FT Masters in Management Ranking 2024: methodology and key

Methodology

This is the 20th edition of the FT Masters in Management (MiM) ranking.

A total of 141 MiM programmes took part in the ranking process in 2024. Business schools must meet strict criteria in order to be eligible. Their programmes must be full-time, cohort-based and accredited by either AACSB or Equis. Courses must be directed at students with little or no work experience. The ranking covers general management programmes, not specialised ones.

The table is calculated according to information collected through two separate surveys. The first is completed by the business schools and the second by alumni who finished their MiM in 2021.

The FT typically requires 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.  Due to the pandemic, the FT considered schools with a lower response rate. Some 9,338 alumni completed this year’s survey — a response rate of about 31 per cent.

The ranking has 19 criteria. Alumni responses inform eight criteria that together contribute 56 per cent of the ranking’s total weight. The remaining 11 criteria are calculated from school data and account for 44 per cent of the weight.

The current average (weighted) salary of alumni has the highest weighting of any category, at 16 per cent. Local salaries are converted to US dollars using purchasing power parity rates (PPP) supplied by the IMF. The salaries of full-time students are removed. Salaries are normalised by removing the very highest and lowest salaries reported.

Salary increase has the second highest weighting, at 10 per cent. It is based on the average difference in alumni salary between their first MiM-level job after completing the course and their current salary, three years after finishing. Half of the weight is applied to the absolute salary increase and the other half to the relative percentage increase.

Where available, information collected over the past three years is used for alumni criteria. Responses from 2024 carry 50 per cent of the total weight and those from 2023 and 2022 each account for 25 per cent. Excluding salary-related criteria, if only two years of data are available, the weighting is split 60:40 if data are from 2024 and 2023, or 70:30 if from 2024 and 2022. For salary figures, the weight is 50:50 for two years’ data or 50:25:25 for three years’ data, to negate inflation-related distortions.

Data provided by schools is used to measure the diversity of teaching staff, board members and students according to gender and citizenship and the international reach of the programme. For gender criteria, schools with a 50:50 (male: female) composition receive the highest score.

When calculating international diversity, in addition to the percentage of international students and faculty at a school — the figures published — the FT also considers the proportion of international students and faculty by citizenship.

A score is then calculated for each school. First, Z-scores — formulas that reflect the range of scores between the top and bottom school — are calculated for each ranking criterion. These scores are then weighted and added together to give a final score. Schools are ranked according to these scores, creating the ranking.

After discounting the schools that did not meet the response rate threshold from the alumni survey, a first version is calculated using all remaining schools. The school at the bottom is removed and a second version is calculated, and so on until the final ranking is reached.

Other information in the table — programme length, the number of students enrolled and overall satisfaction — does not contribute towards the ranking. (See the key to the ranking below.)

Judith Pizer of Pizer-MacMillan and Avner Cohen of AC Data Science acted as the FT’s database consultants.

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Key: weights for ranking criteria are shown in brackets as percentages

Weighted salary US$ (16): average graduate salary three years after course completion, adjusted for salary variations between sectors, US$ purchasing power parity equivalent. †#

Salary percentage increase (10): average difference in alumni salary between course completion and today. Half of this figure is calculated according to the absolute increase and half according to the relative percentage increase. †#

Value for money rank (6): calculated according to alumni salaries today, tuition and other costs. †#

Career progress rank (6): calculated according to changes in the level of seniority and the size of the organisation alumni are working for between course completion and today. †#

Aims achieved % (5): the extent to which alumni fulfilled their goals for doing a masters. †#

Careers service rank (4): effectiveness of the service in supporting student recruitment, rated by alumni. †#

Alumni network rank (3): effectiveness of the alumni network for career opportunities, launching start-ups, recruiting staff and providing event information (such as career talks), as rated by alumni. †#

Employed at three months % (5): percentage of the most recent completing class that found employment within three months of finishing their course. The figure in brackets is the percentage of the class for which the school was able to provide employment data. §

Female faculty % (5): percentage of female faculty on April 1. ‡

Female students % (5): percentage of females on the programme on March 31. ‡

Women on board % (1): percentage of women on the school advisory board. ‡

International faculty % (5): calculated according to the diversity of faculty (on April 1) by citizenship and the percentage whose citizenship differs from their location of employment — the figure published in the table.

International students % (5): calculated according to the diversity of current MiM students by citizenship and the percentage whose citizenship differs from the location in which they study — the figure in the table.

International board % (1): percentage of the school board whose citizenship differs from the school’s location.

International work mobility rank (6): calculated according to changes in the location of employment of alumni between course completion and today. Alumni citizenship is taken into account. †#

International course experience rank (6): calculated according to whether the most recent completing masters class carried out exchanges and internships, lasting at least a month, in locations other than where the school is based. In-person, virtual and hybrid experiences are included. Programmes with overseas study trips and internships abroad lasting less than a month are not counted in this category. §

Faculty with doctorates % (4): percentage of faculty with doctoral degrees as of April 1.

ESG and net zero teaching rank (3): proportion of teaching hours from core courses (not electives) dedicated to ethics, social, environmental issues and climate solutions enabling organisations to reach zero emissions. 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 2019. Extra credit is given to schools with an audit report that includes Scope 3 emissions (those not controlled directly by the school, but which occur externally in its value chain as a result of its activities).

The following categories are for information only and not used in the ranking calculations.

Average course length (months): average course completion length of the masters programme.

Number enrolled 2023-24: number of students who enrolled in the first year of the masters in the past year.

Overall satisfaction: average evaluation by alumni of the masters course, scored out of 10. Having answered questions about their masters experience, including the quality of the school’s careers service, alumni were asked to rate their overall satisfaction, on a 10-point scale.

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

‡ For all gender-related criteria, schools with a 50:50 (male/female) composition receive the highest score.

# Data from alumni who completed their programme in 2021 included.

§ Completed MiM between November 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023.