CEIBS tops list of best Executive MBA programs | Financial Times ranking

The world’s best Executive MBA (EMBA) program is found in China, at CEIBS, a prestigious business school based in Shanghai. The 2024 Financial Times EMBA ranking places the CEIBS Global EMBA top of the list for the first time in the program’s 30 year history, having ranked second for the previous three years. 

A highly international list, the top 10 b-schools in this year’s FT EMBA ranking represent a wealth of countries. The 2024 runner up, ESCP Business School, is home to an EMBA program taught across its various campuses spanning six countries. Top business schools from the likes of Spain, France, the US, and the UK also appear among the list of top EMBA programs. 

As has been the case in previous years, many of the FT’s top EMBA programs are offered through joint partnerships between leading international business schools. The WashU-Fudan EMBA, for example, is delivered by US-based Washington University Olin Business School and China’s Fudan University School of Management. It secures the third spot this year after being unranked since 2022. 

The FT EMBA Ranking is based on data collected using two online surveys: one that’s worth 52% and quizzes alumni who left their respective programs in 2021, and another that’s completed by participating schools and worth 48%. 

To participate, each EMBA must be cohort-based, with students enrolling and graduating together. Schools must also be accredited by either AACSB or Equis. 

The 10 best executive MBA programs in 2024 

Outside the top three positions in this year’s EMBA ranking, the top five spots are rounded out by Spain’s IESE Business School, which rises six positions to place fourth; followed by the TRIUM Global EMBA, a program offered jointly by HEC Paris, London School of Economics, and New York University’s Stern School of Business. 

MIT Sloan School of Management, one of the elite US-based M7 Business Schools, places sixth, regaining six positions after it dropped seven spots to place 13th in 2023. 

The WP Carey/SNAI EMBA, a program partnered between Arizona State University WP Carey School of Business and Shanghai National Accounting Institute, continues to rise up the FT EMBA ranking: after jumping eight spots to place 12th in 2023, it ranks seventh this year. 

The EMBA offered by London Business School and Columbia Business School, two internationally renowned business schools, places eighth after a two-year absence from the ranking. 

In ninth is the INSEAD Global EMBA, which is taught across the school’s multiple campuses in France, Singapore, and the UAE.

A specialist in executive degrees with partner programs across the globe, Fudan University School of Management earns a second spot in the top 10, this time for its non-partner EMBA program, which ranks 10th in the FT list for 2024. 

The FT list has previously been dominated by one program in particular: the Kellogg/HKUST Executive MBA, a 12-time ranking leader. However, the program chose not to participate in the 2024 list.

Other top business schools with EMBA programs that typically hold top 10 positions include HEC Paris and IE Business School, both of which saw their degrees slide down the ranking in 2024 to place 18th and 19th, respectively.  

FT EMBA ranking 2024: top 10 

Financial Times EMBA ranking: analysis 

Executive MBA degrees are typically studied alongside work. Students often enroll towards the end of their thirties or later, and hold a significant amount of work experience. The CEIBS EMBA, for example, has a class average of 41 years, with each student typically bringing 17 years of work experience into the classroom. 

When ranking the performance of EMBA programs, the FT ranking places significant weight on the average salaries that EMBA students earn three years after graduation, as well as the increase in their salaries between pre and post-enrollment. Combined, these metrics comprise 31% of a school’s weighting. 

As EMBA students are typically at or around the executive level in their careers, their salaries are often higher than those of other graduate business degrees: the highest average pay packet among the programs listed in this year’s ranking exceeds $625,000 and is earned by WashU-Fudan EMBA grads. 

CEIBS’ overall ranking position is assisted by strong salary performance. CEIBS alumni average salaries are the second highest within the list, at around $536,000, while the school’s average salary percentage increase of 102% is among the top 10 for this metric. 

The EMBA offered through a partnership between BI Norwegian Business School and Fudan University School of Management leads the salary increase category, with graduates seeing a 126% rise in their earnings.

A further 10% of a school’s ranking performance is dedicated to the FT’s research ranking, based on the number of articles published by faculty within a given period and weighted according to school size. This metric is dominated by some of the world’s most prestigious b-schools, with The Wharton School leading the way, followed by University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the Columbia/LBS EMBA. 

Graduating outcomes are also taken into account by the FT when measuring school performance. Alumni views on the extent to which their program helped them achieve their goals are allocated 6%. The same weighting is given to alumni career progress in terms of their level of seniority and the size of the respective companies they work in. 

For the 2024 FT EMBA Ranking, the aims achieved metric is led by Yale School of Management, with 78% positive responses from surveyed alumni. The career progress ranking is led by ESCP Business School. 

Other key metrics focus on elements including cohort and faculty diversity, the percentage of full-time faculty who hold doctorates, and the work experience alumni hold before entering the program—measured in terms of years, seniority, and organization size.

FT EMBA ranking: metrics