{"id":22725,"date":"2014-01-29T14:26:51","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T21:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=22725"},"modified":"2014-01-29T14:26:51","modified_gmt":"2014-01-29T21:26:51","slug":"fts-best-global-mba-programs-in-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/fts-best-global-mba-programs-in-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"FT\u2019s Best Global MBA Programs in 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Financial Times<\/em> released its 2014 global MBA rankings! Read on for the list, the facts, the analysis, and the sources.<\/p>\n

The List<\/strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
2014 <\/strong>Rank<\/strong><\/td>\n\n

3 Year
\n(Avg) <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

School <\/strong><\/td>\nCountry <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nHarvard Business School<\/a><\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nStanford Graduate<\/a>
\n School of Business<\/a><\/td>\n		USA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n4<\/td>\nLondon Business School<\/a><\/td>\nUK<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n3<\/td>\nU Penn Wharton<\/a><\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\n5<\/td>\nColumbia Business<\/a>
\n School<\/a><\/td>\n		USA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\n6<\/td>\nINSEAD<\/a><\/td>\nFrance\/Singapore<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\n8<\/td>\nIESE Business School<\/td>\nSpain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\n8<\/td>\nMIT Sloan<\/a><\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\n10<\/td>\nChicago Booth<\/a><\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\n15<\/td>\nYale School of Management<\/a><\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\n12<\/td>\nUC Berkeley Haas<\/a><\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\n15<\/td>\nIMD<\/a><\/td>\nSwitzerland<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\n11<\/td>\nIE Business School<\/a><\/td>\nSpain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\n11<\/td>\nHong Kong UST<\/a>
\n Business School<\/a><\/td>\n		China<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\n15<\/td>\nNorthwestern Kellogg<\/a><\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\n19<\/td>\nCambridge Judge<\/a><\/td>\nUK<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\n17<\/td>\nDuke Fuqua<\/a><\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\n18<\/td>\nNYU Stern<\/a><\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/td>\n19<\/td>\nCEIBS<\/td>\nChina<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\n18<\/td>\nDartmouth Tuck<\/a><\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

To truly understand the rankings, much less use them, please see the methodology<\/a> so you\u2019ll know what\u2019s being ranked. While there are twenty factors considered in the FT<\/em> rankings, the FT<\/em> methodology puts the most weight on increase in salary in $US PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) and weighted salary in $US PPP.<\/p>\n

Poets and Quants<\/em><\/a> criticizes the FT<\/em> rankings for absurd results in calculating \u201cValue for Money\u201d as well as for having too many criteria and several criteria that really don\u2019t reflect the quality of education. Others say that it is biased against U.S. programs.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the criticism\u2019s validity, the FT<\/em> ranking is arguably the most cited ranking of global programs because it compares U.S. and international programs in one ranking and seems to do a better job of it than the alternatives. That prominence doesn\u2019t mean these rankings are Gospel. It does mean you have a lot of data in a format where you can easily compare MBA programs from around the world on designated criteria.<\/p>\n

The Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some fun facts about FT<\/em>\u2019s 2014 rankings:<\/p>\n

\u2022 7 of the top 10 and 12 of the top 20 programs ranked are US schools.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Big jumpers this year include Boston University\u2019s business school and Washington Forster, which each jumped 20 spots, to 75th and 58th place, respectively. Another big US jumper this year was USC Marshall<\/a> which jumped 17 spots to 65th place. UNC Kenan Flagler<\/a> jumped up 12 slots this year from its 3-year average rank, moving from #45 to #33.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The biggest losers this year include Dublin\u2019s Smurfit School (dropped 27 spots to 91st place) and Vlerick Business School (fell 16 places to 100th place), as well as the schools which disappeared off the list entirely: U of Iowa\u2019s Tippie School (74th last year), Korea University Business School (86th last year), Incae Business School in Costa Rica (90th last year), Case Western\u2019s Weatherhead School (94th last year), and others.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Newcomers to the list include: UC Davis (98th), Wake Forest (94th), BYU\u2019s Marriott School (93rd), and ESMT European School of Management and Technology in Germany (89th).<\/p>\n

\u2022 In terms of geographic representation, the top 20 schools are all in the US, UK, Europe (France, Spain, Switzerland), China, and Singapore, but further down the list, other countries gain their spots: India comes in at 30th place with the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad; SDA Bocconi in 31st place represents Italy; South Korea appears in 45th place with Sungkyunkwan University\u2019s GSB; Canada\u2019s first school on the list is Toronto Rotman<\/a> at 51st place; Portugal follows with The Lisbon MBA in 52nd place (new to list); South Africa\u2019s U. of Cape Town GSB comes in at 59th place; in the 62nd slot we have Australia\u2019s Australian Graduate School of Management; and Brazil\u2019s Coppead is in 79th place.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The city with the highest concentration of schools in the top 100 is (of course) Boston with six top b-schools \u2013 Harvard (1), MIT Sloan (8), Hult International Business School (61), BU School of Management (75), Boston College Carroll (82), and Babson Olin (95).<\/p>\n

The Analysis:<\/strong><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s fun to look at the changes \u2013 who climbed and who sank \u2013 for me the real lessons from this ranking are:<\/p>\n

1. The top programs move and change very slowly. That lack of drama in these rankings is a better reflection of reality than the gyrations one sees outside the top twenty. Significant change takes time so sharp jumps and dives probably mean nothing. Sustained change in ranking has greater credibility \u2013 if you value the same qualities as the FT<\/em>.<\/p>\n

2. The one point made repeatedly in the commentary on this ranking, and it is the same conclusion I draw from both the FT<\/em> ranking and the Forbes<\/em> ranking<\/a>, which both emphasize ROI and increase in salary, is this: The MBA education at top programs provides a solid return on investment for most students. The MBAs surveyed for the FT<\/em> rankings started their MBA in 2008, just as the Great Recession hit, and graduated in 2010. These MBAs still report on average a 100% increase in salary over what they were making before they started business school.<\/p>\n

There are obviously critics of graduate business education, specifically the MBA, and those detractors either believe an MBA isn\u2019t valuable or that the value has declined. I agree with the latter group. However, the questions for today\u2019s applicants are:<\/p>\n

1. \u201cGiven my current professional background and salary and my anticipated salary after I earn an MBA, do the anticipated financial rewards plus increased job satisfaction justify the investment (both out of pocket and opportunity costs)?\u201d The fact that those entering b-school ten or twenty years ago could anticipate a higher ROI is irrelevant. It is merely a historical curiosity and for you an unfortunate one.<\/p>\n

2. \u201cIs the full-time MBA \u2013 or whatever flavor you are considering \u2013 the optimal way for me to attain my MBA goals<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n

FT<\/em>, to its credit, also has an article on those claiming the MBA is not worth the effort<\/a>. Sometimes they are right. Each one of you individually needs to examine your circumstances and goals to see if for you<\/em> the MBA is an expensive waste of time and effort, or if for you<\/em> it is likely to be worth both. Clearly, most of the people surveyed by Forbes<\/em>, the Financial Times<\/em>, and GMAC<\/a> are in the latter group.<\/p>\n

In this video<\/a> Della Bradshaw, FT<\/em>\u2019s Business Education Editor, discusses the results of this year\u2019s FT<\/em> Global MBA rankings including the finding that MBAs in the class of 2010 are now enjoying salaries double those they were earning before they entered b-school.<\/p>\n