MCI Named a “Transforming School” in Positive Impact Rating 2025

Students confirm: MCI drives science, education, and innovation in a sustainable, collaborative, and forward-looking way

MCI | The Entrepreneurial School^® celebrates another international achievement: In the newly released Positive Impact Rating 2025 (PIR), MCI has been recognized as a “Transforming School,” earning Level 4 out of 5. This distinction highlights the university’s strong commitment to sustainability, social responsibility, and innovation in higher education.

The PIR particularly praises the effective integration of sustainability into MCI’s study programs, including practice-oriented projects and an extensive range of networking events with companies, alumni, and international partners. Students also highly value the wide array of extracurricular courses focusing on sustainable development.

In 2025, the PIR evaluated 86 business schools from 30 countries based on the feedback of more than 17,000 students. Schools achieving Level 4 status demonstrate a deeply embedded impact orientation, with measurable progress in embedding ecological, social, and economic sustainability in research, teaching, and daily academic life.

Statements

Andreas Altmann, MCI Rector: “The Positive Impact Rating reaffirms our ambition to be not only academically excellent but also socially impactful. Research, education, and knowledge transfer should empower individuals to actively contribute to solving global challenges. This feedback from our students is both a recognition and a motivation for us.”

Julian Pfurtscheller, Chair of the MCI Student Representation: “I am pleased that the commitment of students to sustainability at MCI is clearly making an impact. The fact that our feedback is taken seriously and leads to real change sends a strong message and encourages us to continue shaping this journey.”

Regina Obexer, Head of the Center for Responsible Management & Social Impact: “This recognition shows that our joint efforts in sustainability and social responsibility are making a real impact. Even more encouraging: our students are not just supporting this journey – they are actively shaping it.”

Brigitte Auer, Head of MCI Quality Management: “Sustainability has long been a key quality factor for excellence in higher education. The results of the PIR encourage us to continue systematically integrating social responsibility into our processes.”

Positive Impact Rating

The Positive Impact Rating (PIR) is an annually published international university comparison that evaluates the societal impact of business schools from the students' perspective. Unlike traditional rankings, the PIR assesses how institutions contribute to solving societal challenges – through responsible teaching, sustainable practices, transparent governance, and opportunities for student participation.