The Economist Releases International Rankings Of Executive MBA Programmes

NEW YORK, May 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Economist has released its new ranking of Executive MBA programmes—prestigious degrees for executives with significant management experience.

IE business school in Spain came first, up from second place in 2013, with Oxford University's Said school rising 2nd from 4th. The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University had four programmes in the top 15: its own standalone EMBA as well as joint programmes with York University in Canada, WHU in Germany and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

A full ranking of 62 programmes is available at www.economist.com/whichmba

HISTORY OF THE EXECUTIVE MBA
Expensive EMBAs were once seen as important ways to train and retain firms' most talented, up-and-coming executives. But the number of companies that pay for managers to attend such programmes has fallen precipitously in the past decade. In 2005, 69% of students surveyed by The Economist were sponsored; this year just 39% were. That is because despite six-figure tuition fees, many managers now fund themselves. They may be right to do so.

Students on the programme offered by top-ranked IE, for example, enter the course earning an average of around $144,000. A year after they graduate, this has risen to $260,000, more than covering the $81,000 cost of the programme. A healthy 85% of its students, surveyed by The Economist, say they received a promotion soon after graduation. Such figures are replicated across all of the schools at the top of our ranking.

HOW RANK WAS DETERMINED
The Economist ranks EMBA programmes in two areas: personal development/educational experience and career development. Around 80% of the data is collected through a survey of EMBA students and alumni. This asks, among other things, about salary and career progression, as well as requesting ratings of schools' faculty, facilities, students and the like. The remaining data is garnered from schools, on such things as faculty qualifications, alumni networks and student make-ups. View the full methodology behind the rankings.

About Which MBA? (economist.com/whichmba)
Which MBA? is a division of The Economist Newspaper Group which offers a suite of online products serving both prospective MBA students and business schools. Our consumer products for prospective students include a GMAT preparation course, annual MBA rankings, and content on Economist.com. Which MBA? offers multi-media advertising solutions for business schools ranging from online MBA fairs, to traditional online and print mediums, to custom white-label lead generation tools.

About The Economist (economist.com)
With a growing global circulation (now more than 1.5 million including both print* and digital) and a reputation for insightful analysis and perspective on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognised and well-read current affairs publications. The paper covers politics, business, science and technology, and books and arts, concluding each week with the obituary. Its website (www.economist.com) offers articles from the past ten years, in addition to web-only content such as blogs, debates and audio/video programmes. The Economist is now available to download for reading on Android, iPhone, or iPad devices.

These rankings were correlated by The Economist's Business education editor, Bill Ridgers, who is based in London.

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SOURCE The Economist