Key to the 2015 FT Global MBA rankings

Weights for ranking criteria are shown in brackets as a percentage of the overall ranking.

Audit year: indicates the most recent year that KPMG audited the school, applying specified audit procedures relating to data submitted towards the ranking.

Salary today: average alumnus salary three years after graduation, US$ PPP equivalent. This figure is not used in the ranking.†

Weighted salary (20): average alumnus salary three years after graduation, US$ PPP equivalent, with adjustment for variations between sectors.†

Salary increase (20): average difference in alumni salary before the MBA to now. Half of this figure is calculated according to the absolute salary increase, and half according to the percentage increase relative to pre-MBA salary — the “salary percentage increase” figure in the table.

Value for money (3): calculated using salary today, course length, fees and other costs, including lost income during the MBA.†

Career progress (3): calculated according to changes in the level of seniority and the size of company alumni are working in now, compared with before their MBA.†

Aims achieved (3): the extent to which alumni fulfilled their stated goals or reasons for doing an MBA.†

Placement success (2): effectiveness of the school careers service in supporting student recruitment, as rated by their alumni.†

Employed at three months (2): percentage of the most recent graduating class who had found employment or accepted a job offer within three months of completing their studies. The figure in brackets is the percentage of the class for which the school was able to provide employment data, and is used to calculate the school’s final score in this category.

Alumni recommend (2): calculated according to selection by alumni of three schools from which they would recruit MBA graduates.†

Female faculty (2): percentage of female faculty. For the three gender-related criteria, schools with a 50:50 (male/female) composition receive the highest possible score.

Female students (2): percentage of female students on the full-time MBA.

Women board (1): percentage of female members on the school’s advisory board.

International faculty (4): calculated according to the diversity of faculty by citizenship and the percentage whose citizenship differs from their country of employment — the figure published in the table.

International students (4): calculated according to the diversity of current MBA students by citizenship and the percentage whose citizenship differs from the country in which they study — the figure in the table.

International board (2): percentage of the board whose citizenship differs from the country in which the school is based.

International mobility (6): calculated according to whether alumni worked in different countries pre-MBA, on graduation and three years after graduation.

International course experience (3): calculated according to whether the most recent graduating MBA class completed exchanges, research projects, study tours and company internships in countries other than where the school is based.

Languages (1): number of extra languages required on completion of the MBA.

Faculty with doctorates (5): percentage of full-time faculty with a doctoral degree.

FT doctoral rank (5): calculated according to the number of doctoral graduates from each business school during the past three years. Extra points are awarded if these graduates took up faculty positions at one of the top 50 full-time MBA schools of 2014.

FT research rank (10): calculated according to the number of articles published by current full-time faculty members in 45 selected academic and practitioner journals between January 2012 and October 2014. The FT45 rank combines the absolute number of publications with the number weighted relative to the faculty’s size.

† Includes data for the current year and the one or two preceding years where available.

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Footnotes

* KPMG reported on the results of obtaining evidence and applying specified audit procedures relating to selected survey data provided for the Financial Times 2015 MBA ranking for selected business schools. Enquiries about the assurance process can be made by contacting Lori Huber of KPMG at lahuber@kpmg.ca. The specified audit procedures were carried out between November and December 2014. The audit date published denotes the survey for which the specified audit precedures were conducted.

** These schools run additional courses for MBA students for which additional language skills are required. These figures are included in the calculations for the ranking but are not represented on the table to avoid confusion.