Poets&Quants Top Business Schools

Contact our general manager with any questions. Profile updated: July 20, 2023.

Esade Business School

MBA Program Stats

Annual Tuition: €78,500

Annual Tuition Non-Resident: €78,500

Acceptance Rate: 37%

Full-Time Enrollment: 181

Median GMAT: 660

International: 98%

Female: 27%

Male: 73%

Average Age: 28

What You Need To Know

If practice makes perfect, then Barcelona’s Esade MBA program should be pretty good at teaching MBAs, because they have been doing it since 1964. The school prides itself on being at the forefront of modern MBAs because their aim is to prepare creative leaders who can flourish in a disruptive environment. The Esade MBA is based on Four C’s – Collaborative leadership, Critical thinking, Creativity, and Communication skills.

“I love everything about Barcelona, I feel a part of me now will always be from Barcelona. The culture, art, architecture, music, football, beach, mountains, and life in this city is just contagious, I feel I’m the main character everywhere in this city. I could not have chosen a better city with joy and perfect harmony for this experience. Even after 1.5 years here, I still feel I’m not done with this city and can’t wait to come back and re-experience this city at another point in my life,” says MBA Kimia Koushesh.

Academics And Programs

The program has a total of 183 students from about 50 countries – 96% of them come from outside Spain, so it’s not surprising that this is an eye-opening and diverse program. The program is flexible for most student’s schedules, offering 12-, 15-, and 18-month options, with the longer options involving exchanges and internships. The first term is about transformation, building awareness, promoting introspection and self-knowledge and students do so fully engaged. Most put their careers on pause while attending the program. The second term is about learning to create and innovate, and the third is about transformation, putting into practice what you have learned.

The MBA has core courses and around 40 electives ranging from the predictable courses, like Hedge Funds to the unusual, such as their “In Search of Principles for a Life Philosophy” course. The B-School offers the usual study tours, treks, and exchanges — and with 13 partner schools in Asia and 11 in the United States, the range is impressive. Esade also offers Business Labs for family businesses, innovation, entrepreneurship, and marketing, and boasts a Career Acceleration Program in investment and private banking, consulting, and technological disruption.

Aside from required courses, Esade also offers both business and social clubs, conferences, and case competitions. Post-grad, MBAs have gone on to work for nearby companies like Banco Sabadell, CaixaBank, Telefónica, Mango, and Accenture, and the B-School reported that 95% of their graduates changed sector, function, or location.

“We pride ourselves on having a diverse cohort on the MBA because we believe the leader of the future must be able to work with others, to foster collaboration and the creation of ecosystems. Collaborative leadership is at the core of what we do. We have a very diverse cohort and we want to build on that diversity. We do not want to homogenize the class, we want them to embrace their differences, backgrounds, and origins by recombining them and creating something new. Our students have interesting stories, and we want them to go on creating even more interesting stories,” says Associate Dean Luis Vives.

Why Students Chose

“Esade is known for its entrepreneurial vein, which is currently important whether you plan to start something of your own or work in a scale up. This was my main driver, but sunny Barcelona also played a role.” Douglas Bernardo Silva (‘22)

“The tremendous diversity. There were 180 or so students from 47 different countries. I was exposed to a wide variety of cultures, which is exactly what I wanted in order to become a global citizen, appreciating, learning, and understanding how others behave, think and do business.” Maram Albutairi (‘22)

“I chose Esade for the flexibility it offers to customize your MBA journey. Esade not only allows you to complete the MBA in 12, 15, or 18 months, you are also not expected to choose your track until you are a good eight months into the program. This flexibility allowed me to front-load my subjects in such a way that I could do two internships in two different countries and an exchange at Kellogg School of Management in the U.S.” Rishabh Chaturvedi (‘20)

“I chose Esade because of its focus on women, entrepreneurship, and its people. Overall, the program has delivered beyond my expectations. Throughout the program and coupled with the activities run by the Women in Business Club, I felt supported and connected to a strong network of women who empowered and inspired me to test my limits. The Esade Entrepreneurship Institute also did a great job of enabling us to navigate the uncertainty of creating and running a startup with the help of the Accelerator Program. Lastly, the Esade community was and always will be warm and welcoming, which made me feel at home throughout my MBA journey.” Michelle Rojo (‘20)

“I chose Esade because one of its strengths is entrepreneurship and because it is ‘the best MBA for women in Europe’ (FT). However, to be honest, I also chose Esade to enjoy my life. Acquiring knowledge is only a fraction of what an MBA provides. With Barcelona’s fine weather, nice local people, and delicious food, there was a good chance that I would be able to enjoy my life enough to come up with a good business idea and become an entrepreneur. In addition, I thought the diverse culture at Esade and in Barcelona would positively influence my children’s mindset.” Megumi Takemoto (‘20)

Career Stats

Compensation Statistics of Esade MBAs

Compensation 2022 2019 2017 2016 2015 2014
Average Base Salary $157,209 € 71,263 € 94,261 € 76,110 € 61,008 € 68,489

Esade MBA Graduate Employment Offers

Employment 2022 2019 2017 2016 2015 2014
% of MBAs Employed 3 months post Graduation 91% 91% 90% 86% 83% 88%

Industry Choices of Esade MBAs

% of MBAs Employed   by Industry Sector 2022 2019 2017 2016 2015 2014
Consulting 23% 21% 19% 12% 23% 13%
Financial Services 15% 12% 21% 5% 11% 15%
Industry & Manufacturing 3% 7% 20% 34% 30% 24%
Technology 37% 33% 32% 30% 20% 29%
Govt/Non-Profit/Education 6% 2% 2% 0% 4%
General Services 6% 15% 16% 15%
Communication 2%
Healthcare/Pharmacology 10% 7%
Consumer Packaged Goods 7%
Retail 2%
Media/Entertainment 6%
Other 6% 2%

Top Hirers Of Esade MBAs In 2022

AB InBev
AbbVie
Accenture
Alira Health
Amazon
Bain & Company
Bayer
BBVA
Boston Consulting Group
Citi
Danaher
Delivery Hero
Deloitte
Delta Partners
ELEM biotech
EY
Glovo
HP
Infosys
Johnson & Johnson
KPMG
McKinsey & Company
Microsoft
Nike
Novartis
Nubank
Radius
Roland Berger
SAP
Simon-Kucher & Partners
Spartan Capital Intelligence
Strategy &
Tesla
WayFair
Zalando

Admissions For Esade

From Esade Business School

Esade Business School is an international academic institution that was established in Barcelona in 1958 as a non-profit organization. Its key mission is to train individuals to become highly competent professionals fully aware of their social responsibility. We promote education and research through both our Law and Business Schools with a firm commitment to intellectual rigour, critical analysis, and academic excellence.

The vast majority of Esade’s 72,000 alumni are ambassadors of these values in over one hundred countries and hold top-level posts in companies, public administration, and the non-profit sector.

Throughout the years, Esade has forged deep-rooted ties with the business, economic and social sectors as a platform for education and innovation, as a benchmark research centre, and as a stage for reflection and dialogue.

Esade’s global prestige stems from the excellent standard of its programmes in management, its quality education, its international focus, and its holistic approach towards professional and personal skills development. For this reason, Esade achieves consistently high positions in global rankings now being the 8th Best Business School in the world, by the prestigious Financial Times magazine.

#6 Best MBA Non-US, Financial Times 2024
#17 Best MBA WW, Financial Times 2024
#1 in Europe for Salary Increase, Financial Times 2024
#1 in Europe for Entrepreneurship, Bloomberg Businessweek 2024
#4 WW for Carbon Footprint, Financial Times 2024
#4 Best International MBA, Poets&Quants 2023

Student Features For Esade

Meet Esade Business School’s MBA Class Of 2024

Plus an Interview with Associate Dean Jan Hohberger

Meet the MBA Class of 2024: Felipe Alarcón Alvarez, Esade Business School

“Passionate about value generation and building bridges among the business, consulting, finance, and legal worlds”

2023 MBA To Watch: Melinda Keys, ESADE Business School

“A geologist by trade, a gender equity advocate by passion, and a soon-to-be consultant by profession”

2023 MBA To Watch: Florian Burmeister, ESADE Business School

“Passionate, goal-oriented, positive leader and sportsman, who has worked in +15 countries and loves pasta”

2023 Best & Brightest MBA: Kimia Koushesh, ESADE Business School

“Passionate Iranian woman ready to give my grain of sand to the world”

2022 Best & Brightest MBA: Maram Albutairi, ESADE Business School

“A brand of success, a mother of two who is willing to go above and beyond to reach her goals”

2021 Best & Brightest MBAs: Sarah Schilling, ESADE Business School

“Positive, impact-driven European with a passion for giving back and empowering others”

2020 Best & Brightest MBAs: Angeliki Malizou, ESADE

EU policymaker makes the triple jump into entrepreneurship

2022 MBA To Watch: Douglas Bernardo Silva, ESADE Business School

“Born in Brazil, I have lived in five countries and love learning new cultures”

2021 MBAs To Watch: Anuar Jorge de Saráchaga, ESADE Business School

“Passionate, motivated, and curious human being”

2020 MBAs To Watch: Rishabh Chaturvedi, ESADE

'Rishabh is not only a thinker but also a furious doer'

2020 MBAs To Watch: Michelle Rojo, ESADE

'A pure-blooded Ilongga who wraps her resilience and grit in a soft-spoken and genteel hijab'

2020 MBAs To Watch: Megumi Takemoto, ESADE

Motorcycle adventurer, baseball player and mother starting new life as an entrepreneur

2022 MBA To Watch: Juan Carlos Cerdas Del Río, ESADE Business School

“An ambitious person who strives to have a positive impact on the world”

School Features

ESADE Names A Long Time Professor Its New Dean

Joan Rodon will assume the deanship at ESADE after serving for 22 years on the faculty

Congrats to Namrata Goyal of Esade Business School for being named a 2023 Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professor

2023 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors: Namrata Goyal, Esade Business School

Congrats to Namrata Goyal of Esade Business School for being named a 2023 Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professor.

2021 Best 40-Under-40 Professors: Bart De Langhe, Esade Business School

'His dedication and way of teaching was brilliant and highest among all'

MBA Watch For Esade

MBA Watch is where thousands of MBA applicants not only get to tell their story but have John A. Byrne, MBA admissions coaches and our audience, assess their odds of admission and get help to improve their chances of getting in!

Ms. Banker

An ex-banker at the largest bank in India, student council member at undergrad school, painting enthusiast, pursuing CFA level 1.

Mr. Sports BI Analyst

I am a BI analyst and social media coordinator for a sports analytical startup that didn't make it big.

Mr. Businessman Engineer

A technology and business enthusiast with 3 years of experience and demonstrated history of working in a cross-functional environment; skilled in effective communication, problem-solving, and prioritizing and eliminating challenges; possess an analytical and innovative outlook.

Ms. Low-GPA

Turkish woman who studied finance at a European business school with financial aid while leading a student-run consulting association and interning in Luxembourg PE & Middle East MBB.

Mr. Healthcare Engineer Consultant

I am an associate consultant for a multinational consulting firm.

Rankings Data For Esade

Global Rankings 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Poets&Quants 8 8 9 9 7
Financial Times 10 8 8 10 9
The Economist 10 15 14 19 7
BusinessWeek 11 7 9 12 11
Forbes 5 5 5 10 10

News Coverage For Esade

2024 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors: Ioannis Evangelidis, Esade Business School

Congrats to Ioannis Evangelidis, Esade Business School, for being named a 2024 Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professor.

On Tour In Silicon Valley With Esade’s Entrepreneurs

In April, 57 of the Spanish B-school's master's students showcased Esade's 'get out and do' ethos in a tour of Silicon Valley

A New Winner Tops Our 2022-2023 International MBA Ranking

IESE unseats INSEAD as the top international MBA program--by a technicality

2021 Most Disruptive MBA Startups: RCube, ESADE

ESADE startup uses recycled waste and patented additives to create durable products

2020 Most Disruptive MBA Startups: Kleta, ESADE

ESADE applies sharing model to bicycles

How ESADE Became A Startup Haven

A truly global entrepreneurial MBA from a business school in Barcelona