Charlotte’s Belk College Among Nation’s Best Business Schools
UNC Charlotte’s Belk College of Business again is recognized as among the best in the Carolinas and in the top 25% business schools in the nation for undergraduate business programs, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best College rankings.
The Belk College tied for the 114 spot nationwide among public and private institutions. Five of the universities that were equally ranked for their undergraduate business programs — University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Central Florida, Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge and Temple University — are classified as Carnegie R1. UNC Charlotte is projected to move to R1 – the nation’s highest research classification – in early 2025.
“Driven by our student and research successes, this latest ranking is further evidence that we are fulfilling our vision to be a world-class business school serving the world-class city of Charlotte and the surrounding region,” said Belk College Dean Richard Buttimer. “We are creating talent and innovative research to fuel economic prosperity in the region and also to solve business challenges locally and beyond.”
With the rankings, the college achieved:
- A top three public business school spot in North Carolina
- A top five public business school spot in both Carolinas
- A top four public and private business school spot in North Carolina
Also this year, the college’s economics program moved up in the national ranking. This is the second year that economics programs have been included in the rankings.
In its 40th year, the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings are among the most recognized in higher education and are intended to provide prospective students and their parents with the merits of undergraduate programs across the country.
In the overall U.S. News rankings, which were also released Tuesday, Charlotte is one of the fastest rising universities in the nation, rising 15 spots to No. 81 among public universities. In addition, UNC Charlotte is recognized as one of the nation’s “Most Innovative Schools,” at No. 45.
The college is one of the largest and most diverse undergraduate business programs in the Carolinas, and in fall 2024, marked record undergraduate enrollment of just under 4,700 students.
The yearly national rankings are based on a survey of deans and senior faculty at AACSB-accredited peer institutions. UNC Charlotte was the first university in the Charlotte region to earn accreditation by AACSB International, and has now held that distinction for more than 30 years. The Belk College is one of fewer than 2% of the world’s business schools to achieve and maintain AACSB International accreditation for both business and accounting programs.
This is one of several national rankings for the Belk College. Earlier this year, U.S. News ranked the part-time MBA program No. 1 among public universities in North Carolina.