FT Biggest Ranking Increases & Declines

34 of the 93 returning business schools had double-digit increases or declines this year. 

Seven MBA programs fell off the list, replaced by seven new business schools, mainly near the bottom of the list. 

• The biggest declines hit Alliance Manchester, falling 23 places to rank 59th from 35th;
• Lancaster, which dropped 21 places to end up 91st from 70th
• Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management, which plunged 20 places to finish 75th from 55th last year.

The biggest gainer on this year’s ranking is the Indian Institute of Management at Calcutta, which soared 29 places to rank 49th from 78th.  

IIM-Calcutta, in fact, is now only two spots down from India’s most acclaimed IIM in Ahmedabad, which had something of a reversal of fortunes this year, sinking 16 places to rank 47th from 31st in 2018.

WHU’s Otto Beisheim School of Management also had a good showing in the new ranking, improving by 23 places to rank 71st from 94th. Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management and Durham University Business School both advanced 21 places to rank 52nd and 43rd, respectively.

Stanford Repeats At No. 1 In Financial Times 2019 MBA Ranking

As is often the case with all rankings, there were plenty of surprises 

1.  Oxford University’s Saïd Business School jumped 14 spots, more than any other Top 25 school, to gain its highest FT ranking ever in 13th place. 
2.  Oxford bested its British rival, the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, which fell three places to rank 16th. Only two years ago, in 2017, Cambridge’s one-year MBA program was ahead of Oxford by 28 positions, ranking fifth versus Oxford’s 33rd.
3. University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business moved into the Top 25, ranking 23rd from 32nd only a year ago.  
4. IE Business School sank to a rank of 31st, the school’s weakest showing since 2002 when IE finished 35th, and significantly below its eighth-place finish in the world in 2017 when it was also third best in Europe (see IE Back On The FT List But At A Rank Of 31st).

Average GPAs At The Top 50 Business Schools

Among the top 50 schools Georgia Terry had the biggest jump in GPA average: 0.21, to rise to 3.53 last fall. That 6.3% jump makes Terry one of only 16 schools out of those 50 to have an undergraduate GPA average of 3.50 or above.
 

The biggest movers in GPA average in the five years from 2014 to 2018 

1. Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business (+0.19 to 3.40)
2. SMU’s Cox Business School (+0.18 to 3.40)
3. Yale SOM (0.18 to land at 3.71 in 2018)
4. Harvard Business School

Highest GPAs

1. Stanford Graduate School of Business notched a 3.73 this fall, marking six straight years it has had sole possession of the top GPA 
2. GSB tied Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management at 3.69 

Leading MBA Programs With The Most Women

USC Marshall's Class of 2020 attained gender parity, with 52% women enrollmentleapfrogging several top schools that have been slowly climbing through the 40% range to become the first elite school to enroll 50% or more women in an incoming MBA class.

• In the fall of 2017, 12 schools in the U.S. Top 25 were members of the 40%-or-greater club; a year later, that number has ticked upward to 13
• Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, which grew its female ranks from 34% to 42%
• University of Washington Foster School of Business jumped from 36% to 42%.
• Columbia Business School, slipped from 41% to 39%
• University of Texas McCombs School of Business, which dropped from 40% to 38%. 

Northwestern Kellogg (46%), Dartmouth Tuck (45%), and Imperial College Business School of London (45%).

AND WHAT ABOUT EUROPE?

• London Business School enrolled 40% or more women — in LBS’ case, exactly 40% in the Class of 2020. 
• Cambridge Judge (36%)
• Oxford Said (39%)
• IESE (32%) 
•  IE (31%) of Spain
• INSEAD (33%) 
• HEC Paris (32%)