Both BYU and Utah shared a major shortcoming in the eyes of recruiters — they lack diversity. Only 9 percent of students at BYU and 12 percent at the U. are minorities. Woman make up 20 percent of the students at BYU and 24 percent at the U. BYU students also were criticized for a lack of experience and for a bias toward regional jobs. The U. program suffers from a lack of national exposure, large class size and inconsistency, recruiters said.

However, recruiters were impressed by the leadership potential, maturity and integrity of BYU's graduates and the school's "great faculty."

Ranking criteria for the report was criticized by David Eccles School of Business spokeswoman Lindsay Allen, who said the measurements aren't a fair representation of what the U.'s school offers students.

"Although it's a reputable publication, it doesn't really measure the quality of our programs and our faculty," she said.

The difference, Allen said, is that the David Eccles School of Business provides more entrepreneurial opportunities, and break-out group projects, than traditional business schools. Corporate recruiter opinion, which makes up a good part of the Wall Street Journal report, usually bends toward traditional education backgrounds.

According to the report, recruiters did find that the most impressive features of the U.'s program were entrepreneurial, ambitious and down-to-earth graduates. The program's career-services office was deemed "outstanding."

"There's so many different outlets that our students can take that are not traditionally offered at other private or even public state universities," Allen said. "It provides a unique opportunity for our business students, but you can't really rank or measure that."

Last year, the Salt Lake City school ranked no. 32, and since then has launched several new projects within the school. The U. is also looking to construct a new nearly 190,000 square-foot building to house the growing business school's operations in the future.

"Our programs can't be matched," Allen said. "Instead of looking at what students make after graduating and the career part of it all, the (Wall Street Journal) numbers don't really reflect the educational outcome, which is what we tend to focus on — the educational experience and getting ready for that career."

Last year's first-place regional school dove out of the top 10. The Thunderbird School of Global Management dropped to 11th. One of a handful of schools listed twice, Thunderbird also dropped from fifth to 10th on the international schools' list.

The Journal reported that recruiters felt too many Thunderbird graduates lack work experience and that many of the school's international students have weak communications skills.

Three schools were added to the rankings this year and two — the University of Missouri and American University — leapfrogged the U.

Among U. MBAs, 87 percent have and accept job offers within three months of graduation. Their average annual base salary is $54,484. Among BYU grads, 96 percent accept job offers within three months. Their annual base salary averages $78,084.

Top employers for both schools include Ford Motor Co. and American Express.

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