A national business school publication has ranked the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce as the country’s top public undergraduate business school and the No. 2 overall program.
Poets & Quants ranked the Commerce School as offering students the nation’s top academic experience. The rankings also evaluated the school on its admissions standards and career outcomes.
In the overall rankings, the school rose two spots, from a 2025 tie for fourth with Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. For the past four years, the McIntire School has ranked among the nation’s top five undergraduate business programs.
McIntire School of Commerce interim Dean Amanda Cowen says the high rankings “reflect the exceptional students, faculty, staff and alumni who make this community what it is.” (Contributed photo)
“Being ranked No. 2 nationally and recognized as the top U.S. public undergraduate business program is deeply gratifying,” interim Dean Amanda Cowen said. “We are especially proud of our No. 1 ranking in academic experience, a holistic assessment that considers everything from teaching quality and faculty accessibility to experiential learning, mentorship and alumni engagement. These are the hallmarks of a McIntire education, and they reflect the exceptional students, faculty, staff and alumni who make this community what it is. Delivering an outstanding academic experience is what we work every day to achieve.”
Poets & Quants calibrated the academic experience rankings by asking alumni about their time in their schools and how well they were prepared for the real world. The survey went to 2023 graduates because, the publication reasoned, “two years after graduation is an ideal time to ask alumni to evaluate their programs because they’ve had ample time to gauge their degrees’ usefulness, but it’s not so long ago that they’ve forgotten the details of the experience.” The publication sent the survey to more than 53,000 business school alumni.
Across all three categories – academic experience, admissions standards and career outcomes – the Commerce School earned strong scores. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business took the top overall spot. There were no other Virginia schools in the publication’s Top 10.
