The new Financial Times MBA Global Ranking is out. Here is how to maximise it as an Executive MBA candidate.

In February 2024, the Financial Times (FT) released their annual Global MBA Ranking. About eight months later, in October 2024, their new Executive MBA Ranking will be published as well. But before that happens, let’s look at what is important to know about such business school evaluations and how the FT MBA ranking can be useful to executive candidates.

How to consult the FT MBA ranking

The first reason why an MBA ranking can be helpful even to Executive MBA candidates is because rankings can be used as a starting point in the search for the right school. They provide a great overview of accredited and top-performing institutions on a global scale. Both the MBA and EMBA rankings published by the Financial Times include a list of 100 business schools from different countries and continents. Rankings are not designed to go in depth into the strengths and features of each programme. Instead, they can inspire prospective students to research particular schools or learn how to adopt a more critical perspective in their MBA and EMBA search.

The second reason to consider the new FT MBA ranking is because many of the schools actually feature in both MBA and Executive MBA rankings. CEIBS, one of China’s top business schools, ranks #2 in the 2023 FT EMBA Ranking and #21 in the 2024 MBA Ranking. Spain’s IESE Business School is #10 in the former and #5 in the latter. Of course, a stellar evaluation of a particular programme does not always apply to all other programmes available at the school. There are plenty of institutions that may not even offer both degree formats. However, it can be a good indication of a university striving for good results.

Business school insights and emerging trends

By collecting data from business schools and hundreds of survey responses from MBA alumni, the Financial Times also manages to gain invaluable insights into the latest trends in the market.

Focus on sustainability

For example, the 2024 Global MBA edition showed an increased emphasis on environmental sustainability and green practices by introducing some changes to the methodology. As of 2024, the environmental, social and governance (ESG) rank includes the alumni evaluation of their school’s ESG teaching. Additionally, the carbon footprint rank was updated to award credit to schools with a carbon emissions audit report with Scope 3 emissions (“those not controlled by the school but which occur externally in its value chain as a result of its activities”).

Male-to-female class ratio

Another insight that could be revealing for business school candidates is the diversity of male and female participants in class. There is more to be achieved on this front, as according to the Financial Times, women make up an average of 41% across the 100 ranked schools. “Only Wharton, France’s ESCP and Audencia reported top-scoring parity between male and female MBA students, while 10 schools had more women than men.”

Go a step further with a personalised ranking

For professionals who are interested in the MBA ranking but feel like it needs a personal touch to make it more adaptable to individual needs, a new tool can help. Unimy’s 360° MBA Ranking provides candidates with a personalised ranking of the top 100 MBA programmes based on criteria selected by each individual user. It is based on data from the latest Financial Times and US News MBA rankings along with Unimy’s distinctive Cultural Fit Index.

The 360° MBA Ranking is the first ranking to include cultural fit among its criteria. Cultural fit considers the organisational character of business schools and how they compare – and then which one fits a candidate’s preferences.

Professionals can use the following criteria to generate their personalised results of their top 100 international business schools:

1. Cultural Fit
2. Career Outcomes
3. Diversity
4. Faculty
5. High/Low Acceptance Rate

Next steps in finding the right business school

As always, a combination of different resources works best when researching different business schools. The new Financial Times ranking, along with Unimy’s 360° MBA Ranking, can be the perfect introduction to top-performing schools. Once candidates have a better awareness of what they are looking for in an Executive MBA, Premier EMBA’s events are the recommended next step where prospective students can meet top EMBA programmes in person.

For more event options in other global cities, check out Access MBA’s event schedule where candidates can meet a mix of accredited MBA and EMBA programmes.