A degree in marketing grants access to one of the most exciting industries in the 21st century!
Marketing is an essential building block for any thriving business, whether it’s a local mom-and-pop shop, a multinational corporation, or a regional nonprofit.
Marketers help businesses and organizations better understand their audience’s identities, needs, and interests through digital and multimedia avenues.
They are crucial in creating advertising campaigns to increase sales, website traffic, and search engine optimization (SEO) rank.
The field of marketing continues to evolve at a rapid pace. These days, digital marketers create campaigns for email, social media, and websites.
It takes a fast-paced, curious, and savvy person to constantly keep up with competitors, customers, and evolving trends. Talented marketing executives can save companies a lot of money through targeted content.
In addition to digital marketing, graduates of a collegiate marketing program can venture into public relations, supply chain management, and business development.
Sports marketing is a popular option for student-athletes who have confidence and a passion for sports but do not wish to continue playing after graduation.
That’s one of the greatest assets of a marketing degree – it can be useful in just about any niche imaginable, including travel, finance, healthcare, and community activism, to name a few.
Marketing may be ideal for you if you’re a creative, critical thinker, and skilled communicator.
Here are 10 of the best marketing schools in the US – all schools here were chosen as they are regularly ranked among the top marketing schools in the nation by major publications.
Perhaps one will serve as your launch pad for an exciting and fulfilling career in marketing!
New York University (New York City, NY)
It may come as no surprise that NYU is one of the best schools for marketing in the country.
After all, New York City is home to some of the most powerful and reputable companies in the world! A hub for hospitality, international relations, entertainment, and academia, the Big Apple offers enticing career opportunities for students seeking to live in a bustling, urban setting.
Undergraduates at NYU may obtain a BS in business with a concentration in marketing. Students can expect to sharpen their competitive mindsets, develop sustainable competitive advantages, and excel in launching products and services at companies like BMW, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola.
The marketing concentration requirements consist of 12 credits, including courses like Consumer Behavior and Research for Consumer Insights.
Students can also choose from specific electives like MKTG 25: Business of Broadway.
In class, they will develop strategies for increasing audience attendance, funding new productions, and incorporating product positioning.
Boston College (Boston, MA)
Boston College’s award-winning marketing faculty have been published in some of the most renowned journals in their fields, including the Journal of Marketing and Journal of Consumer Research.
he college’s curriculum is oriented to combine the quantitative and qualitative skillsets necessary for success as a modern marketing pro.
Business majors can concentrate in marketing, which requires the completion of three core courses, two marketing elective courses, and an (optional) career path course sequence. Examples of the latter include product management and consumer behavior.
During their time at Boston College, about one-third of the 2,300+ undergraduate business majors will opt to study abroad.
Graduates of Boston College’s marketing curriculum can anticipate exciting careers at popular companies like Deloitte, Bloomingdale’s, and the New York Jets.
Of all the business school graduates, 35% venture into the marketing and advertising industries – more so than accounting, consulting, retail, or any other business niche.
The University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC)
UNC enrolls nearly 350 undergraduates in the Kenan Flagler School of Business; first-year students will dedicate coursework to fulfilling general education requirements before applying to enter as sophomores.
Admission to Kenan-Flagler is limited and competitive, with students boasting a 3.65 median GPA prior to entrance.
Once enrolled, undergraduates may concentrate in marketing management and sales. Advanced electives are offered in topics like professional selling strategies, data science in the business world, and healthcare brand plans.
Opportunities like the European Bachelor Summer Institute at WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany engage accepted Tar Heels in a three-week course that places students in some of Germany’s major international companies and culminates in a final exam and group project.
In addition to the networking opportunities, students are immersed in hands-on study regarding European marketing, cultural competence, and German history.
The University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
Representing the best marketing program on the West Coast, UC Berkeley’s BS in business administration boasts a median starting salary of nearly $90,000 for its most recent graduates.
77% of the 2021 graduating cohort accepted a job offer, with most entering the tech sector.
Marketing concentrators can expect to examine case studies, participate in simulations, attend seminars, hear from guest speakers, and complete various group projects.
While there is no marketing concentration, per se, undergraduates take a well-rounded approach to a business curriculum and take courses focused on marketing, organizational behavior, and accounting.
In a course like UGBA 161 – Market Research: Tools and Techniques for Data Collection and Analysis – students will learn how to use customer data to target potential customers better.
In UGBA 164 – Marketing Strategy – self-selected groups design presentations and projects centered on alternative business models, price-setting dynamics, and other exciting topics.
The University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN)
Students attending the University of Notre Dame can major specifically in marketing and choose one of four specialized tracks: digital marketing, marketing decision analytics, brandscaping, or consulting and market development.
Each track consists of three electives, but students can pick and choose from different paths.
For example, undergraduates in consulting and market development focus on creating brand strategy and engaging in media planning.
The foundation of the BBA is the Undergraduate Business Core, a 25.5-credit curriculum that immerses marketing majors in various business fundamentals.
Many undergraduates build friendships through club memberships.
Organizations like the Finance Club, Marketing Club, and Undergraduate Women in Business Association grant access to invaluable resources like scholarships, competitions, and research opportunities.
Notre Dame’s Business Honors Program is open to first-year students interested in marketing or other business-related pursuits.
Accepted students complete six honors courses in the following three years, such as corporate disclosure, designing for human-centered artificial intelligence, and marketing decision-making.
These courses are challenging Ph.D.-level courses that will undoubtedly prepare marketing majors for competitive positions at major US companies.
Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)
Marketing majors, meet your match in St. Louis! Washington University offers an astounding eight business majors as part of its BSBA program, and marketing is one of them.
Students can declare as early as their sophomore year and even combine their degrees with another major in a different school.
Students are required to maintain a 2.0 or higher GPA to stay in the BSBA program.
During their three years, they will complete three experiential learning courses, interdisciplinary research and group projects, and mandatory career prep coursework.
Many Washington University in St. Louis students take their marketing passions abroad for an entire semester or year or participate in short-term immersion courses like Luxury Goods in New York City or Business, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in Israel.
The St.Louis Student Entrepreneurial Program challenges students to create marketing strategies for prototype businesses on campus. Current examples include Bears Bikes (a bike rental shop) and Bear-Y Sweet Shoppe (a snack store).
The University of Wisconsin – Madison (Madison, WI)
If you’re interested in securing a marketing career in a major company like Oracle, Target, or Proctor & Gamble, consider the University of Wisconsin at Madison for your undergraduate degree.
Graduates enjoy an average starting salary of $53,205 as merchandise analysts, marketing assistants, and client service associates.
All undergraduate marketing majors are required to pass MARKETING 300: Marketing Management. From there, they have the autonomy to select from a diverse range of course offerings.
In MARKETING 410 – Sports Marketing – undergraduates focus on the specific challenges inherent to the sports world and its professional organizations, then develop and apply strategies to solve those challenges.
A study abroad program in Milan, Italy – known as the Fashion Capital of the World – provides undergraduate marketing majors with the chance to learn the Italian language while engaging in marketing coursework for luxury brands.
The University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
The bachelor of science in business administration marketing is designed specifically for marketing.
In contrast, other programs on this list are more holistic in their approach, offering only a dip into the shallow end of the marketing world.
To name a few options, marketing minors can focus on statistics, communication studies, and foreign languages.
UF is appealing to many degree-seeking candidates for its numerous career opportunities and internships.
Clubs like the Retail Society and Pi Sigma Epsilon Professional Selling Fraternity unite students of similar talents and goals and provide a support network for managing the more challenging aspects of the BSBAM.
All UF students will enroll in an internship or study abroad course in order to graduate.
GEB 4941 – the internship course – prepares undergraduates to cultivate essential leadership skills, determine criteria for success in diverse industries, and confirm (or redirect) their desire to work for a particular company.
Service learning opportunities are also a part of the internship requirement.
The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)
The McCombs BBA in marketing is known for its interdisciplinary, hands-on approach. Internship and study abroad opportunities are key components of one of this list’s most intriguing marketing degree programs.
McCombs School of Business offers first-year admission only to the summer or fall semesters. Within the program, undergraduates may take a class like MKT 354: Topics in Professional Sales and Business Development.
They spend their semester developing sales strategies for mock businesses in addition to honing skills in needs assessment, handling objections, and making pitches.
If students have competing passions, they can always minor in professional studies and business development.
Within a few credits, they will strengthen their analysis and persuasion talents to sell diverse concepts, products, and services.
McCombs’ marketing BBA graduates pursue careers at companies like Frito-Lay, Apple, and Macy’s.
The University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
Penn’s marketing concentration is the cornerstone of the Wharton School of Business, one of the best business schools in the United States and the world.
There are specialized tracks and joint degree programs for undergraduates of all interests.
For example, the joint concentration in marketing and operations management appeals to those interested in new product development and marketing.
Hafl-semester mini-courses are some of the neatest components of the marketing degree. Offered in subjects like retailing and advertising, many students take the skills learned in these classes and pursue their own entrepreneurial endeavors.
MUSE – an on-campus, student-led, non-profit consulting group – supports early-stage start-up companies, some of which have later been recognized on the Fortune 500 list.
One of the most exciting courses offered among the best marketing schools in the US is MKTG 2380: Consumer Neuroscience.
This class focuses on examining the human brain in order to understand consumer behavior trends.
Undergraduates can expect to gain experience with eye-tracking measures, face-reading, and neural predictors, technologies that will surely make significant impacts in the years to come.
