Babson Climbs to No. 2 in Wall Street Journal’s Rankings of the Best Colleges in the U.S.
Babson College is on the rise once again, climbing The Wall Street Journal rankings to become the second best college in America, according to the WSJ/College Pulse 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. report.
“This remarkable milestone holds great significance for Babson,” Babson President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD said. “More so, it holds great significance for entrepreneurship—a discipline once thought to be too niche to dedicate significant academic focus or resources.”
The No. 2 ranking increase comes a year after the WSJ named Babson the 10th best college in the country, a stunning and historic achievement now cemented by this year’s outcome.
“Our status as the second best college in the country is a signal to the world that the study of entrepreneurship has transcended business education,” Spinelli said. “To be an entrepreneur is to be an innovative changemaker in any field or industry. It’s to be a champion for progress where our world needs it most.”
“Our status as the second best college in the country is a signal to the world that the study of entrepreneurship has transcended business education.”
Babson President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD
The ranking boost comes after the WSJ made critical improvements to its annual college ranking’s methodology last year. The publication expanded the importance of student outcomes, with a focus on graduation rates and graduation salaries. These new measures vaulted Babson’s placement, putting it among the country’s upper echelon universities. Princeton topped the rankings for the second year in a row, and Stanford, Yale, and Claremont McKenna College came after Babson to round out the top five.
“These rankings place Babson College in exceptional company,” Spinelli said. “Whereas Princeton, Stanford, and Yale have long been symbols of excellence in higher education, Babson now joins this prestigious cohort. This recognition is an important signal that entrepreneurship has grown to be recognized as a core competency across academia and beyond—something we have known all along. Babson’s status as the second best college signals the world needs entrepreneurial leaders now more than ever.”
Preparing Entrepreneurial Leaders
In its story, The Wall Street Journal emphasized Babson’s experiential learning and excellence at preparing entrepreneurial leaders for successful careers, writing:
“At second-ranked Babson, the emphasis on hands-on experiences begins the moment students step on campus as freshmen. Built into the Babson curriculum are opportunities for experiential learning, like the mandatory Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship class, where students launch startups in groups during their first two semesters of college using a loan of up to $3,000 provided by the school. …
“Babson has long been associated with entrepreneurship, but in recent years, the college’s president, Stephen Spinelli, has pushed to ensure that it is graduating not just entrepreneurs, but also what he calls ‘entrepreneurial leaders’—people entering the workforce who are more likely to pioneer new initiatives within broader organizations.
“ ‘In the context of your education, you’ll have the tools and understanding that you can use to identify problems, look at business models, see how to create value,’ Spinelli says of the Babson curriculum.”
The WSJ also ranked Babson No. 2 for Career Preparation, No. 8 for Best Salaries, and No. 11 for Student Experience, validating again the College’s impressive student outcomes in the highly competitive higher education landscape.
For the second year in a row, the College reported the highest starting salary ever for Babson Undergraduates. Babson’s Class of 2023 undergraduates earned an average of $75,579 a year, a starting salary that’s over 20 percent greater than the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Class of 2023 projected average for business majors. Additionally, 98.6 percent of the undergraduate Class of 2023 was employed, continuing their education, or involved in volunteer, military, or service programs only six months after graduation.
On the graduate side, 77% of full-time MBA Babson graduates in the Class of 2023 received job offers within three months of graduation, and U.S.-based graduates earned an average salary of $117,627, plus an average $35,108 signing bonus.
The WSJ ranking comes amid several ranking accolades for Babson in the past year. The U.S. News & World Report named Babson the No. 1 undergraduate school for entrepreneurship for the 27th time in a row and the No. 1 MBA in Entrepreneurship for the 31st consecutive year.
Babson also was ranked No. 1 among business schools for return on investment, according to Payscale’s College ROI Report, which lists the best-value colleges based on median salary over 20 years minus the cost of investment compared to a high school diploma. It reports Babson’s 20-year net ROI at $964,000—dramatically greater than any other business school. Babson also ranks No. 5 overall for mid-career salary potential, according to Payscale’s 2024 College Salary Report.
Spinelli thanked students, faculty, and staff for all their hard work, adding that the community helped to secure Babson’s ranking route.
“Babson reaches this historic moment on your shoulders,” Spinelli said. “We are here because of you.”
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