Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/59976
The MBA Rankings Breakdown Publication How schools qualify to be ranked BusinessWeek Must have offered a full-time MBA program for at least seven years and have repu- tations beyond their own regions. Factors such as accreditation and number of stu- dents also play roles. Factors most weighted* Survey of students and recruiters regarding their satisfaction with the school (45 percent). Financial Times Must hold international accreditation such as AACSB or EQUIS, and have a full-time MBA at least five years old with at least 30 graduates. U.S. News & World Report Must have full-time and part-time graduate business programs accred - ited by AACSB International. The Wall Street Journal's College Journal Must be identified through information from AACSB Inter - national, with a full- time MBA program and at least 50 graduates. Forbes Must have a two-year, full-time program with at least 50 graduates. Economist Intelligence Unit Must have a full-time MBA program and attain a minimum num- ber of responses from students and graduates (approximately 25 per- cent of total student intake). Average salary for alumni during the three years after grad- uation (20 percent) and percentage increase in salary from start of MBA to three years after graduation (20 percent). Research is weighted 10 percent. Survey of other business school deans and directors (25 percent) and corporate recruiters (15 percent). Corporate recruiter rat- ings. Ratings measure their reported percep- tion of a school, the current-year mass appeal of the school, and the likelihood of recruiters returning to that school in the next two years. Each factor weighs one-third of total. Factors that contribute most to a rise or fall in rank "If there's a significant fall in the quality of the faculty, or if great professors aren't avail- able to teach, student satisfaction tends to fall in other areas," says Jennifer Merritt, formerly of BW. "If schools select the right students and teach them well, those students will go on to get good jobs" with good salaries, says FT's Della Bradshaw. "If schools invest in research, they will do well in that section." "The variable that is most volatile is how a school's placement office does one year versus the next," says Bob Morse of U.S. News. "Communication skills are the most important attributes recruiters say they look for," says WSJ's Ron Alsop. "Some schools have created more courses or hired coaches to help students improve in these areas." Return on invest- ment—salary alumni earn over five years as compared to cost of MBA program (100 percent). Survey of students regarding their educa- tional experience and career opportunities during and after gradu- ation (70 percent). "Schools that send their graduates into high- paying industries such as investment banking and consulting will probably do better in our ranking than those who send students into marketing or some other disciplines," says Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes. Most recent change(s) to methodology BW has added more schools eligible to be ranked. "If a school shows up on a recruiter's write-in list, we pay extra attention to that school for pos- sible inclusion," says Merritt. The FT no longer asks schools how many lan- guage courses students take. Instead, it asks how much time stu- dents spend in exchange programs. None. WSJ has reduced its number of rated attrib- utes from 24 to 20 and added an international mass appeal rating. Instead of an overall ranking, it now publish- es three separate rank- ings that group togeth- er schools with common recruiting patterns. Forbes has added a separate ranking of one-year MBA pro- grams, which includes schools inside and out- side the U.S. "We've also made minor changes in how we cal- culate tuition in terms of in-state and out-of- state tuition costs," says Badenhausen. "We don't measure a school's reputation," says Bill Ridgers of EIU. "What matters most is the enthusiasm students have for the school. That enthusiasm often stems from areas such as career services." The EIU has dropped a question regarding the number of companies that recruited from a school's latest class. "In practice, it was too difficult to measure," says Ridgers. *These rankings weigh many factors—this chart indicates the factors that comprise the highest percentage weight in ranking calculation. 28 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005