Ranking: Financial Times’ World Best Executive MBA Programs Of 2023

BIGGEST WINNERS AND LOSERS

There are several programs with roller-coaster swings, both good and no so good, on the FT list, as is often the case in business school rankings. Seven programs in the top 25 experienced double-digit increases or decreases.

Kedge Business School’s SJTU Global MBA based in France and China rose 24 spots to No. 18, a tie with University of Pennsylvania’s The Wharton School. Two more schools soared 13 spots up to crack the top 25: IMD (International Institute for Management Development) rose to No. 14 while SDA Bocconi School of Management rose to 21.

Meanwhile, the Kellogg-WHU Beisheim EMBA in Germany dropped 12 spots and out of the top tier to No. 28.
Overall, the program with the biggest improvement is Neoma Business School’s EMBA based in France, China, and Iran. It rose 32 spots, climbing from No. 78 in 2022 to No. 46 this year. It is followed by Mannheim Business School in Germany which rose 27 spots to No. 47.

UCT Graduate School of Business in South Africa fell more than any other school, dropping 22 spots to No. 96. It is followed by Singapore Management University: Lee Kong China fell 20 spots to No. 53. See table below.

Winners & Losers In FT 2023 EMBA Ranking
Schools with the biggest jumps
2023 Rank	School	Location	2022 Rank	YOY Change
46	Neoma Business School	France/China/Iran	78	32
47	Mannheim Business School	Germany	74	27
40	Henley Business School	UK/South Africa/Denmark/Finland	65	25
18	Kedge Business School	France/China	42	24
58	Queen’s University: Smith	Canada	82	24
65	Western University: Ivey	Canada/Hong Kong	89	24
63	The Lisbon MBA Catolica | Nova	Portugal	84	21
73	Melbourne Business School	Australia	94	21
76	Cranfield School of Management	UK	97	21
30	Edhec Business School	France	49	19
32	University of Michigan: Ross	US	51	19
43	Copenhagen Business School	Denmark	62	19
Schools with the biggest falls
2023 Rank	School	Location	2022 Rank	YOY Change
96	UCT Graduate School of Business	South Africa	74	-22
53	Singapore Management University: Lee Kong Chian	Singapore	33	-20
99	BI Norwegian Business School	Norway	83	-16
28	Kellogg/WHU Beisheim	Germany	16	-12
97	Michigan State University: Broad	US	85	-12
70	Incae Business School	Costa Rica	59	-11
85	Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business	US	74	-11
17	University of Chicago: Booth	US/UK/Hong Kong	8	-9
94	Indian Institute of Management Bangalore	India	86	-8
37	Kellogg/York University: Schulich	Canada	30	-7
43	Emory University: Goizueta	US	36	-7
51	Kozminski University	Poland	44	-7

National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School rose eight spots to No. 16 and is the highest ranked program from universities based in Singapore. Alumni secured a nearly 60% increase in their salaries three years after graduation, reaching an average of $376,706.

“I am especially proud to witness our EMBA alumni achieving remarkable success in their careers. It is proof of our programme’s transformative impact on their professional journeys and ability to navigate the ever-changing global business landscape,” Andrew Rose, dean of NUS says in a release.

HOW THE FINANCIAL TIMES RANKS EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAMS

The Financial Times’ methodology to rank EMBA programs is based on data provided by business schools and by their alumni three years after graduation. For the 2023 ranking, 3,814 alumni completed the survey for a response rate of about 40%.

The ranking takes into account factors including salaries, assessments of career services, aims achieved and the quality of academic research, as well as the gender balance and international diversity of students and faculty. But salary – adjusted for purchasing power parity – accounts for 33% of the overall ranking’s weight. The adjustment to the pay numbers inflates compensation in countries with larger degrees of poverty or below-western-market rates of pay.

Two schools at the top of this ranking also happen to report the highest adjusted alumni salaries: Kellogg-HKUST at $652,326 and CEIBS in Shanghai at $529,822.

While all 100 of the programs ranked can be considered high-quality, FT divides schools into four tiers with schools in Tiers l and ll scoring above the average while Tiers lll and lV are below it. Tier l includes the top seven schools. Tier ll includes schools from Fudan University School of Management (No. 8) to University of Texas at Austin McCombs (No. 42). Tier lll includes Emory University Goizueta (No. 43) to Tias Business School at Tilburg University (No. 78). Tier lV includes University of Utah David Eccles (No. 79) to Iscte Business School at 100.

See the full FT ranking and how schools scored in the different categories here.

NEXT PAGES: How FT ranked all 100 schools in the 2023 EMBA Ranking