Executive MBAs in the US are more and more popular ways of getting your MBA degree. You can keep working (and keep earning) while trying out what you learn on the MBA in your job. They can also mean crushing workloads and no social or family life for two years or more.

Full time MBA programs seem to get most of the attention and rankings for US executive MBAs aren't always easy to find or are based on very subjective criteria. We've included rankings from two fairly recent surveys and some comment on our own views.

A recent survey from US News seems to us to be one of the more accurate rankings of US executive MBAs US EXECUTIVE MBA RANKING

Top US executive MBAs - Business Week 1999

1     Case Western
2     Chicago
3     Columbia
4     Duke
5     Emory
6     Georgia State
7     Illinois
8     Minnesota
9     Stern, New York
10   N Carolina
11   Kellogg, Northwestern
12   Wharton
13   Pepperdine
14   Katz, Pittsburg
15   Purdue
16   Marshall, S California
17   Cox, Southern Methodist
18   Texas, Austin
19   Anderson, UCLA
20   Olin, Washington

We're a big fan of the Business Week Surveys but we think this one is a bit skewed. It was carried out in October 1999 mainly among business school deans and we think this may help to explain some of the difference between this an another survey carried out in 2000 which we think is more representative. This was also a survey of US executive MBAs but its repondents were recruiters as well as academics.

Top US executive MBAs - US News & World 2000

1     Stern, New York
2     Chicago
3     Kellogg, Northwestern
4     Anderson, UCLA
5     DePaul U
5     Ann Arbor, Michigan
7     U of Southern California
8     Berkeley
9     Georgia State
10   Babson College
11   U of Minnesota
11   CUNY, Baruch
13   Emory
14   Fordham
14   Pace
14   Case Western
17   Katz, Pittsburgh
17   Loyola
19   Santa Clara
19   Olin, Washington
21   Arizona State
21   Carnegie Mellon
21   Duke
21   Irvine, U of California
21   U of Maryland
26   George Washington U
26   Northeastern

You can compare the rankings for these executive MBA programs with the rankings for the wordwide MBA programs A number of the other schools recommended in the various rankings for US MBA programs also provide executive MBAs - rankings for a number of MBA programs can be found MBA RANKINGS