Kellogg School of Management’s Executive MBA program slipped four spots – from number one to number five – in The Wall Street Journal’s rankings released Thursday.

The top spot was taken by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

The Olin Business School at the Washington University in St. Louis, the Thunderbird School of Global Management and the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business rounded out the top five.

The Journal’s rankings are based on surveys of recent graduates and reviews from companies.

This is the second time it has released EMBA rankings; the first report was in 2008.

Kellogg’s Executive MBA ranked in the bottom one-third of programs surveyed for “program quality.”

The article accompanying the rankings attributed Kellogg’s drop nearly exclusively to poor reviews among students demanding more from these mid-career programs in a challenging job market.

In response to a request for comment, the dean’s office issued a brief statement on the school’s take on rankings.

“When viewed collectively, rankings are one signal of an institution’s external brand strength,” it read. “Several other metrics also speak to this, including the quality of our applicant pool and the strength of our faculty hiring. Kellogg has and continues to be strong on these components.”