FT Global MBA ranking 2021: INSEAD Ranked #1, while Harvard, Stanford skip survey; ISB, 4 IIMs Ranked in Top 100

Indian School of Business (ISB) is ranked as the top MBA program in India (and #23 globally) by the Financial Times’ Global MBA rankings released on February 7. A total of five B-schools from India have been ranked among the top 100 MBA programs in the World. It is important to note that FT MBA Ranking ranks only “post-experience MBA” programs, where prior work experience is the necessary admission criteria, and hence ranks 1 year MBA equivalent programs, like ISB’s PGP and IIMA’s PGPX, and not the flagship 2 year MBA/PGPM programs of IIMs.

Globally, INSEAD, with campuses in France and Singapore, is ranked as the top MBA program, followed by London Business School, and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

This year, Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton did not participate in the FT ranking. “Data gathering was disrupted last year by the pandemic, which led a number of US schools including Harvard, Stanford and Wharton to suspend participation,” said Financial Times.

FT Global MBA Rankings 21 - Indian B-schools
Coming to India, IIM Ahmedabad has significantly improved its rankings. It has moved up from 61^st rank to #48 this year. ISB too has increased its ranking modestly. Here is a quick comparison.

FT Global MBA Rankings 21 - Top 15 in the world
FT MBA Rankings is calculated based on the salaries drawn by the alumni three years after graduation, quality of research, value for money, among others. The rankings are calculated from the data including alumni salaries three years after graduation, the quantity of research in recognised journals and the diversity of students and faculty.

• Rank 1: INSEAD
• Rank 2: London Business School
• Rank 3: University of Chicago: Booth
• Rank 4: IESE Business School
• Rank 5: Yale School of Management
• Rank 6: Northwestern University: Kellogg
• Rank 7: Ceibs
• Rank 8: HEC Paris
• Rank 9: Duke University: Fuqua
• Rank 10: Dartmouth College: Tuck 
• Rank 11: University of Virgenia: Darden
• Rank 12: SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy 
• Rank 13: New York University: Stern
• Rank 14: National University of Singapore Business School
• Rank 15: Cornell University: Johnson 

FT’s ranking notes that “that demand for MBAs stayed strong around the world and the salaries of alumni remained resilient when they were surveyed from September to October 2020, several months after the initial spread of coronavirus caused economic harm.” Several schools in FT ranking 2021 reported double digit percentage increases in applications for the 2020/21 academic year. IESE Business School in Barcelona reported a 12 per cent rise year on year and a record number of applications.

FT Global MBA Ranking Methodology

As more Indian B-schools launch 1 year MBA programs and aspire to the globally ranked, understanding FT MBA Ranking Process will be helpful. Here is a quick analysis by MBAUniverse.com.

• A total of 143 schools took part in the 2021 Rankings. All participating schools meet the FT’s entry criteria, including being accredited by Equis or the AACSB. 
• The FT surveys alumni three years after completing their MBA. For schools to enter the ranking calculations, the FT requires that a minimum of 20 per cent of alumni reply to the survey, with at least 20 fully completed surveys.
• The ranking has 20 different criteria. Alumni responses inform eight criteria that together contribute 61 per cent of its weight. Eleven criteria are calculated from school data, accounting for 29 per cent of the ranking. KPMG audits a number of schools every year. The remaining criterion, the research rank, counts for 10 per cent. 
• The research rank is based on the number of articles by full-time faculty in 50 internationally recognised academic and practitioner journals. The rank combines the number of publications from January 2018 to August 2020, with the number weighted relative to faculty size. 

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on MBA Rankings & 1 Year MBA.