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Positive Impact Rating 2025: A Record 86 Business Schools Rated As Students Call For Change
Student voices are louder than ever in the sixth edition of the Positive Impact Rating for Business Schools. A record 86 business schools from 28 countries were rated in the 2025 report, up 12% from last year, powered by 17,167 student responses — making the PIR one of the most robust global efforts to track how B-schools are living up to their stated commitments to sustainability, ethics, and societal impact.
This year's report also marks a turning point: the introduction of a parallel Faculty Survey. While still in early stages, the side-by-side comparison between student and faculty perceptions signals a move toward more holistic institutional accountability.
The results? Faculty tended to rate their schools slightly higher than students — especially in areas like learning methods and program effectiveness — while students gave more credit to their schools' cultures and community engagement efforts.
The PIR categorizes schools into three tiers: Progressing (Level 3), Transforming (Level 4), and Pioneering (Level 5). Eleven schools reached the top level this year — up from six in 2024 — with an average Level 5 score of 9.1 out of 10. Most schools (46) fall into Level 4, with Level 3 holding steady at 29 schools. The average score across all institutions remained stable at 7.8, demonstrating the rating system's resilience even as more schools from diverse regions join the fold.
Overall, the PIR grew this year from 77 business schools from 30 countries, up from 71 schools in 2023 and 45 schools in 2022.
Participation surged not only in volume but in engagement. The average number of student respondents per school increased from 193 to 199, and 26 schools were rated for the first time. Asia led the regional performance charts with an average score of 9.0, followed by Southern Europe (8.0), Northern Europe (7.6), North America (7.4), and Western Europe (7.3). North American schools, in particular, are grappling with criticism of outdated faculty models and excessive commercialization, while students in Latin America and Africa highlight social justice and community integration as pressing concerns.
One of the most striking features of the PIR is the open-ended feedback students provide through 'START' and 'STOP' prompts. Their message this year is unmistakable.
Students want their schools to STOP unsustainable practices, disengaged teaching, and institutional inertia. That means saying goodbye to single-use plastics, memory-based learning, unchecked partnerships with unethical industries, and ignoring student wellbeing.
Just as clearly, students want their schools to START embedding sustainability across curricula, improving student support systems, and fostering closer partnerships with NGOs, communities, and ethical enterprises. Most critically, they want to be treated as partners—not customers or passive recipients of knowledge. They call for governance models that are inclusive, transparent, and responsive to student input.
'Students are demanding that schools walk the talk,' says Katrin Muff, co-founder of the PIR. 'They want real-world learning, not theoretical models. And they want their concerns reflected in how schools operate, not just in what schools say.'
A pilot Faculty Survey — featuring responses from 268 faculty across seven schools — revealed both alignment and disconnect. While faculty rated overall positive impact slightly higher than students (8.0 versus 7.8), differences emerged around perceived effectiveness of educational approaches. Faculty believe their teaching methods and programs have strong impact; students are more skeptical.
Interestingly, students rated institutional culture slightly higher, suggesting they feel more empowered or supported than faculty assume. These early comparisons open the door for deeper introspection. Schools can now use this dual-stakeholder view to surface blind spots, align values, and identify high-leverage opportunities for change.
For institutions pursuing international accreditation — such as AACSB, EQUIS, or the UN-backed PRME framework — the PIR offers more than just benchmarking. It supplies tangible, stakeholder-sourced evidence to meet rigorous standards for ethics, responsibility, and societal impact. 'Accreditors are increasingly asking not just what schools say they're doing, but what their stakeholders experience,' the report notes.
More than just a report card, the PIR is evolving into a platform for change. The 2025 edition introduces an Impact vs. Feasibility matrix to help schools prioritize reforms based on student feedback. Chapter 5 showcases schools that are already using PIR data to revise curricula, restructure governance, and co-lead initiatives with students — often through the Collaboratory model, which promotes joint innovation and shared ownership.
'Schools that use the PIR well don't just collect feedback,' Muff says. 'They act on it. And they do it in a way that brings faculty and students together.'
This year's report includes case studies from PIR Working Groups — coalitions of a dozen schools that are using the PIR to reimagine governance, co-create sustainability strategies, and redesign learning for relevance and inclusion.
Among this year's Level 4 'Transforming' schools is the University of Exeter Business School, which was recognized for its societal impact and commitment to sustainability at the PIR Global Summit 2025. The school earned praise for strong student engagement and a focus on responsible leadership.
Exeter was also acknowledged during the UN PRME Global Forum. By participating in PIR 2025, the school demonstrated a commitment to transparency and stakeholder inclusion.
'At the University of Exeter Business School, our core values — environmental sustainability, responsible leadership, and technological transformation — shape everything we do,' says Professor Steve Wood, deputy pro vice chancellor and dean. 'I'm therefore thrilled that we've received this Positive Impact Rating, as it affirms that while we prepare the leaders of the future, we are also living by the principles we promote.'
Six years into its journey, the Positive Impact Rating is no longer a fringe initiative. It is a globally recognized framework grounded in what students value, not just what schools market. It offers a credible, comparative, and evolving lens through which to assess whether business schools are preparing students to solve real-world challenges — not just earn promotions.
And with the introduction of the Faculty Survey, the PIR's lens is widening. The hope, organizers say, is to foster ongoing, institutional dialogue — one where impact isn't a score, but a shared goal.
'These schools are showing courage,' the report concludes. 'They are listening to their students. They are responding. And they are modeling what it looks like to embed the voice of the next generation into the future of management education.'
Read the complete 2025 Positive Impact Rating here.
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