Financial Times Ranking Methodology
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Financial Times is one of the most trusted names when it comes to looking for an MBA or business schools rankings. FT has been ranking full-time MBA programs since 1999, so there must be no doubts about the authenticity of the rankings produced by it. The Financial Times provides 7 rankings annually. Alumni will be surveyed three years after they've obtained their MBA degrees. A school will only be considered for these rankings if at least 20% of alumni respond to the survey and 20 completed surveys have been received.
FT publishes several rankings each year, including those for Global MBA, Executive MBA, Master's in Management (MIM), Master's in Finance, and Online MBA programs. These rankings aim to find schools that train top global managers while focusing on diversity and sustainability.
The way FT ranks these schools is detailed and based on real data. They collect information from surveys filled out by alumni (graduates) and the schools themselves. The FT rankings look at many factors, such as how much graduates earn, their career growth, research output, international experience, and diversity among students and faculty. Recently, FT has added new measures to consider environmental impact and sustainability in education.
- Financial Times Ranking Methodology
- Financial Times Ranking Methodology: Major Changes
- Financial Times Global MBA Ranking Criteria
- Financial Times Global MBA Rankings Methodology
- Key Takeaways for FT Rankings Methodology
Financial Times Ranking Methodology
The methodology used for these rankings is similar. The seven rankings produced by the Financial Times are listed below:
- Global MBA
- Executive MBA
- Master's in Management (MIM)
- Masters in Finance
- Executive Education
- European Business Schools
- Online MBA
Check: 5 Steps to Choosing the Right College
Financial Times Ranking Methodology: Major Changes
Some of the significant changes that have been made are:
- Salary Criteria: Weightage reduced to 32% from 40% so that more focus can be put on the rest of the factors.
- Value for Money: It now weighs 5%. It includes salary post-MBA, cost of studying and financial assistance.
- Ability to speak languages other than English at graduation is no more a criterion for ranking.
- Alumni recommendations of other business schools is not a ranking criterion anymore.
- Alumni network rank weighs 4%.
- A new measure 'Diversity of employment background of students' weighs 3%.
- Environment is now being given new attention. Schools which would submit the recent public carbon emissions report will be given credit.
Check: 10 Best MBA Colleges in the World
Financial Times Global MBA Ranking Criteria
The Financial Times uses 21 separate data parameters that are further divided into nine indicators each weighting differently. The FT MBA rankings parameters are displayed in the table below.
| FT Ranking Indicators |
Weightage |
|---|---|
| Weighted Salary |
16% |
| Salary Increase |
16% |
| Value for Money |
5% |
| Career Progress |
3% |
| Aims Achieved |
4% |
| Alumni Network Rank |
4% |
| Career services |
3% |
| Employed at three months |
2% |
| Sector Diversity Rank |
3% |
| Female Faculty |
3% |
| Female Students |
3% |
| Women on Board |
1% |
| International Faculty |
3% |
| International Students |
3% |
| International Board |
1% |
| International Mobility |
5% |
| International Course Experience |
3% |
| Faculty with Doctorates |
5% |
| Carbin Footprint Rank |
4% |
| FT Research Rank |
10% |
| ESG and net zero teaching rank |
3% |
Also Read
- Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking Methodology
- Bloomberg Business Ranking Methodology
- US News Business Ranking Methodology
Financial Times Global MBA Rankings Methodology
Check out in detail about the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings Methodology in the following section:
- Weighted Salary: Considers the average alumni compensation three years post-graduation.
- Salary Increase: Considers the average variation in the salaries of alumni (pre-MBA to the present time). Calculation of this is divided into absolute salary increase and percentage increase with regard to pre-MBA salary.
Value for Money: Factors taken into consideration are tuition and other expenses, duration of the course, and present salary. - Career Progress: Factors considered include changes in seniority level and the organisation's size where alumni are employed at present. A comparison is made with before their MBA.
- Aims Achieved: How many stated targets did the alumni meet or the reason behind pursuing an MBA.
- Alumni Network Rank: Role played by the alumni network in job opportunities, obtaining new ideas, hiring employees, establishing companies and providing even-centric details, which the alumni rates.
- Careers Service: Beyond teaching, this indicator measures the school's career service in terms of internships, networking, recruitment, or career counselling. This additional service is an important aspect of an MBA grads' career.
- Employed at Three Months: Percentage of the latest passing out batch which found a job or accepted one within three months of completing graduation.
- Sector Diversity Rank: The variety of sectors in which the students worked during admission, pre-MBA, is considered.
- Female Faculty: Total female faculty members.
- Female Students: Women pursuing MBA.
- Women on Board: Number of females who are a part of the school's advisory committee.
- International Faculty: Factors considered are faculty's citizenship and the total percentage of those faculty whose job location and citizenship differ.
- International Students: This indicator takes into account the citizenship of graduates and the countries where they work. FT also takes into account the citizenship diversity of the current MBA class of the institutes. FT also measures study tours, research projects, student exchange programs, and internships abroad.
- International Board: Measurement of the differentiation between the board's citizenship and the school's location.
- International Mobility: Factors considered are the pre-MBA location (on completion and after three years) and alumni citizenship.
- International Course Experience: Internships and exchanges, of a minimum one-month duration, pursued by the latest passing out batch. These programmes should have been pursued in nations where the school is not located.
- Faculty with Doctorates: Full-time faculty holding a doctorate.
- FT Research Rank: Total articles published by the present full-time faculty in 50 chosen journals between January 2022 to May 2024.
- Carbon Footprint Rank: Net zero target year that the institute has set for carbon emissions and a carbon emissions audit report within the past three years, which is available for the public.
ESG and Net Zero Teaching Rank: Teaching duration's proportion from core programmes which can help organisations to achieve net zero.
Key Takeaways for FT Rankings Methodology
- Data collected from MBA grads three years after their graduation
- This ranking consists of the world’s 100 best full-time MBA programmes
Almost every 2 candidates out of 3 in Western Europe use FT rankings. Apart from the US and Canada, it is the most used raking in almost every region.
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