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Financial Times MBA Ranking 2024: Asia and the US Dominate
October 14, 2024
Global Executive MBA #9 in International Course Experience
This year, the renowned Financial Times MBA ranking is once again dominated by programs from Asia and the USA. Nine of the top ten places go to business schools from these regions. As salary plays a central role in the ranking and income levels are comparatively lower in Europe, European schools are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with their overseas rivals for the top spots. WU Executive Academy's Global EMBA has again achieved a respectable result, coming 60th among the world's 100 best Executive MBA programs.
On October 14, 2024, the prestigious Financial Times MBA ranking was finally published. Not only business schools all over the world but also (and especially) prospective MBA students are eagerly awaiting the publication of the results each fall - undoubtedly the crème de la crème of the Executive MBA market.
Financial Times MBA Ranking 2024: Asia and USA Lead the Way Again
Once again, Asia and the US dominate the Financial Times MBA Ranking. Apart from the second place of the European ESCP Business School Joint Venture, and the fact that the winner of the last two years, the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA, has completely disappeared from the ranking, there are few surprises.
"Asian and US business schools are involved in 9 of the top 10 programs, which is really impressive. It clearly shows who is currently in the lead. As regards our own performance, you may initially think that coming 60th is not great. However, it is important to keep a sense of proportion. Being among the world's top 100 MBA programs is a truly wonderful success, as only an infinitesimal percentage of all the MBA programs around the world meet the Financial Times MBA ranking’s strict criteria for participation" says Prof. Bodo B. Schlegelmilch, Dean of the WU Executive Academy.
Global MBA Ranking: It's all in the method
The Financial Times MBA ranking is the result of a complex evaluation method that is based on 17 weighted criteria, placing special emphasis on the earnings and career development of graduates as well as on the quality of a program. The FT collects its data directly from graduates (29%), with business schools providing mainly quantitative data on program participants, faculty members, program content, research activities and ESG footprint (71%).
It is this approach that makes it increasingly difficult for business schools in Europe to keep up with their Asian and US rivals. The categories "Annual Salary Today" and "Salary Increase 3 Years After Graduation" account together for 31% of a program's overall position in the ranking. Therefore, it doesn’t surprise that precisely those programs that have scored highly in one or both categories are among the top 25 Executive MBAs.
While, at first sight, this makes perfect sense, closer scrutiny shows that it places business schools from countries where salary levels are (significantly) lower than in Asia or in the US, for example, at a serious competitive disadvantage that they cannot overcome, even by achieving excellent results in the other categories.
![[Translate to English:] Bodo B. Schlegelmilch, Ph.D., D.Litt., Ph.D. (hon.) Portrait](/fileadmin_synced_assets/_processed_/4/1/csm_portrait-Schlegelmilch-Bodo_48e4d696d7.jpg "[Translate to English:] Bodo B. Schlegelmilch, Ph.D., D.Litt., Ph.D. (hon.)")
Bodo B. Schlegelmilch, Ph.D., D.Litt., Ph.D. (hon.)
- Dean of the WU Executive Academy
Thus, the FT gives potential MBA students a somewhat distorted picture insofar as a program's position in the ranking does not necessarily reflect its quality.
WU Executive Academy Achieves Great Results in Key Categories
The Global Executive MBA of WU Executive Academy has made an excellent showing regarding some Financial Times MBA ranking criteria that are of relevance to students. It is the world's number 9 in terms of "International Course Experience", outdoing Ceibs (#1), MIT: Sloan (#6) or Insead (#9). Three ten-day residencies to South America, Asia and the USA, respectively, form the backbone of the program's exceptional international orientation.
"What matters to us is not only our position in the FT ranking, but also how we compare with other top MBA programs. We are again ahead of internationally renowned universities such as Mannheim Business School, Stockholm School of Economics, or Kozminski University, so being 60th is a perfectly respectable result in my opinion," concludes Bodo Schlegelmilch.
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