7) A Top Ten First: The Majority Of MBA Programs Are Outside The U.S.

Reading the FT’s Top Ten this year feels like wandering into Alice in Wonderland, where the Mad Hatter runs the metrics, time moves backward, and logic is optional. In this world, paying less somehow counts as learning more, relative salary gains outrank absolute earnings, and crossing borders matters more than mastering leadership. Nothing here is technically wrong—but everything is strangely upside down.

For the first time in the 28-year history of the Financial Times MBA ranking, a majority of the Top Ten schools sit outside the United States, clustered in Europe and Asia. That is a striking reversal of the world the FT first captured in 1999, when nine of the top ten programs were American, and U.S. business schools set the global standard for the MBA. The headline suggests a dramatic leveling of the playing field—perhaps even a passing of the torch.

This shift has been evolving over time. On that debut list, the sole non-U.S. player was London Business School. Some 20 years later in 2019, seven of the Top Ten MBAs were in the U.S. with  INSEAD, Ceibs in Shanghai, and London Business School in this elite group. Today the FT‘s Top Ten includes INSEAD, IESE business School, London, HEC Paris, Esade, and Ceibs. The only U.S. players on the top of the ranking are MIT, Wharton, Berkeley, and Harvard, which sits in tenth place.

But context matters. The FT ranking doesn’t simply measure quality; it attempts to define it through a methodology that systematically privileges non-U.S. models. Heavy weights on international mobility, students and faculty, and adjustments to salaries based on purchasing power parity tilt the scales toward European and Asian programs by design. Schools with shorter programs and lower tuition benefit disproportionately from ROI metrics, while U.S. programs—long optimized for leadership development, a pedagogy that includes experiential learning, and deep employer pipelines—are penalized for higher costs and less international churn. The omission of stats that measure more highly selective admissions criteria favor non-U.S. programs.

The result is a ranking that can make very different programs appear roughly equivalent, when they are not. The best U.S. MBAs still dominate on measures that matter most to candidates and employers alike: absolute compensation, career optionality, entrepreneurial output, alumni power, and faculty depth. An MBA from a top American school continues to confer a level of market signaling and lifetime network value that no weighting tweak can erase. What the FT ranking often captures instead is fit with its own criteria, not a comprehensive assessment of educational or career impact.

Seen this way, Europe and Asia’s newfound numerical majority in the FT Top Ten says less about a sudden parity with U.S. elites and more about the FT’s evolving lens. Globalization has broadened the MBA ecosystem, and non-U.S. programs have unquestionably improved. But the ranking’s optics risk overstating that convergence. The real takeaway isn’t that European and Asian MBAs have eclipsed their U.S. counterparts—it’s that the FT has built a framework where geography and structure matter as much as substance, and where “Top Ten” increasingly reflects methodology more than merit.

8) Can Haas Last In The Top 10?

The first time it happens, you can call it an anomaly. The second time? Maybe a pattern. By the third time, it becomes something to watch…carefully.

That’s the story of the Haas School’s rankings over the past year. Last April, UC Berkeley continued its Top 10 run in the CEOWorld’s Best Business School’s Ranking for the 3rd straight year, inching up a spot each year to crest at 7th. The past fall, Haas jumped from 14th to 3rd in the Bloomberg Businessweek MBA Ranking. One reason: The school finished in the Top 10 across all five dimensions measured by Bloomberg Businessweek: Compensation, Learning, Entrepreneurship, Networking, and Inclusion. And it was the only MBA program to achieve that feat too. With The Financial Times newly-released MBA Ranking, Haas has continued its impressive run into 2026.

This year, Haas climbed back into the Top 10 after seeing its rank pinball from 19th to 7th to 15th from 2022-2024. While Haas is now lodged at 9th after a 6-spot jump, their progress begs the question: Is Haas here to stay …or just passing through.

A STEP FORWARD…AND A STEP BACK

History suggests the latter. After all, Haas teeter-tottered from 7th to 28th from 2010-2020, a period that included four top ten finishes. That said, the school boasts metrics in key areas that gives it potential staying power.

That starts with Weighted Salary, which carries a 16% weight. This year, graduates reported pay of $220,903 in base alone within three years of graduation. That’s more than four schools ranked above Haas (Esade, CEIBS, HEC Paris, and IESE) and several schools ranked just below them (Nanyang, Indian School of Business, Cornell Johnson, Duke Fuqua). Haas’ research rank – holding a 10% weight – was higher than all of these schools except for Cornell and Duke (which ranked 15th and 16th). The school also ranked 2nd in the world for its Carbon Footprint (4% weight) despite placing 43rd for ESG and Net Zero Teaching (which is defined as the “proportion of teaching hours from core courses devoted to environment, social and governance issues and climate solutions”). What’s more, Haas finished 15th for its Alumni Network, higher than every program ranked above it except for MIT Sloan and IESE.

Looking ahead, Haas may be hindered by a lack of improvement across the board. This year, the school benefited from a wild jump in Carbon Footprint (66th to 2nd) and a noticeable uptick in its Alumni Network ranking (25th to 16th). Beyond that, Haas didn’t move the needle all the much. True, Weighted Salary inched up from $219,388 to $220,903. By the same token, Salary Percentage Increase – worth the same 16% share as Weighted Salary – decreased from 115% to 110%. More than that, this 110% growth rate was 3rd-lowest among Top 20 programs. In Research, Haas now ranks 23rd, down 7 spots from the previous year. A decade ago, however, the school placed 11th in this measure. Overall, Haas lost ground across 11 dimensions in 2026 against the previous year, including Career Progress (74th vs. 49th), Career Services (38th vs. 30th), International Mobility (67th vs. 50th), International Course Experience (50th vs. 42nd), and ESG vs. Net Zero Teaching (43rd vs 36th).

A WARNING FOR 2027

To put these latter numbers into perspective, Career Progress, Career Services, and International Course Experience rankings were actually lower in 2024 than 2025. This shows Haas is clearly capable of improvement in one year. Question is, has it positioned itself well enough to hold off up-and-comers?

Yale SOM, for one, moved up 7 spots to rank 17th, Already a Top 10 program in U.S. News and LinkedIn, Yale SOM already outpoints Haas in Salary Percentage Increase, Value For Money, and Career Progress, while tying it at 23rd for Research. In contrast, NYU Stern placed 7th for Research, while also outranking Haas in Career Services (9th vs. 38th) and Career Progress (59th vs. 74th). Being a New York City school, Stern pay is bound to rise. After all, Stern reported the 4th-highest starting pay packages for MBAs for the Class of 2024 at $202,000, more than $17,500 more than Haas grads collected in base and bonus that same year. Those numbers will hit Weighted Salary at the three-year mark, which is The FT’s 2027 MBA Ranking.

In other words, Haas’ time in the Top 10 may be short-lived, particularly if Columbia Business School and Stanford GSB return to The FT Ranking in 2027. In the meantime, Haas can enjoy the limelight, understanding that objects in the rearview mirror may be closer than they appear.

Next Page: Asia on the rise and hidden secrets in the ranking.

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