School of Business Rankings & Distinctions

Coles College is among the top 2 percent of business schools worldwide that maintain accreditation in both business and accounting by AACSB International, the world's largest accreditation association for business schools.

Our Rankings

  • Coles College is the second-largest business school in the state of Georgia, admitting only juniors, seniors, and graduate students.

  • Kennesaw State University was ranked 6th in TechGuide's ranking of Fintech MBA degrees. Fintech is one of four (soon to be seven) disciplines MBA students can concentrate on. 

  • The Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity program was ranked No. 17 in Cybersecurity Guide's 2024 Affordability Rankings. More than 100 schools were examined based on academic rigor, Centers for Academic Excellence, and overall program cost.

  • fintechdegrees.org badge
    FintechDegrees.org named the Coles College's certificate in digital financial technologies #10 in its Guide to the Nation's Best Online Fintech Graduate Certificate Programs for 2024.

  • For the fifth time in a row, Billboard Magazine ranked the Joel A. Katz Music and Entertainment Business Program among the top music business programs in the world.

  • The Princeton Review ranked the Coles College MBA program No. 36 in its 2023 list of the Top 50 Online MBA Programs.

  • Fortune ranked the Coles College Online MBA No. 19 in its listing of the Best Online MBA Programs of 2023.

  • CEO Magazine Global EMBA Ranking Kennesaw State
    CEO Magazine Global EMBA Ranking Kennesaw State
    The Coles College of Business EMBA program was ranked 1st in Georgia and 3rd in North America in CEO Magazine's 2023 Global Executive MBA Rankings. For the tenth year in a row, the EMBA was recognized as a Global Tier One program.

  • The Institute of Internal Auditors has once again certified Kennesaw State's Internal Audit Center as a Center for Internal Audit Excellence for the period of 2023-2028, making it one of only 12 centers to achieve this goal.

  • The part-time MBA program was ranked 84th in U.S. News and World Report's 2023 Best Part-Time MBA Rankings.

  • World Scholarship Vault ranked Kennesaw State's MAcc program No. 1 in it's 2023 list of the Best Online Accounting Master's Degrees in the U.S.

  • For the fourth time in a row, Billboard Magazine ranked the Joel A. Katz Music and Entertainment Business Program among the top music business programs in the world.

  • Cybersecurityguide.org has ranked Kennesaw State's Master of Science in Cybersecurity degree program No. 19 in its list of the Top 25 Best Online Cyber Programs.

  • The National Security Agency’s National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity awarded Kennesaw State the 2022 First Place Outstanding Outreach Award, placing it in the top spot among the 347 member institutions.

  • Poets & Quants ranked Kennesaw State University 41st in its listing of the Best Online MBA Programs in 2022.

  • CEO Magazine also named the Coles College a “premier DBA provider” for the Ph.D in Business Administration based on accreditation, quality of faculty, geography and international standing in its 2022 Global DBA Listing.

  • OnlineU ranked Kennesaw State No. 9 in it's 2022 list of the most affordable online business degrees.

  • In early 2022, Research.com ranked Kennesaw State University 100th in the world in faculty research on business and management and 126th in research in economics and finance. Rankings are based on author citations and each university’s h-index, which represents the productivity and impact of a group of researchers.

  • For individual research output, Research.com ranked Dana Hermanson 418th in the U.S. and Lance Brouthers 558th in business and management. Hermanson also ranked 914th for economics and finance.

  • The part-time MBA program was ranked 95th in U.S. News and World Report's 2022 Best Grad School rankings.

  • Fortune ranked the Coles College Online MBA No. 32 in its listing of the Best Online MBA Programs of 2022.

  • The Princeton Review ranked the Coles College MBA program No. 37 in its 2022 list of the Top 50 Online MBA Programs.

  • Coles College's part-time MBA was included in The Princeton Review's unranked listing of the Best On-Campus MBAs.

  • EduMed ranked the Master of Science in Healthcare Management an Informatics as No. 10 in its review of the Best Online Masters Programs in Informatics.

  • QS World University Rankings listed Kennesaw State's WebMBA no. 63 in its 2020 listing of Top Online MBA Programs.

  • The Coles College of Business EMBA program was ranked 1st in Georgia, 2nd in the nation, and 8th in the world in CEO Magazine's 2021 Global Executive MBA Rankings.

  • For the seventh year in a row, the EMBA was recognized as a Global Tier One program.

  • Fortune Magazine ranked the Coles College 23rd in the nation and 8th in the South in its inaugural listing of the Best Online MBA Programs in 2021.

  • U.S. News and World Report ranked Kennesaw State 18th on it's 2021 list of the Best Online Bachelor's of Business.

  • The Princeton Review ranked the Coles College MBA program No. 29 in its list of the Top 50 Online MBA Programs

  • Best Value Schools ranked the Master of Science in Information Systems the #4 in its 15 Best Master's Degrees in Management Information Systems in 2021.

  • Study.com ranked Kennesaw State University #13 on its list of the Best Bachelor's Degrees in Security Management.

  • Study.com Top Ranked School 2021 logo
    Kennesaw State University was ranked the #10 Best Online Business Degree in Sales by Study.com.

  • Best Value Schools ranked the Coles College 5th in its Top 50 Cybersecurity Degree Programs listing.

  • College Consensus ranked Kennesaw State's PhD in Business Administration No. 20 in its Best PhD in Business Administration 2021 listing. The ranking is based on aggregate reviews featured in US News and World Report, Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, and CEO Magazine.

  • Best Value Schools ranked the Coles College 5th in its Top 50 Cybersecurity Degree Programs listing.

  • The Coles College is ranked 7th in Best Value School's feature, Top 40 Online Business Bachelor's Degrees.

  • For the third year in a row, Billboard Magazine named the Joel A. Katz Music and Entertainment Business

  • Master Degree Guide ranked the Coles College Master of Science in Information Systems No. 13 in its Best Online MIS Degrees feature.

  • The BBA in Marketing was ranked no. 6 in OnlineU's 2020 Listing of the Most Affordable Online Marketing Bachelor's Degrees.

  • QS World University Rankings listed Kennesaw State's WebMBA no. 37 in its 2020 listing of Top Online MBA Programs.

  • For the fourth straight year, Kennesaw State University’s Executive MBA program was ranked first in Georgia in CEO Magazine’s 2020 Global Executive MBA Rankings. The program also ranked #3 in the nation. CEO Magazine has also designated the EMBA program as a Global Tier One program for six years in a row.

  • Kennesaw State University is ranked 61st in the world and 2nd in Georgia for producing accounting research published in 12 top accounting journals from 1990-present, according to Brigham Young University’s 2019 Accounting Research Rankings. KSU is ranked 6th in the world for Accounting Education research, 18th in the world for auditing research, and 24th in overall breadth of accounting research. Dana Hermanson is the 18th most-published accounting researcher in the world.

  • The Coles College Executive MBA Program ranked 21st the Southeast in Ivy Exec's 2020 Best Executive MBA Programs.

  • MBA Central ranked the Coles College WebMBA as the third best Online MBA in Georgia based on affordability, support services, and quality of classes.

  • CyberDegrees.org ranked Kennesaw State University #1 in online cybersecurity degrees in 2019. The ranking called out the BBA in Information Security and Assurance, and the eDegree in Cybersecurity, along with programs offered by the College of Computing and Software Engineering.

  • The National Security Agency's National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity program recently designated Kennesaw State as a Center of Excellence through 2027.

  • National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Community recently presented Kennesaw State with the 2022 First Place Outreach Award, naming the University the top institution in the country for cybersecurity outreach efforts.

  • Kennesaw State University was ranked 14th in the U.S. in Intelligent.com's 2020 Best Online Cybersecurity Degrees.

  • The Coles College WebMBA is ranked 23rd in the world by QS World University Rankings in its 2019 Online MBA Rankings.

  • Kennesaw State was recognized as a Top University Sales Program by the Sales Education Foundation for the 13th year in a row in 2019.

  • Kennesaw State was recognized as a Top University Sales Program by the Sales Education Foundation for the 15th year in a row in 2022.The part-time MBA program was ranked 81st in U.S. News and World Report's 2020 Best Grad School rankings.

  • Kennesaw State ranked 36th in Best College's list of 2019's Best Accredited Online College & Universities. The report cited Coles College's online BBA programs and the online cybersecurity degree.

  • U.S. News and World Report ranked Coles College's WebMBA program 21st in its 2019 listing of the Best Online MBA Programs.

  • Poets&Quants Top Business School logo
    Poets&Quants ranked Kennesaw State University's WebMBA program 26th in its 2019 list of Top Online MBA Programs,  based on admissions standards, student experiences, and career outcomes.
  • The Coles College Executive MBA Program ranked 17th the Southeast in Ivy Exec's 2019 Best Executive MBA Programs.

  • Online MBA Report ranked the Georgia WebMBA program 1st in Georgia its 2019 Online MBA rankings. The organization also ranked the program 9th in the South, 22nd among public colleges, and 27th in the country.

  • OnlineU ranked Kennesaw State #7 in its 2019 Most Affordable Online Colleges for Marketing Degrees listing.

  • Coles is home to four of the top five most in-demand undergraduate majors (Finance, Accounting, Management, and Marketing), according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

  • Billboard Magazine ranked the Joel A. Katz Music and Entertainment Business program as one of the Top 15 Music Business Education Programs in 2018.

  • U.S. News and World Report ranked Coles College's WebMBA program 19th in its 2018 listing of the Best Online MBA Programs.

  • The Executive MBA Program is ranked 1st in Georgia and 7th in the World by CEO Magazine in its 2019 Global Executive MBA rankings. The EMBA program was recognized as a Global Tier One EMBA program for the fifth year in a row.

  • CyberDegrees.org ranked Kennesaw State University #1 in online cybersecurity degrees in 2018. The ranking called out the BBA in Information Security and Assurance, and the eDegree in Cybersecurity.

  • Coles College's WebMBA Program is ranked #4 in Georgia by Online MBA Today, based on tuition cost, accreditation, student base salaries, and prestige.

  • CollegeChoice.net ranked Coles College's online BBA program 20th in its listing of the country's most affordable online marketing programs.

  • Military Times Magazine ranked Kennesaw State 6th in its feature 2018 Best for Vets: 10 Best Cybersecurity Programs.

  • Poets & Quants ranked the Coles College of Business's Online MBA Program 6th on its 2018 list of the most affordable, highly-ranked programs in the country.

  • Kennesaw State University is ranked 63rd in the world and third in Georgia for producing accounting research published in 12 top accounting journals from 1990-present, according to Brigham Young University’s 2017 Accounting Research Rankings. KSU is ranked19th in Accounting Information Systems research, 17th in Auditing, and 11th in Accounting Education research. KSU is ranked #1 in Georgia for research into Accounting Information Systems, Auditing, and Accounting Education Research.

  • Three KSU School of Accountancy faculty are in the top 1,000 accounting researchers overall, according to Brigham Young University's 2017 Accounting Research Rankings. Dr. Dana Hermanson is ranked 22nd worldwide in publishing in 12 top accounting journals from 1990-present. For research published during the last six years, Dr. Divesh Sharma is 130th and Dr. Vineeta Sharma is 351st.

  • Kennesaw State University is ranked 37th in the world for impact of entrepreneurship research, according to a study published in the Journal of Small Business Management, with former faculty member Dr. Joseph Astrachan ranked as the 25th top contributor to entrepreneurial research in the world.

  • Coles College is consistently recognized as a top business school by The Princeton Review.

  • Chief Executive Magazine recognized Coles College as a “Go-To Business School.”

  • Coles College Doctor of Business Administration program is one of the few such doctoral programs of its kind in the world and is one of 20 named a “premier DBA provider” in CEO Magazine’s global listings – ratings based on accreditation, quality of faculty, geography, and international standing.

  • Part-time MBA ranked 28th nationally in the U.S. News & World Report 2018 Best Graduate Schools edition.

  • Coles College MBA ranked as a Top 50 Program in the Nation by Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

  • Several Coles business programs are highly ranked in CEO Magazine’s 2018 Global MBA Rankings.

  • Executive MBA ranked #3 for teaming by BusinessWeek.

  • Coles College of Business's Economics, Finance & Quantitative Analysis has renowned faculty & experiential options like a Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), which recently placed 1st in the 2017 Southern Classic at the Atlanta Society of Finance and Investment Professionals, (ASFIP).

  • Ranked #5 best Undergraduate Sales Program across the nation, with a 98% placement rate.

  • Ranked #2 out of 30 Best Online Bachelor’s in Cyber Security 2017 for Online Bachelor of Business Administration in Information Security and Assurance.

  • Ranked #3 best Online Bachelor in Information Assurance & Security Degree Programs by TheBestSchools.com.

  • One of only four business schools in the South to win the USASBE’s National Model Entrepreneurship Program Award at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

  • Home of the School of Accountancy, boasting one of the largest accounting programs in Georgia, and KSU is the only college and university in Georgia that is recognized at the institute of Internal Auditor’s Comprehensive Level.

  • The Coles College Online MBA tied for 25th place nationally in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2015 “Best Online MBA Programs for Veterans” rankings. Coles College online MBA is self-paced, competitively priced, carries AACSB accreditation, and is certified for the GI Bill® and the Yellow Ribbon Program.

  • GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.