FT Executive MBA Ranking 2025: methodology, key and profiles
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Methodology
This is the 25th edition of the FT’s annual ranking of the world’s top 100 Executive MBA programmes for senior working managers.
Participation in the ranking is voluntary and at the business school’s request. Programmes must meet certain criteria to be eligible. First, the school must be accredited by either the US Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business or Europe’s Equis. The EMBA must be cohort-based, with students starting and completing the programme together. A total of 129 programmes took part in the ranking process, including 11 joint courses run by more than one school.
Data for the ranking is collected by two online surveys, the first completed by schools and the second by alumni who completed EMBAs in 2022. For a school to be eligible, at least 20 per cent of alumni must respond, with a minimum of 20 responses. Due to the effects of Covid, the FT considered schools with a lower response rate. The survey was completed by 4,465 alumni — an overall response rate of about 44 per cent.
Alumni responses inform six ranking criteria: salary today; salary increase; career progress; work experience; aims achieved; and the alumni network category, measuring the quality of networks, rated by surveyed graduates. Together, they account for 52 per cent of the ranking’s weight. The first two criteria on alumni salaries count for 31 per cent.
FT Executive MBA Ranking 2025
See the EMBA ranking and report.
Salaries of full-time students are removed. The remaining salaries are converted to US dollars using the latest purchasing power parity (PPP) rates supplied by the International Monetary Fund. The highest and lowest salaries are removed and the mean average current salary is calculated for each school. Salary increase is calculated according to the difference in average salary between before the EMBA and three years after completing it. Half of the ranking weight is applied to the absolute increase and the other half to the percentage increase relative to pre-EMBA pay.
Alumni criteria are drawn from the past three surveys if available. Responses from 2025 carry 50 per cent of the total weight and those from 2024 and 2023 account for 25 per cent each. Excluding salary-related criteria, if only two years of data are available, the weighting is 60:40 if data is from 2025 and 2024, or 70:30 if from 2025 and 2023. For salaries, the weighting is 50:50 for two years’ data, to avoid inflation-related distortions.
Information from schools informs 10 criteria that account for 38 per cent of the ranking. The ESG category is partly based on the proportion of core courses dedicated to environmental, social and governance issues and has a weight of 3 per cent.
The weighting for faculty and student gender diversity is 5 per cent each. For these gender diversity criteria, schools with a 50:50 (male: female) composition receive the highest score.
The international diversity calculation is based on the overall percentage of students and faculty from abroad as well as the spread of these individuals by citizenship based on the Herfindahl index, a measure of concentration.
The final criterion, the FT research rank, accounts for 10 per cent of the ranking. It is calculated according to the number of articles published by schools’ full-time faculty in 50 internationally recognised academic and practitioner journals. The rank combines the absolute number of publications from January 2023 to about May 2025 with the number of publications weighted relative to the faculty’s size.
The FT rankings are relative. Schools are ranked against each other rather than against set standards. The FT calculates the Z-scores for each criterion. Z-scores show how far a school’s data is from the mean and are unitless, so they allow the ranking to be based on very different criteria — salary, percentages and points. These scores are then weighted as outlined in the ranking key and added together for a final score.
After removing the schools that do not meet the minimum alumni response rate, a first version is calculated using all remaining schools. The school at the bottom is removed and a second version is calculated. This action is repeated to find the top 100.
Judith Pizer, of Pizer-MacMillan, and Avner Cohen, of AC Data Science, acted as the FT’s database consultants.
The FT research rank was calculated using Clarivate data covering 50 journals selected by the FT from the Web of Science, an abstract and citation database of research literature.
Key (ranking criteria weights in brackets as a percentage)
Salary today US$ (15): average alumni salary three years after completing the course, US$ international purchasing power parity equivalent. †#
Salary increase (16): average difference in alumni salaries between before the EMBA and now. Half of this measure is calculated according to the absolute salary increase and half according to the percentage increase relative to the pre-EMBA salary. †#
Career progress (6): calculated according to changes in the level of seniority and the size of the company or organisation alumni work in now versus before their EMBA. †#
Work experience (5): a measure of the pre-EMBA experience of alumni according to the seniority of positions held, number of years in each position, organisation size and overseas work experience. †#
Aims achieved (6): the extent to which alumni fulfilled goals or reasons for doing an EMBA. †#
Alumni network rank (4): effectiveness of the network for career opportunities, launching start-ups, recruitment and providing event information (such as career-related talks), as rated by alumni.
Female faculty (5): percentage of full-time faculty. ‡
Female students (5): percentage of female students on the programme. ‡
Women on board (1): percentage of female members on the advisory board. ‡
International faculty (5): calculated according to the diversity of faculty by citizenship and the percentage whose citizenship differs from their location of employment.
International students (5): the percentage of current EMBA students whose citizenship differs from the study location, or where the main campus is located, as well as their diversity by citizenship.
International board (1): percentage of the board whose citizenship differs from the location in which the business school is situated.
International course experience rank (4): based on percentage of classroom teaching hours outside the business school location for the recent completing class on EMBAs with overseas study. In-person, virtual and hybrid experiences included.
Faculty with doctorates (5): percentage of full-time faculty with a doctoral degree.
FT research rank (10): calculated according to the number of articles published by current full-time faculty in 50 academic and practitioner journals from January 2023 to about May 2025. The rank combines the number of publications with the number weighted relative to the faculty’s size.
ESG and net zero teaching rank (3): proportion of teaching hours from core courses (not electives) dedicated to environmental, social and governance issues and climate solutions for how organisations can reach net zero. Alumni evaluation of their school’s ESG teaching is also included.
Carbon footprint rank (4): calculated using the net zero target year for carbon emissions set by the university and/or school, and the existence of a publicly available carbon emissions audit report since 2022. Extra credit is given to schools with a report that includes Scope 3 emissions (those such as travel which occur externally in the school’s value chain but as a result of its activities).
Overall satisfaction: average course evaluation by EMBA alumni, scored out of 10. *
FT ranking tier: schools are divided into four groups. Schools at the top are in tier l and those at the bottom are in tier lV.
† Includes data for the current year and the one or two preceding years where available.
‡ For the three gender-related criteria, schools that have 50:50 (male:female) composition receive the highest possible score.
# Data from alumni who completed their programmes in 2022 included.
Mini school profiles
Top school: Washington: Olin
This is the first time Washington: Olin Business School is top in any FT ranking. Its rise is mainly due to the highest average alumni salary, of $718,662, and the biggest pay rise from pre-EMBA to now, at 134 per cent. The Shanghai-based WashU-Fudan EMBA was formed by a partnership between the US school and China’s Fudan University. Graduates also highly rated its alumni network and performed strongly in the career progress metric.
Highest average rank: Ceibs
Ranked second in 2025, the Shanghai-based school also has the highest average three-year rank of second place. Alumni report the fourth largest average salary at $568,696 and the third biggest pay rise from pre-EMBA to now, at 120 per cent. Nearly three quarters of graduates fulfilled their goals for study. Alumni commended the networking opportunities due to graduates’ diverse backgrounds and Ceibs’ connections with local business.
Top for ESG: ESCP
France’s ESCP, ranked third overall, rises one place to the top for ESG and net zero teaching. This reflects the proportion of core course hours focused on environmental, social and governance topics and climate solutions to help achieve net zero. The school is also top for career progress and second for international course experience, measured by the proportion of teaching hours abroad.
Top for alumni network: Kellogg/HKUST
The Kellogg/HKUST EMBA, in fourth place overall this year, is a past number one. Graduates rated the programme top for its alumni network, a metric that measures its effectiveness in tasks such as assistance with finding an internship and career opportunities. Alumni also earn the second highest average salary, at $647,850. The programme has one of the highest course overall satisfaction scores at 9.6 out of 10.
Top for overseas experience: Trium
In sixth place overall, the Trium Global joint EMBA from HEC Paris, LSE and NYU: Stern retains its top spot for international course experience, based on the percentage of teaching hours abroad. Alumni can study in locations including Paris, London and New York. The course is also top for pre-EMBA professional experience, based on factors including seniority, time spent in roles and overseas work.
Highest riser: Mannheim
The German school leaps 28 places to joint 40th, the biggest rise in the ranking. Alumni reported an average salary boost of 58 per cent from pre-EMBA to three years after it, plus an average salary of $260,945. They also praised the faculty, careers service and international education. Improved performance in metrics such as alumni network, aims achieved and research rank propelled it up the table.
Top for carbon footprint: SDA Bocconi
In 27th place, the Milan school keeps its top spot in the carbon footprint metric for the third year running. This category recognises schools with a recent carbon emissions audit report, with extra credit given to the inclusion of indirect Scope 3 emissions. Alumni also praised how the course enhanced their leadership skills. It performed well in the research rank category, based partly on articles in 50 selected academic journals.
New entrant: Sasin
In joint 89th place, Sasin is the first Thai school to feature in any FT ranking. It is also part of the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. The school is 22nd in the ESG category, partly based on the proportion of teaching hours in core courses dedicated to environmental, social and governance topics. Sasin performed well in the alumni salary category with an average of $212,573.
Criteria for taking part in our ranking
Updated on May 16, 2025
We review the criteria on a regular basis. The pandemic has affected business schools and our ranking process, but we have done our best to accommodate feedback from schools. Please note, we are unable to include requests from every school.
The FT EMBA ranking is based on two surveys: one for the business school and one sent to your alumni who completed their EMBA three years ago.
Each school can only submit one standalone programme. However, more than one programme can be submitted if the additional programme is a joint degree. Joint programmes can be separately entered, on condition they are structured so that participating students take classes from all partner institutions in the programme.
The following are the criteria schools must meet in order to participate in the annual EMBA ranking:
Your programme must have been running continuously for the past four years and the first class should have graduated in the calendar year at least three years prior to the survey date.
Executive MBAs are part-time degrees designed for senior working managers. It is assumed most participants have at least 10 years of work experience and hold managing positions. Your school can only submit one PART-TIME EMBA degree for this ranking.
The course of study should last no longer than three years. This is the default length. If your EMBA graduates took more than 3 years of study then they cannot take part in the survey, therefore they should be removed from the list of alumni to be surveyed.
Students must matriculate and graduate in cohort(s).
For the 2025 ranking, at least 25 alumni must have completed your nominated EMBA in the 2022 calendar year and at least 25 graduates must have completed this programme in either the 2023 or 2024 calendar years.
E.g., if your school had 25 alumni who completed in 2022, but 0 in 2023 and 25 in 2024, then your school can take part if it meets the rest of the criteria.No more than 20 per cent of the class must be from one company. Subsidiary companies of a group are treated as separate companies.
The business school must have a minimum of 20 full-time permanent faculty.
Graduates need to complete the survey in English.
Ideally, business schools should be able to supply the email addresses of all its alumni who completed their programme three years ago. These will be used purely for editorial research purposes and held securely and destroyed after use, unless they agree for us to contact them again for future research, respecting GDPR and the FT rankings privacy policy: https://bschoolportal.ft.com/privacy-policy Please exclude those who want to opt out of our survey. Please do not select and lobby alumni to complete the survey.
We need a response rate of at least 20 per cent from alumni with a minimum of 20 completed surveys from any school wishing to be considered for the ranking. E.g., a class size of 100 graduates will require 20 completed surveys and a class size of 200 alumni will require 40 completed surveys. This response rate is based on the total size of the cohort we are surveying, not the number of graduate emails you can supply, as we are aware that some alumni will opt out of the survey.
Meeting these criteria does not guarantee automatic participation in the ranking. The final decision rests with the Financial Times.
Please note, the table is finalised about eight weeks before the publication date. It is too late for schools to withdraw from the ranking after the eight-week mark.
Email emba@ft.com by the start of March if you have questions or wish to take part as the ranking process starts in mid-April. By this time, the onus is on schools to get in contact with us if they wish to take part in the ranking, as we are unable to email every single school to check if they wish to be considered.
Rankings: https://rankings.ft.com
Report: http://www.ft.com/emba
Methodology: https://www.ft.com/emba-method
Timings:
Invitation to participate: April
Schools to confirm participation: May
Schools to upload alumni list: May
Schools to upload faculty list: July
Survey open: June
Survey close: June/July
FT conducts data checking process with schools: July – September
Publication: October
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