Kellogg/HKUST Tops Financial Times EMBA Ranking For 12th Time

The Kellogg/HKUST Business School Executive MBA has regained its top spot in the FT EMBA Ranking 2023. The prestigious, US-Chinese joint-hosted program for experienced professionals has held its winning streak after regaining its first place position in 2022 from HEC Paris, which this year is positioned seventh. 

The top 10 of the FT EMBA Ranking 2023 is a global affair, with multiple programs being hosted from several locations around the world. Second spot is taken by China's CEIBS, while in third place is ESCP Business School which offers the program at one of six European campuses—France, Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, and Poland. 

In fourth place is the TRIUM Global EMBA, delivered jointly by HEC Paris, NYU Stern School of Business, and the London School of Economics. 

Fifth place belongs to the University of Oxford: Saïd, and in sixth place is IE Business School in Spain. 

World's Best EMBA Programs

When considering the world's best EMBA programs, you should look at more than one ranking table. Others include QS, Fortune and US News.

This year, US schools are well represented in the FT EMBA ranking, with Yale School of Management and M7 business schools, MIT: Sloan, University of Chicago: Booth and University of Pennsylvania: Wharton all within the top 20. Arizona State University: WP Carey has earned 12th position, up eight places from the previous year.

Europe is also well represented in the FT top 20, with many schools rising through the rankings. Oxford: Saïd has soared from 15th place in 2022 to fifth in this year's ranking. Similarly fellow UK b-school, London Business School, also jumped 10 places from 19th to ninth in this years ranking. IE Business School rose six places from 12th position in 2022 to sixth place. IESE Business School, also in Spain, has held 12th place. 

Among the Chinese contingent in this year’s FT Executive MBA ranking, joining CEIBS is Fudan University School of Management in eighth place, up four from 2022.

One thing that stands out in the FT EMBA ranking is the eye-watering salaries graduates earn on average three years after completion of their degree—the factor with the highest weight towards the ranking. Graduates from top-ranked Kellogg/HKUST Business School earn on average $652,326, while alumni from the second-placed CEIBS EMBA earn around $529,822 three years after graduation. 

FT EMBA Ranking Methodology

To be eligible for the FT EMBA ranking, business schools must be accredited by either AACSB or Equis. The EMBA must be cohort-based, with students enrolling and graduating together. 

Data is collected using two online surveys. One is completed by participating schools and the other by alumni who completed programs in 2020. For a school to be eligible for the ranking, at least 20% of its alumni must respond to the FT survey. However, due to the effects of the Covid pandemic in 2022, the FT considered schools with a lower response rate for this years survey. The 2023 ranking includes 3,814 alumni responses and 125 business schools.

Alumni responses inform several ranking criteria that make up 50% of the overall ranking: salary today, salary increase, career progress, work experience, and aims achieved. Salary today and salary increase carry the most weight, together accounting for 33% of the overall ranking.

Data provided by the business schools accounts for 40% of the overall FT EMBA ranking. It includes figures on female faculty, female students, women on board, international faculty, international students, international board, international course experience, extra languages, faculty with doctorates and FT research rank. Additionally, the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) score is based on the proportion of core courses dedicated to this area, and carries a weight of 3%.

The world’s best Executive MBA programs