamechangers in Sustainability, in partnership with AU’s Sine Institute of Policy & Politics. Last spring, Anthony Capuano, CEO of Marriott International, came to talk about not only how the largest hospitality company in the world is making itself more environmentally friendly but also how it is combating issues such as human trafficking.
Boiled down, Corporate Knights looks at just two metrics – what is being taught and where graduates end up.
“Courses are the main input for an MBA program, and the impact that graduates have in the world is their main output,” says Corporate Knights CEO Toby Heaps in introducing the 2024 list. “If a business program is excelling on the sustainability dimension of these two measurements, it’s a strong signal they are leading the way fostering holistic business leaders of the future.”
Two schools had alumni impact scores that eclipsed all other schools on the list: University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business (No. 2 overall), and Bard College (No. 3) each had 60% impact score. The next highest in the Top 40 was University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business in South Africa.
Grossman’s MBA has enjoyed a steady rise in the ranking over the last three years, landing at No. 9 in 2022, No. 5 in 2023, and No. 2 in 2024. Bard College, a private liberal arts college in New York City, debuted at No. 4 on the ranking last year with its MBA in Sustainability. It rose on spot to No. 3 for 204.
The 2024 Corporate Knights Better World MBA top-40 ranking considered 174 business schools selected from the latest Financial Times list of the top-100 global MBA programs, the Princeton Review Best Green MBA list, the 2023 Corporate Knights Better World top-40 roster, and those accredited by the Association of MBAs, AACSB, or EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS). It also includes signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education that opt in for evaluation.
Schools are evaluated on the sustainability content of their core courses and can review and request revisions to the analysis. They may also voluntarily give information on the number of recent alumni employed with impact organizations, with the potential for up to a 10% bonus to their overall score.
Core Courses (weight: 100%): proportion of core (mandatory) courses from each MBA program that integrate relevant sustainable development themes. This is determined by looking at the course description available on the program’s website.
Alumni/Graduate Impact (weight: 10%): The percent of recent (2022-2023) MBA alumni working for impact organizations, measured as the ratio of Impact Alumni to Total MBA Alumni for the relevant time period. This is treated as a “bonus indicator.”
The full 2024 Better World MBA Top 40 list is shown below.
1
1
Griffith Business School
Australia
94%
24%
100%*
2
5
University of Vermont – Grossman School of Business
U.S.
73%
60%
100%
3
4
Bard College
U.S.
71%
60%
100%
4
7
Colorado State University College of Business
U.S.
73%
22%
100%
5
1
Duquesne University – Palumbo-Donahue School of Business
U.S.
69%
20%
96%
6
3
Maastricht University – School of Business and Economics
Netherlands
68%
19%
94%
7
27
University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business
South Africa
64%
35%
93%
8
6
Centrum PUCP Business School
Peru
69%
1%
91%
9
15
University of Victoria – Peter B. Gustavson School of Business
Canada
60%
18%
83%
10
9
University of Exeter Business School
U.K.
57%
26%
81%
11
11
Warwick Business School
U.K.
53%
17%
74%
12
82
American University – Kogod School of Business
U.S.
53%
12%
72%
13
16
University of British Columbia – Sauder School of Business
Canada
48%
13%
66%
14
17
La Trobe Business School
Australia
41%
33%
61%
15
13
York University – Schulich School of Business
Canada
44%
7%
60%
16
29
Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow School for Business and Society
U.K.
43%
14%
60%
17
20
Toronto Metropolitan University – Ted Rogers School of Management
Canada
43%
14%
60%
18
33
Nottingham University Business School
U.K.
44%
2%
59%
19
23
University of California at Berkeley – Haas School of Business
U.S.
43%
57%
20
12
University of Winchester Business School
U.K.
41%
53%
21
14
ESMT Berlin
Germany
38%
12%
52%
22
53
International Institute for Management Development (IMD)
Switzerland
36%
16%
51%
23
18
EADA Business School Barcelona
Spain
36%
7%
49%
24
25
INSEAD
France
36%
3%
48%
25
42
Gordon Institute of Business Science
South Africa
36%
1%
47%
26
22
McGill University – Desautels Faculty of Management
Canada
34%
9%
47%
27
10
Durham University Business School
U.K.
33%
12%
46%
28
37
Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management
Belgium
28%
20%
42%
29
31
Erasmus University – Rotterdam School of Management
Netherlands
30%
9%
42%
30
45
University of Strathclyde – Strathclyde Business School
U.K.
30%
7%
41%
31
30
Frankfurt School of Finance and Management
Germany
29%
8%
40%
32
New
Keele University
U.K.
30%
39%
33
21
King’s College London
U.K.
30%
39%
34
50
Mannheim Business School
Germany
28%
9%
38%
35
8
TIAS School for Business and Society
Netherlands
27%
13%
38%
36
44
HEC Montréal
Canada
27%
11%
38%
37
84
Alliance Manchester Business School
U.K.
28%
36%
38
24
Newcastle University Business School
U.K.
25%
10%
35%
39**
38
Iscte Business School
Portugal
25%
33%
39**
120
Nottingham Trent University – Nottingham Business School
