Despite all the talk about full-time MBA programs losing their ground, they are still capable of holding it. Ninety percent of the top spots are taken by full-time MBA programs.
The top place of the Financial Times Global MBA ranking has been retaken by Stanford Graduate School of Business, while nine places out of ten belong to traditional two-year MBA programs. The only exception – the one-year MBA program by Insead – retreated to the second place after two years of being the first in the ranking, Financial Times reports.
The third place is occupied by the Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania), and the fourth by London Business School, which retook its rightful place among the top five, followed by Harvard Business School in the fifth place. Incidentally, Cambridge Judge Business School (one-year program) has dropped to the 13th place.
What Is Different From 2017?
Most full-time programs have gone up or stayed in their previous places, while their one-year counterparts have mostly dropped. The most impressive rise in the rankings has been accomplished by Jones Graduate School of Business (Rice University, Houston), which now occupies the 45th place.
All in all, around 12,000 students have been accepted to the business schools taking part in the Financial Times rankings in 2017. Half of the ranked universities have accepted more students in 2017 compared to 2016. Some American schools have enrolled fewer foreign students than before, but for most ranked schools, the rate of accepting international students is still around 38%.
Stanford Business School, the Star of the FT Rankings
For Stanford, this is the second time of it being on the top of the FT ranking. Last time it happened was six years ago. This rise happened because Stanford alumni had a very impressive salary upgrade – now their average salary is $214,000, $20,000 more than last year.
Although Stanford Business School is located in the Californian Silicon Valley, 33% of its graduates have found jobs in financial organizations, due to the financial sector hiring mostly from the three top ranked schools.
One more achievement shown by Stanford is its focus on personal development: students have international internships and learn how to develop personal skills.
It should be noted that Asian business schools have improved a lot in this ranking. For instance, the eighth place is taken by Ceibs (Shanghai), and the 18th – by the National University of Singapore Business schools. Other schools, such as Renmin University of China School of Business and Lee Kong Chian School of Business occupied the 39th and the 49th places respectively.
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