To get a good job in business, a degree from a good business school is a big advantage. This year, Bloomberg Businessweek ranks the country's best B-schools from a field of 84, based on feedback from those best qualified to know their strengths and weaknesses—students, recent graduates and employers who recruit MBAs.

Two decades ago, Michael Loo was one of those recent MBA graduates. Today, he is an independent financial advisor in Irvine, Calif., affiliated with the LPL Financial platforms through Trilogy Financial and its affiliate, Trilogy Capital.

Loo has worked with Trilogy since 2002, the same year he graduated with an MBA from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, ranked No. 22 in this year’s "Bloomberg Businessweek’s Best B-Schools of 2019-20."

In a July 20, 2018, post on Loo’s blog, entitled “How an MBA Prepared Me for My Career as a Financial Advisor,” he discussed the value of a graduate business degree to his career as a financial advisor.

“Over the course of hundreds of conversations with clients, I’ve found that quite a few of them have wrestled with the idea of whether they should go back to school for an advanced degree,” Loo wrote. “The risk/return analysis is not always cut-and-dried in this situation. Investing X amount of dollars in a degree program does not always result in an equal or higher return in the future.” 

According to Loo, enrolling at the Marshall school and earning an MBA there was the best decision he ever made.

“USC is known for networking,” he wrote. “This skill alone has helped me immensely in my career when it comes to collaborating with a client’s other professionals.”

Loo also found during his time at USC that multitasking, as well as networking, was an invaluable skill that followed him into his post-graduate career as a financial advisor.

“My job today is multifaceted and includes many tasks,” he wrote. “Knowing that I was able to handle my heavy load in the past gives me confidence that I can prioritize my work today.”

While Loo praised his education at USC, prospective MBA students seeking the same educational value may have different criteria in mind when selecting a graduate business school.

Each school in the Bloomberg Businessweek list is ranked on compensation, learning, networking, entrepreneurship, total graduates and median base salary. School profiles include overall ranking, change from last year’s ranking, the average Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) score, and tuition during the 2019-20 school year. Upon calculation of the result, each school receives an overall rank and overall score.

Below, in ascending order, are Bloomberg Businessweek’s top 10 best B-schools of 2019-20.

10. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

More than 40 years ago, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business first pioneered the practice of teamwork in management education and corporate leadership. Applicants that want an MBA from this prestigious school will need an average GMAT of 730 and deep pockets to afford the $75,134 tuition. Overall rank: 88.7.