Today sees the release of the latest QS Global 200 Business Schools Report, an annual report identifying the 200 top business schools in the world and comparing them on a number of factors.
The report, published by TopMBA.com, is aimed at graduates and professionals looking to gain an MBA (Master in Business Administration) from one of the world’s top business schools, as well as providing information of significance for business school staff and academics, MBA employers, and anyone else with an interest in the international business education market and recruitment trends.
For an overview of key findings of this year’s report, including business school rankings across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, read on.
Top business schools in the US
The very top tier of this year’s North American business school rankings shows extremely close competition, with Harvard, Stanford and Wharton in an unprecedented three-way tie for the number one spot. Elsewhere in the US, there are more significant shifts in the order of the business school rankings. This is in part due to alterations to the methodology, which now takes top business schools’ reputation in the academic community into account, alongside the views of MBA employers.
These changes see New York University’s Stern School of Business gain 11 places, climbing to rank 10th in North America. Meanwhile the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin gains 10 places to rank 19th. Other big leaps have been made by the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine.
Top business schools in Europe
In the European business school rankings provided by this year’s QS Global 200 Business Schools Report, the UK’s London Business School steals the top spot, ending the decade-long reign of France’s INSEAD. Margins continue to narrow outside of the top two, with the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School moving up one place into the top three, and HEC Paris and SDA Bocconi School of Management joining Europe’s top five business schools.
Top business schools in Asia
While INSEAD may have lost the top spot in Europe, its Singapore branch remains strong in this year’s Asia-Pacific business schools rankings. In fact, INSEAD Singapore boasts an employer reputation that surpasses all other business schools in the region several times over, as well as an academic reputation which is in the top tier globally.
Looking at the rest of Asia, two of Hong Kong’s business schools make notable moves into the top five, while, three out of India’s four representatives, including the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in Bangalore and Calcutta, have dropped out of the Asia-Pacific top 10.
Top business schools in Latin America
Within the Latin American business school rankings, Mexico’s EGADE-Technológico de Monterrey remains the top school in the region for both employer and academic reputation, followed by Chile’s Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in second place. Interestingly, this year sees two previously unranked Latin American business schools join the rankings: the Universidad Adolfo Ibánez in 5th place and the Universidad Diego Portales in 9th.
Top business schools in the Middle East and Africa
The biggest changes in this year’s QS Global 200 Business Schools Report are seen within the Middle East and Africa. A new entry in the Global 200, King Fahd University’s College of Industrial Management in Saudi Arabia takes the top spot ahead of last year’s leader, the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business in South Africa. Other high-achieving business schools in this region include the American University in Cairo, which is now ranked second, along with the American University of Beirut’s Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, which rose to fourth.
Changes to the Global 200 methodology
Based on a global survey of international recruiters which has been conducted since the early 1990s, TopMBA.com’s QS Global 200 Business Schools Report is a comprehensive guide to the top business schools in the world, based on information gained from managers who actively hire MBA graduates at their companies.
For the 2014/15 report, the added measure of academic reputation has been utilized, in order to better highlight business schools with the highest standing in the academic community. This new measure, based on a global survey of leading faculty members with expertise in the field of business and management, aims to provide insights into the top business schools in the world for cutting-edge research, a factor that informs teaching, curriculum and other aspects of business school programs. The full report is available to read online.
