Once you are at the top, there is only one thing left to do. Stay there.
That’s exactly what Howard’s School of Business has been doing. The school is aggressively engaged in developing cutting edge programs that are attracting the best students — both those straight out of high school and students who are established business professionals. It’s laser focus on preparing leaders to navigate the second-by-second changes in the dynamic techno-global commercial landscape led Fortune to name Howard’s traditional MBA program No. 44 on its 2025 Best M.B.A. Programs list, the only HBCU program included. U.S. News and World Report followed suit, recognizing Howard’s undergraduate business program No. 1 among HBCUs and No. 77 overall in its 2025 Best Colleges rankings.
The Howard School of Business focuses on developing not just business acumen but also leadership skills,” said Anthony D. Wilbon, Ph.D., (M.B.A. ’90) dean of Howard University School of Business.
“Programs emphasize critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and social responsibility within a business education framework that addresses complex challenges in corporate, non-profit, and government arenas.”
Perhaps most unique about Howard’s Business School is its approach to business education through the prism of “truth and service.” The school promotes the development of cutting-edge research that tackles business problems from diverse perspectives. Discussions on business innovation and entrepreneurship routinely intersect those concerning social equity. Additional curricular offerings interweave global perspectives and trends and direct international engagement through study abroad programs and partnerships with international business institutions to help students understand borderless commercial interconnectedness.
“Howard is competitive among leading business schools like Wharton and Kellogg due to its strong academic programs and unique emphasis on global leadership that provides experiential opportunities for students to apply theory to practice,” said Wilbon. “It offers rigorous undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs known for fostering diversity in business and providing a platform for underrepresented groups to excel in corporate settings.”
The school has numerous specialized centers which work to expand the school’s positioning, network, instruction and residential expertise in areas representing the future of business, including the HPS Center for Finance Excellence, Warner/Blavatnick Center for Music Business, the Center for Excellence in Supply Chain Management, and the Center for Digital Business. Among the school’s most important core elements is its commitment to entrepreneurship, as reflected in entities like the Howard University/PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship, which provides capacity-building resources and support for faculty and students interested in launching startups across the HBCU ecosystem.
Each center’s programs test leadership skills through experiential learning opportunities such as internships and consulting projects and through co-curricular partnerships with leading global corporations. Across the curriculum, students are taught how to decipher complex information to make informed decisions.
“Literally, every single recruiter that comes is asking about students’ ability to think analytically and strategically,” said Karthik Balasubramanian, D.B.A., who teaches operations management classes for both undergraduates and M.B.A. candidates. “There is so much data, so we teach students how to distill it down to what actually matters.”
Balasubramanian, who earned a doctorate in business administration from Harvard Business School, works to help students connect the dots between their math skills and decision making. He wants them to learn to focus on the areas where the greatest impact is possible, both within a company, and in their own lives. This, he said, is important to students, both personally and professionally. He wants them to work smarter if not harder, including having a robust understanding of how to use emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
“The students that can come out and go into the workforce independently, function creatively and strategically, and adapt quickly are the ones that are going to succeed,” he said.
The School of Business routinely attracts standout students, so it follows that its graduates stand out as well. Notable School of Business alumni include Mark Mason (B.B.A. ’91), Citi chief financial officer, Carla Hall (B.B.A. ’86), owner of the Alchemy catering company and co-host of The Chew, Donald B. Christian (B.B.A. ’90), lead client partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Leslie D. Hale (B.B.A. ’94), president and chief executive officer of RLJ Lodging Trust and vice chair of Howard’s Board of Trustees.
Students aren’t waiting to graduate before they demonstrate their business prowess on the global stage. Over the past two years, Howard students won first place in the Amazon Next Design Case Competition, the Women of Color Incubator Pitch Competition, and the Warburg Pincus Private Equity Case Competition. They were first runner up in the Mosaic Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition and the National Black MBA Association Undergraduate Case Competition.
That type of professional development attracted students like Nana Crenstil, who is a candidate for both an M.B.A. and a doctorate in pharmacy. She wants to use her business training to learn how to move a drug from the clinical trials phase along the process to the marketplace. She has participated in business case competitions, engaged directly with pharmaceutical companies, and garnered an appreciation for the many different facets of business operations. For Crenstil, the connections she is making with professionals who can provide insight into the inner mechanics of the workplace are among the most valuable aspects of the program.
“Howard University’s M.B.A. Program allows students access to corporate mentors to help guide us to become better business leaders and survive in different business cultures," Crenstil said.
The most recent available data from the U.S. Department of Education showed that Howard produces more bachelor’s degree graduates in marketing and in finance than any other HBCU. They come to study with instructors like Veneesha Dutra, Ph.D., M.B.A., who teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in investment analysis, investment banking, financial institutions and markets, real estate finance, and commercial banking.
“We graduate the most in finance because we are highly connected with industry, we graduate our students on time, and our graduates command amongst the highest salaries across the university,” said Dutra. “It is imperative that we explain the value proposition and make sure that the ROI on this investment is positive. Our students graduate with the skills that industry needs and demands."
Dutra uses her corporate, research, and academic background to relate to students through a holistic educational process. She is aggressive in helping students understand wealth and wealth-building, whether through entrepreneurship or investment, arguing that it is essential to fulfilling Howard’s mission. She weaves it into every aspect of her teaching.
Wealth creates another opportunity for you to be free. And that’s the legacy of Howard — the legacy of freedom."
- Veneesha Dutra, Ph.D., M.B.A., Howard faculty member
“Wealth creates another opportunity for you to be free,” Dutra insisted. “And that’s the legacy of Howard — the legacy of freedom. “I don’t teach our students about wealth so they can collect more things. I teach them to have a producer mindset as opposed to a consumer mindset. I want our students to have the freedom and the ability to step into situations that serve them, and more importantly, to step out of situations that don’t. There’s nothing more powerful than having the leverage to engage predominately in environments that serve you, and we know that our students face more microaggressions, stress, and discrimination in the workplace than our other counterparts.”
Though she sets high academic expectations for her students, she understands that Howard students juggle a myriad of pressures that weren’t present in previous generations. She says that there isn’t an alternative to a holistic approach to education, because helping students learn how to manage personal issues is central to their success, now and in a future workplace.
“Industry is requiring technical skills along with social and emotional skills to deal with people on teams effectively and to deal with client issues,” she said. Our students are talking to us about their personal lives as well as their academic pursuits. You can’t separate the two. We have to help them develop the emotional intelligence needed to be a leader in a corporate environment.”
That type of support and dedication is important to many of Howard’s students, who chose the university out of opportunities at several highly regarded institutions. Some, like Raina Ford, a sophomore international business major, were attracted to the internships and employment prospects made available through the School of Business. She appreciates the resources devoted to each student to help them excel. According to Ford, the boldness of the student body is a primary differentiator and is derived from the success of those who have come before them.
The audacity we walk around with in any space is special and sets us apart and is attributable to the success that we have had in all the fields that we pursue.”
-Howard School of Business student Raina Ford
“We may be the only ones in a space, but we are confident in our name, knowing that we come from a long lineage of power and brilliance,” said Ford. “The audacity we walk around with in any space is special and sets us apart and is attributable to the success that we have had in all the fields that we pursue.”
Academic and professional growth is important to Ford, but so is her personal growth. She came to Howard in part because of the freedom to be her authentic self. The relationships she has developed with students, both within the School of Business and also across campus, have been just as important as those she has developed with faculty members.
“Finding my voice and stepping into my identity unapologetically was probably the biggest hurdle for me before I came here, but the people that I have been surrounded by have pushed me to feel comfortable with my authentic self, explore that identity, and allow it to change, flourish, and go through many phases so I can graduate truly knowing who I am and stand firmly in that place,” said Ford. “I have friends from all walks of life and different majors. Although it’s a competitive environment, which you need so you are constantly being pushed and excelling, people are still willing to help each other because we are all trying to grow into young professionals who will be impactful in the world.”
Article ID: 2181