The best business school for your money may surprise you

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In December Business Insider released its sixth annual list of the 50 best business schools in the world — the schools whose MBA programs have the best reputations, highest starting salaries, lowest tuitions, and best job-placement rates.

Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management came in at No. 44 on our overall list. It’s the least expensive US program and least expensive two-year program, and it took first place on our list of the best business schools for your money, making it one of the most underrated MBA programs out there.

“When you consider the low cost of the degree, scholarships and high starting salaries, the quality of the education — it’s a very economical MBA program choice,” BYU MBA program director John Bingham told Business Insider.

We decided to take a closer look.

BYU Marriott School of ManagementFacebook/BYU Marriott School of Management

The cost of the degree

The tuition and fees for the entire program totals just $47,900. That’s less than half the price of top MBA programs at most private schools in the US and three times less than the $144,340 price tag of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the top school on our ranking. Brigham Young, which is subsidized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is even cheaper for members of the church: LDS students pay less than $25,000 for an MBA.

On top of that, more than 80% of students receive additional scholarship funding of at least a few thousand dollars, so many graduate with little debt.

High placement and competitive salaries

Three months after graduation, 92% of students have accepted job offers, and another 5% start their own viable companies. BYU puts a large emphasis on entrepreneurship, and the faculty teaches skills like innovation, analysis, and problem-solving to students interested in starting enterprises.

Companies begin recruiting for internships in the first semester of the program. Over 100 companies, including Ford, Adobe, Procter & Gamble, and Johnson & Johnson, as well as many small- and medium-size companies, recruit Marriott students. Tech companies in Silicon Valley and in the Pacific Northwest have also been scouting more and more candidates at BYU, according to Bingham…