20 Best Sustainability MBA Programs | Corporate Knights Ranking

There are no M7 business schools listed within the best sustainability MBA programs ranking from Corporate Knights, with a list of schools that looks starkly different to what’s often seen in rankings of the world's best MBA programs. 

The Better World MBA Ranking for 2025 features 12 different countries among the top 40 schools, including strong representation from the UK, Canada, the US, France, and the Netherlands. 

The list is significant because recent research has indicated that students are increasingly applying to business school with the twin goals of learning to maximize profit and purpose. 

There’s a growing understanding that business practices should make a positive impact on the planet, as well as a company’s bottom line. Today, more than half of prospective business school students say they wouldn’t consider a business school if it lacked sustainability, equity, and inclusion efforts. 

So which schools offer the best sustainability MBA programs worldwide? 

20 best sustainability MBA programs

In the 2025  ranking, the top three programs are Australia’s Griffith Business School, US-based University of Vermont Grossman School of Business, and Maastricht University: School of Business & Economics in the Netherlands.

 Though the top two remains unchanged from last year, Maastricht University has risen from sixth to third in this year’s ranking.

Elsewhere, American University’s Kogod School of Business has climbed seven places, going from 12th to fifth. It represents a meteoric few years for the DC-based school, which finished in 82nd just two years ago. The biggest climber in the top 20 is the UK’s Henley Business School, which placed 44th last year but has skyrocketed to 17th in 2025. And the biggest climber overall is the Universidad Externado de Colombia, rising from 112th in 2024 to 40th in 2025.

The highest new entrant in the ranking is Lancaster University Management School, which places 35th. The school adds to an impressive showing from the UK, which was already the best-represented country in the ranking and now has 13 schools within the top 40. The top-ranked UK schools are the University of Exeter Business School (10th), Warwick Business School (11th), Nottingham University Business School (16th), Henley Business School (17th), Glasgow Caledonian University: Glasgow School for Business & Society (19th), and the University of Winchester Business School (20th).

With a total of six schools, the second-most represented country in the ranking is the US. Those six schools are unchanged from last year, though University of California at Berkeley: Haas has risen from 19th to 13th and Colorado State University: College of Business has dropped from 4th to 24th. 

With 12 different nations across five different continents represented within the top 40—including schools from South Africa, Peru, and Colombia—the Better World MBA Ranking reaffirms that sustainable change is happening at a global level among the world’s business schools.

Best sustainability MBA programs by country

The Better World MBA ranking produced by Corporate Knights is a global affair.

Among the 20 best business schools for sustainability there are two schools from Australia, the UK has six, while the US has five. Canada has four schools listed as having the best sustainability MBA programs, while there are also representatives from the Netherlands, South Africa, and Peru.  

Spotlight: The 3 best business schools for sustainability

3. Maastricht University: School of Business & Economics (Netherlands)

The highest-ranked European school in the list, the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics has reclaimed the third-place spot that it lost in 2024. The particular program featured by Corporate Knights is its part-time executive MBA, which can be studied in-person or online.

Sustainability topics are integrated within 75% of the curriculum, which includes five obligatory core modules and three elective weeks that allow participants to specialize in a subject of their choice: Digital Business, Responsible Leadership, or Sustainable Innovation.

2. University of Vermont Grossman School of Business (US) 

In 2024, the Grossman School of Business at the University of Vermont has leapfrogged a number of business schools to move from fifth to second place in the ranking. This year the school earns the title of the second best sustainability MBA according to Corporate Knights..

A US-based business school, Grossman offers students a specialist Sustainable Innovation MBA that's delivered via an accelerated, full-time, on-campus approach. The curriculum incorporates sustainability across 75% of the learning experience, according to Corporate Knights. 

Students begin their studies with an Introduction to Sustainable Business module, which is then followed by modules spanning management foundations, building and growing sustainable enterprises, and sustainable innovation. 

1. Griffith Business School (Australia)

Located in Australia, Griffith University's full-time MBA program tops the list of best business schools for sustainability once again, repeating the feat it achieved in 2023 and 2024. 

The program is renowned for its dedication to three core values: responsible leadership, sustainable business practices, and an Asia-Pacific focus. 

Griffith’s faculty believe that business success in the 21st century relies on creating sustainable leaders who can take advantage of opportunities created by sustainable business practices.

Better World MBA Ranking: methodology

According to the report’s methodology, the 179 universities chosen for evaluation included programs from the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking, the Princeton Review Best Green MBA list, the top 40 from the 2024 Better World MBA Ranking, and business schools accredited by the major accreditation bodies. Signatories to United Nations PRME that opted to be evaluated were also included. 

The team at Corporate Knights based their evaluation of each school primarily upon the proportion of its core curriculum that addresses concepts of sustainable development. 

All course content covering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors therefore impacted a school's performance. 

A much smaller proportion of a school's weighting—up to 10%—was also based on the percentage of recent graduates who landed roles in impact organizations. Corporate Knights defines these organizations as either nonprofits or those that appear within its Corporate Knights Global 100 or Clean 200 company rankings. 

The 20 best sustainability MBA programs

This article was originally written by in November 2021, by Rita Krieg Nuemann, and updated in November 2025