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Financial Times’ Global MBA rankings reflect changes in global education
04 Feb 2019
Despite a tough year in US education, several American business schools shine in the Financial Times‘ Global MBA rankings for 2019.
The top list was made up of the same schools as last year, but some positions have changed – and quite significantly, too.
Harvard Business School rose to second place, three spots up from last year’s rankings. Meanwhile, Stanford Graduate School of Business held on to top spot again this year.
The FT ranking is based on 20 criteria, with the most weight given to salary and salary increase, accounting for 40 percent of the ranking. Research, value for money, international mobility and other factors are also assessed.
Stanford came up top once more, largely due to its graduates’ huge salaries. The average this year was US$228,074, up from US$214,742 in 2018.
Stanford Graduate Business School topped the list for the second year in a row. Source: Poets and Quants
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) was the only university on the list that was not from the US or UK, rising to the fifth spot from the eighth last year.
CEIBS’ rise among the elites highlights the increased quality of schools in the Asia-Pacific region. Applications to such schools surged by 8.9 percent last year according to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).
Other schools in the top 10 include INSEAD, Wharton, London Business School, Chicago Booth, MIT Sloan, Columbia and Berkeley Haas.
According to BusinessBecause, the shifts in positions in this year’s ranking are on par with the changes in global business education.
The fact that top UK schools remain in strong positions on the list show that the 2016 Brexit vote hasn’t damaged UK institutions, as the drop in the pound’s value made UK courses look more attractive to international students.
Plus, the UK job market has stayed strong, making it easier for local graduates to find employment, although international graduates still face issues due to tightened visa restrictions in the country.
The University of Oxford’s Said Business School jumped 14 places to 13th this year, its best ever performance in the rankings.
Also, Oxford ranked higher than its key competitor, Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, which fell three spots to 16th this year.
Oxford rose 14 places in the rankings this year. Source: CrossCulture
Another noteworthy rise in the rankings is the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, which rose 29 places from 78th to 49th.
Other drastic climbs include Germany’s WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vanderbilt University’s Own School of Management in the US, and Durham University Business School of the UK, all of which rose more than 20 places.
On the other end of the spectrum, some schools tumbled down the rankings signficantly. Britain’s Alliance Manchester Business School fell 23 places, while Lancaster University Management School (also of the UK), and the US’s Krannert School of Management both dropped about 20 spots.
Despite some dramatic shifts in positions, the number of different countries who made it on the list remains similar to the rankings from 2016 and 2017, with 51 US schools making it to the rankings.
Only a few new schools were included on the list, reflecting a increasingly growing gap between elite institutions and the rest, and suggesting that the market for campus MBAs is reaching a point of maturity.
