Top Colleges for Business Majors

Which colleges are graduating the most students with majors in business excluding specialty schools?  I looked at schools with at least a 49% or better four-year graduation rate because “graduating” is an important part of this question. In terms of absolute numbers, the top 15 are pretty much large universities, almost all public universities with two exceptions, Indiana Wesleyan University and Bentley University.

Not surprisingly, these two universities are on the list of the top 15 institutions with the highest percentage of graduates with business majors.  These 15 colleges were all private and tended to be on the small size with Indiana Wesleyan University being the largest at just under 10,000 full-time undergraduates. The percentage of business majors ranged from 41% to 95% at Bentley University.


With daily news reports of college graduates having to move back in with their parents and doing free part-time internships in hopes of getting a job, a lot of people think that majoring in business is a pretty good idea. It is by far the most popular undergraduate degree and the third highest paying according to the “What’s It Worth” study of college majors by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.

Of course, some business majors pay better than others, with Hospitality Management being at the low-end and Business Economics at the high-end. You can find out more about the Occupation Outlook for specific majors at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And it’s also important to remember just because you didn’t major in business doesn’t mean you can’t work in business. According to the Wall Street Journal, there is also an increasing emphasis of liberal arts skills such as critical thinking in business programs to meet the changing demands of business. The key is to demonstrate practical skills whether learned through a business major or internship opportunities.

The following tables list the top 15 colleges for undergraduate business majors with a 49 percent or better four-year graduate rate excluding specialty schools.

Top 15 Colleges/Universities by Percentage of Undergraduate Degrees Awarded in Business

Top 15 Colleges/Universities by Number of Undergraduate Degrees Awarded in Business