In the academic sector, we hear a lot about phrases such as – “highest-rankings,” “Top so-and-so schools,” “top so-and-so programs,” etc. People seem to have this obsession with where a particular school lies on the ranking list. This has contributed to an air of elitism that surrounds “top” schools. For example, take any IVY school in the U.S. Chances are that these schools will score at the top end of any ranking list you throw at them.

I will not go into detail about why certain schools dominate the very top. That topic requires an article of its own. However, do know that there are myriad reasons at play, and not all of them have to do with academic excellence.

What happens when all eyes are set on a top few schools? Many other schools deserving appreciation are overshadowed and don’t receive the recognition they deserve. Financial Times recently released business school rankings for the current year, bringing forth some significant insights.

If we take a closer look at the rankings and compare them to those from five years ago, we can churn out the schools that have made the most progress. The critical metric to consider here is growth-momentum.

Highest Growth-Momentum MBA Program in the Last 5 Years

A year-by-year comparison of business school rankings doesn’t give us much insight into individual business schools’ growth. However, if we consider their progress by a 5-year metric, we can find meaningful information regarding their development.

The one school that sticks out the most in this regard is Washington University’s Olin Business School. In 2016, Olin ranked 72 on the financial times ranking list. However, currently, the same school ranks at 25. This is an enormous jump for an MBA program that is newer than many others on the list yet has managed to make strides.

What is behind Olin’s substantial rise? The Olin MBA program has taken drastic measures to globalize its academic experience. This mid-western business school takes its students on a 39-day international trip covering Washington, DC, Barcelona, Spain, Paris, France, and Lima, Peru.

Moreover, Olin’s global immersion program doesn’t come at an added cost. It surprised me to find out that Olin absorbed the extra cost of flying students out on this international escapade and did not increase the tuition fee.

This is no easy feat by any means. The school has to house many students in hotels across three continents, feed them, arrange meaningful coursework and projects in each location and fly them from country to country.

It is no wonder then that the school scored an “over-all satisfaction” score of 8.76 on a 10-point scale. Moreover, Olin’s efforts to distinguish its business program have also paid dividends on the “salary” front. Five years ago, students could expect a salary increase of 87% upon graduation compared to before. Now, this number stands at 117%.

Moreover, “weighted salary” denoting a student’s salary three years from graduation has also gone up to $142,340 from $114,130.

Other Notable MBA Programs besides Olin

Moving on to the other schools on the list, Penn State Smeal College of Business, Owen School of Management, McDonough School of Business, and University of Connecticut School of Business are some of the business schools that have made impressive progress the last five years.

Babson College was ranked 90 on F.T.’s 2016 ranking, whereas, currently, it has risen to 46. This is the second most impressive 5-year jump after Olin. Moreover, Babson has managed to jump ahead of Olin when it comes to overall-satisfaction by achieving a 9.25 score.

Penn State has done equally well by climbing from 89 to 47 on the ranking has achieved a significant salary increase of 134% from 105% five years ago.

Below is a list of 13 schools from the Financial Times ranking that have made significant strides over the past five years.

The bottom line is that there is no need for you to bang your head against the wall if you don’t get into Harvard, Stanford, or MIT. While those schools are undeniably the top-crop of business schools, they are not the only ones providing quality business education.

The problem with school rankings is that people get fixated on the schools at the very top, and year-after-year the same school’s trade blows with each other while other more deserving schools miss out on the limelight. The important thing is to consider the growth rate of a school’s ranking over an extended period.

This allows us to gauge what schools are actively making their MBA programs better and gives aspiring business students a greater variety to make their decisions.