NUS jumps into top 20 in FT's global MBA rankings; NTU is 22nd while SMU debuts at 49th

BUSINESS schools in Singapore are ranked among the top 50 in the Financial Times' (FT) annual global ranking of Master of Business Administration (MBA) programmes, released on Monday.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School MBA programme jumps eight places to rank 18th globally; while Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Nanyang Business School is in 22nd place, up from 24th last year.

Meanwhile, the Singapore Management University (SMU) Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB) which participated in the ranking for the first time this year, is placed 49th - the highest of four newly ranked MBAs. The other new entrants are all from Europe.

Insead, which has a campus in Singapore and came out tops for the past two years fell one spot to rank second this year, while the Stanford Graduate School of Business was named the world's best business school in 2018. This is the second time that Stanford has headed the ranking, six years after it first topped the table.

The Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania remains third, while London Business School moved up to fourth from sixth last year with the top British MBA. Harvard Business School dropped to fifth place, its lowest rank since 2008.

Interestingly, two-year MBA programmes occupy nine out of the top 10 places, with the exception of Insead's one-year programme.

The FT ranking is based on surveys of business schools and their graduates from three years ago. MBA programmes are assessed according to career progression of their alumni, schools' idea generation, and the diversity of students and faculties.

Among others, salaries and salary increases are one of the most heavily-weighted ranking criteria.

Stanford's alumni led the way thanks to a signfiicant salary boost, which was up nearly US$20,000, or 114 per cent to US$214,742. This is the highest average salary (not adjusted for inflation) since the inaugural ranking in 1999.

Locally, an NUS MBA graduate earns an average salary of US$143,917, with a post-graduation salary increase of 134 per cent, while an NTU graduate would be making US$132,288, with a salary increase of 125 per cent, according to the survey.

SMU's MBA alumni also experienced a 134 per cent increase in salary to US$112,173 after graduation.

In terms of offering good value for money, NTU came in 29th globally. NUS is ranked 32nd, followed by SMU in the 37th spot.