Eduniversal Ranking: 6 Global Deans React

Bruno van Pottelsberghe, Rector of Corvinus University in Budapest, Hungary, holding his school’s 5 Palmes award and another for 2nd Business school, Central & Eastern Europe. Courtesy photos

The newest edition of the Eduniversal Best Business Schools ranking places one hundred institutions in its most coveted category: the 5 Palmes of Excellence. For these schools, the designation signals what Eduniversal describes as universal influence. For applicants and observers, it marks the institutions whose reputations, partnerships, and alumni networks extend far beyond national borders.

In total, Eduniversal evaluates 1,033 business schools across 154 countries and ranks more than 5,600 programs in 58 fields of study, guiding what the French nonprofit says has been more than 77 million students worldwide who have used its classifications for nearly two decades to navigate their options.

In this year’s 5 Palmes list, Western Europe remains a powerhouse, with INSEAD, HEC Paris, ESSEC, IESE, ESADE, London Business School, Nova School of Business and Economics, Rotterdam School of Management, and Copenhagen Business School all maintaining upper-tier status. Northern Europe continues to be represented by BI Norwegian Business School, Stockholm School of Economics, and Aalto University. In the United States, Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Columbia Business School, Wharton, and Yale SOM appear in the top tier; China adds formidable representation through CEIBS, Tsinghua SEM, Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, Fudan School of Management, Antai College at Shanghai Jiao Tong. Sabancı Business School in Turkey joins the top league for the first time.

HOW EDUNIVERSAL BUILDS ITS RANKING

Eduniversal, headquartered in Meudon, just outside Paris, was founded in 1994. Its Best Business Schools system was introduced in 2007 with the goal of mapping the highest-performing institutions across the world’s major economies. The organization first identifies the top 1,000 schools through its Evaluation System, a combination of national economic indicators such as GDP per capita and higher education expenditure, and qualitative factors such as educational tradition and the density of institutions in each country.

Once the pool is set, Eduniversal sorts the schools into one of five Palme leagues, an architecture based primarily on internationalization. Accreditations, faculty mobility, global research collaborations, partnerships, and membership in international academic networks all play a central role in determining a school’s Palme classification. The 5 Palmes tier is reserved for institutions that Eduniversal believes exert global influence across multiple regions and disciplines.

Within each Palme category and country, Eduniversal then incorporates the Deans Vote, a peer recognition survey in which deans and directors identify the institutions they would recommend. Eduniversal presents this component as a qualitative counterbalance to the structural data, one that reflects how schools are perceived by their peers.

A COMPLEX, INFLUENCE-BASED SYSTEM

Eduniversal emphasizes that its model is horizontal rather than vertical. Schools are compared within their Palme league and regional context rather than against every other institution worldwide. For the schools at the 5 Palmes level, the classification signifies not only domestic authority but international presence, research visibility, corporate connections, and deep cross-border networks.

The institutions that consistently reach this tier tend to be those that invest in global expansion. Harvard, Stanford, and MIT Sloan achieve that through wide-reaching alumni communities and international research pipelines. INSEAD does so through campuses in France, Singapore, and the Middle East. IESE and ESADE rely on longstanding networks that link Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Mannheim and WHU in Germany remain among Europe’s most internationally connected research hubs. Nova SBE, located in Carcavelos outside Lisbon, has built a strong global reputation from its modern, outward-facing campus. Singapore’s NUS and NTU have grown into major Asian gateways for executive education and multinational recruitment. In Latin America, FGV and Insper remain among the region’s most internationally recognized institutions.

CRITIQUES OF THE PALME SYSTEM

Some critics argue that Eduniversal’s Palme system gives a structural advantage to schools with large budgets. Because Palme classification depends heavily on international accreditations, global research partnerships, foreign campuses, and cross-border networks, schools with greater financial capacity are naturally more competitive. The methodology outlined on Eduniversal’s official selection page confirms the weight given to accreditations and international visibility, raising questions about whether the system emphasizes institutional resources more than educational innovation or local impact.

The Deans Vote also raises concerns: Since deans of the already selected schools cast the votes, critics argue that the process may reinforce longstanding hierarchies. Lesser-known institutions may struggle to gain recognition even as they improve in quality or outcomes. Reputation-based surveys are seen as being shaped largely by personal perception and can be slow to reflect institutional change. Because Eduniversal does not disclose detailed vote counts, external observers have limited visibility into how the recommendations shape final placements.

To understand how the Palme system is interpreted by the institutions that earn its highest distinction, Poets&Quants asked several leaders whose schools appear in the 5 Palmes tier to reflect on what the recognition signals, how the methodology aligns with their own strategic priorities, and where they see global business education heading next.

• Professor Pedro Oliveira, Dean of Nova School of Business & Economics: Page 2
• Meelis Kitsing, Rector of Estonian Business School: Page 3
• Stefano Caselli, Dean of SDA Bocconi School of Management: Page 4
• Professor Himanshu Rai, Director of Indian Institute of Management Indore: Page 5
• Bruno van Pottelsberghe, Rector of Corvinus University of Budapest: Page 6
• Isabelle Huault, Executive President and Dean of emlyon business school: Page 7

Learn more about the Eduniversal ranking here. 

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