LinkedIn Ranks Babson No. 1 for Alumni Network, No. 7 Overall in the United States Amid Bevy of Top Marks

Editor / Writer

Eric Beato

Eric Beato is the Editor of Babson Thought & Action and Babson Magazine. A native of Chicago and a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Eric has worked as an editor and writer at newspapers across the country, including the Chicago Sun-Times and Boston Herald. Eric joined Babson College in 2019 after working as the communications director for a private educational travel company and as the managing editor of six regional sports publications.

August 13, 2025

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In its inaugural rankings of the best 50 colleges in the country, LinkedIn named Babson the No. 1 school for the strongest alumni network and the largest share of alumni founders and entrepreneurs. (Photo: Nic Czarnecki/Babson College)

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Babson College once again has been recognized as one of the very best colleges in the United States with a bevy of impressive rankings, including a quartet of No. 1 marks, by LinkedIn.

Babson was ranked No. 1 for the strongest alumni network in the country, No. 1 for the largest share of alumni who become founders or entrepreneurs, No. 1 for fueling business development careers, No. 1 for alumni working internationally, and No. 7 overall in the United States on the LinkedIn Top Colleges 2025 list, which ranks schools based on the long-term career success of their alumni. Babson also was ranked No. 7 for the most new graduates in sales.

In its inaugural ranking of the best 50 colleges in the country, LinkedIn identified the schools that best prepare graduates for long-term success. The rankings are based on exclusive LinkedIn data analyzing the career outcomes of alumni by a number of factors, including job landing rates and advancement into senior-level positions, as well as alumni who held an internship as students or started their own company following graduation.

The No. 2 College in America: Read more about Babson’s stellar WSJ ranking in Babson Magazine.

The latest milestones also cap a string of high-profile recognitions for Babson over the past 12 months, including being named the No. 2 Best College in the U.S. by The Wall Street Journal, as well as being named the No. 1 undergraduate school for entrepreneurship (for the 28th consecutive time) and No. 1 MBA for entrepreneurship (for the 32nd consecutive year) by U.S. News & World Report.

The LinkedIn rankings continue Babson’s ascendancy to the company of the best colleges in the United States, alongside the best Ivy League and most prestigious schools. In the overall rankings, Babson placed in the top seven with Princeton University, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, and Harvard University.

Strongest Alumni Network

In addition to being ranked the No. 7 best college in the United States, Babson was ranked as the No. 1 strongest alumni network, based on LinkedIn data measuring how connected alumni of the same school are to each other, as well as how connected they are to current students. A post shared by LinkedIn News included: “Take Babson, for example. The college regularly hosts Babson Connect, a series of networking events designed to keep alumni engaged.”

Babson topped the alumni network rankings, with Washington and Lee University, Dartmouth College, Claremont McKenna College, and Davidson College rounding out the top five.

Most Alumni Entrepreneurs

Babson also was ranked the No. 1 college with the largest share of alumni who become founders or entrepreneurs, validating again the school’s longstanding reputation as the top entrepreneurship school.

“Babson places a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship through courses like Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship,” LinkedIn News shared in another post. “The course has first-year students create and pitch a product throughout the year and build an AI bot to act as a team member.”

Babson topped an impressive list of prestigious schools, followed by MIT, Stanford University, Harvard, Princeton, California Institute of Technology, Claremont McKenna, Yale University, Dartmouth, and Penn.

Fueling Business Development Careers

LinkedIn also ranked Babson the No. 1 college with the greatest share of recent alumni working in business development for their first job after graduation.

Finance and business analytics—which, LinkedIn noted in another post, are “applicable fields of study for business development roles”—are the two most popular concentrations at Babson. Finance has been the most popular concentration for at least the past decade, with 23.2% of 2024 graduates in finance. And business analytics, with 12.1% of 2024 graduates, has ranked second for the past four years

Babson was first on the business development list followed by Dartmouth, Harvard, Georgetown University, Princeton, Penn, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Yale, and Southern Methodist University.

Babson also was ranked No. 7 for having the greatest share of recent alumni working in sales for their first post-grad job. Babson—which two years ago launched a sales concentration, led by Professor Vincent “Vini” Onyemah, chair of the Marketing Division—was joined in the top seven by Bryant University, Miami University, Indiana University Bloomington, Providence College, Trinity College, and Fairfield University.

Alumni Working Internationally

Babson also was ranked No. 1 for having the highest percentage of recent alumni working outside the States for their first job after graduation. The top international locations of recent Babson alumni starting their careers are Mumbai, London, and São Paulo, according to LinkedIn’s data.

In recent years, Babson has drawn praise and recognition for its extensive international education programs. The Institute for International Education ranked Babson No. 1 among similar specialty-focused institutions for the number of education abroad students during the 2021–2022 school year. Babson also ranked first for the number of education abroad students on mid-length duration programs in the 2021–2022 school year.

In the LinkedIn rankings, Babson was first on the international list, followed by Harvard, Boston University, Georgetown, Columbia, Yale, Princeton, Bentley University, Chicago, and Brown University.