From Preeminence to Prominence: The Fall of U.S. Business Schools and the Rise of European and Asian Business Schools in the<i>Financial Times</i>Global MBA Rankings

Abstract

Rankings have grown in number and influence in the business education field over the past decades. Studies show that U.S. business school rankings are stable over time. However, we empirically examine the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings and find that significant shifts have occurred at the international level: U.S. schools have declined, to the advantage of European and Asian schools. This shift corresponds to an erosion of the difference in MBA's salaries between these regions. We examine macro factors that may have played a role in this process: aggregate economic demand, overall supply of MBA graduates, student migrations, and shifts in visa policies. We observe that, over time, European MBAs have experienced a sustained rise in graduate salaries despite low aggregate economic demand and a rising supply of graduates. We conclude the article with a discussion on the implications of our findings for deans, business school administrators, and prospective MBA students, and highlight future research avenues.