The most recent issue of Bloomberg Businessweek (that’s just awkward) lists the top 10 undergraduate schools in terms of how many of their graduates now lead S&P 500 companies.  To be clear, “lead” means that the graduate is the CEO. 

First off, let me point out that my alma mater – Indiana University – is on the list.  Lest you think this post is merely an advertisement for that fact, there are a couple of other things that jumped out at me.  One is that a school that shares the #1 spot is not a school at all.  Fully twelve CEOs did not earn an undergraduate degree.  Of course, that is only 2.4% of the entrants, so I wouldn’t draw too many conclusions if you’re a senior in high school.

The more important takeaway, though, is the fact that 6 of the top 9 CEO-producing schools are public institutions.  It probably wouldn’t surprise too many people to see the Ivy League represented on this list in the form of three schools, but it’s nice to see the Big Ten match that number.  Nicer, though, is the fact that state schools are accessible to a much broader number of students than are Ivy League and other private schools.  Those schools tend to be much more expensive, and in many cases admissions standards are much more difficult.  The latter point is a double-edged sword.  There is no doubt that the public institutions on this list are among the elite public schools nationwide, but they accept many more students than do schools like Harvard, Dartmouth and Princeton, especially residents of their respective states.  To a greater degree, I suspect, what you get out of your education is largely a function of what you put in at a public school.  Nonetheless, it’s clear that most of the members of this list got a lot out of their undergrad experience. 

Of course, not everybody wants to work in the corporate world, and not everybody wants to rise to the top of it.  However, I think this list illustrates the fact that it does not require an Ivy League education to get to the top of one’s chosen profession.

The list: 

1. University of California (12 CEOs)

 2. School of Hard Knocks (12 CEOs) 

3. Harvard College (11 CEOs)

4. University of Missouri (11 CEOs) 

5. University of Texas (11 CEOs)

6. University of Wisconsin (11 CEOs)

7. Dartmouth College (10 CEOs)

8. Princeton (9 CEOs)

9. Indiana University (8 CEOs) 

10. Purdue University (8 CEOs)