St Gallen reclaims the position it lost last year when France’s HEC Paris rose from second place, a position it had held since 2014, to beat out the Swiss school for the first time in 12 years.
Once again, Europe dominates the 2024 ranking, with nine of the top 10 programs being offered by European business schools. Similarly to 2023, one Chinese school manages to break into the top 10, however this year that school is Shanghai Jiao Tong University Antai College of Economics and Management, taking the place of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management which drops out of the FT Ranking altogether
Alongside HEC Paris, French schools including prestigious Grandes Ecoles like EDHEC Business School and ESSEC Business School rank highly, with six of the top 10 Masters in Management (MiM) programs having campuses in France.
In total, 141 schools took part in this year’s ranking of MiM programs, down one from last year. Schools receive scores across a number of categories, with the highest weighting given to current average alumni salaries (16%) and average salary increases between a graduate’s first MiM level job and their salary three years after graduation (10%).
Financial Times MiM ranking: metrics and weighting
Masters in Management Ranking | A European-dominated top 10
The St Gallen Master in Strategy and International Management lands the top-ranked spot in 2024 due to its strong performance across the FT’s outcomes-related metrics, as well as several other factors.
With 98% of graduates securing jobs within three months and 93% of alumni reporting the program helped achieve their aims, this placed the school among the top performers for career progression.
Average alumni salaries of around $140,000—the highest among the top 20 programs, and fifth highest among the top 100—and a solid salary percentage increase of 55% that ranked among the top 25, mean earning potential also plays a part.
St Gallen is also boosted by a strong diversity assessment with 88% international students among the cohort and female representation within the classroom of 47%.
Last year’s leader, HEC Paris, achieves similarly strong results which cement its place as the second best MiM degree, according to the FT. The prestigious school’s average alumni salaries were around $127,000 but with an average salary percentage increase of 70%, significantly higher than St Gallen. The school also achieved 98% employment success, though its career service ranked significantly lower at 25th overall.
In its first year of being eligible to take part in the FT ranking, INSEAD soars to a third-placed finish, taking the spot occupied by the UK’s London Business School in 2023. The school particularly impressed in the international work mobility category—an assessment of how successfully a school places students in roles in other countries—where it ranked first.
EDHEC Business School, another top French institution, rises significantly to place within the top five after ranking 11th in 2023. Securing a position as the fourth best MiM in the world by the FT this year, EDHEC’s strong performances in the alumni network and career service categories helped boost its overall position. The school also achieved gender parity with 50% female representation among the cohort.
With Shanghaji’s Antai College taking fifth place, that means both London Business School and ESCP Business School fail to rank among the five in 2024. ESCP—which achieved a 100% employment success rate—ranks sixth, joint with LBS which saw average salaries rise from around $114,000 in 2023 to nearly $120,000 this year.
The remaining spots among the top 10 are occupied by France’s emlyon Business School; Nova School of Business and Economics, based in Portugal; and ESSEC Business school, also based in France.
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Masters in Management Ranking | Beyond Europe
Last year saw China’s Tsinghua take sixth place in the ranking and break into the typically European-dominated top 10, with Shanghai’s Antai College achieving a similar feat this year.
Antai performed well in outcomes-related metrics, including for career services and career progress where it ranked fifth and sixth, respectively.
As is typically the case, the highest average salaries earned by graduates can be found at the top business schools in India. The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad reported the highest average salaries, with grads earning more than $156,000 on average, a roughly $16,000 increase on the previous year. IIM Ahmedabad rises from 43rd to 39th overall this year.
In total, there are 14 Indian business schools in the FT’s top 100 MiM programs, up from 11 the previous year. This includes big name schools, with IIM Ahmedabad joined by the IIMs of Bangalore, Calcutta, and Lucknow, as well as SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.
Meanwhile Shanghai’s Antai College is joined by Tongji University School of Economics and Management, with both of mainland China’s two represented business schools featuring among the top 15. The list also sees Singapore and Taiwan represented by Singapore Management University and National Sun Yat-sen University.
While the list is dominated by business schools in Europe and Asia, Morrocco’s Rabat Business School also features, placing 32nd overall, as does Australia’s University of Sydney Business School, in 67th.
For the third year in a row, Hult International Business School and the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business are the only US-based schools with management programs ranked among the top 100.
The MBA remains the dominant degree in the US, however there are increasing numbers of US schools choosing to launch MiM degrees, including Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and the highly prestigious Chicago Booth School of Business.
The Financial Times Masters in Management ranking is based on surveys of both alumni and schools. Alumni responses comprise 56% of the total ranking, while school data is worth 44%.
To be eligible, a school must offer a full-time, cohort based, Master in Management program aimed at students with little or no prior work experience. The school must also be accredited by the AACSN or Equis.
Best Masters in Management ranking | Top 20
*Salary Today refers to alumni average salaries three years after graduation
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