HKUST school first in Asia to get a top 10 ranking for MBA programme
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's (HKUST) business school has emerged as the first Asian school to advance to the top 10 on the annual Financial Times rankings of the world's top 100 MBA programmes.
Overall, the MBA programme at HKUST was ranked ninth and was tied with the University of Chicago. It was placed 16th last year and 17th in 2008.
HKUST was also ranked sixth for the 'international experience' its programme offered students.
Its ranking for 'international mobility', as measured by employment movements within three years of graduation, moved up two notches to 15th.
This year's rankings also saw for the first time three Chinese schools making it to the top 30. Besides HKUST, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was also on the list, at 28th.
Shanghai's China Europe International Business School was 22nd.
The dean of the HKUST business school, Professor Leonard Cheng Kwok-hon, said: 'We are delighted to have made this remarkable achievement ... [it] proves that schools in Asia, with determination and sufficient resources, are well-positioned to play a leading role in global business research.'
The dean of the CUHK's faculty of business administration, Professor Wong Tak-jun, said the ranking was a significant recognition of the faculty's efforts over the years.
'Leveraging our faculty's China focus and extensive alumni network, we aim to nurture our students' insights in China,' Wong said.
This year, the faculty has launched new courses, including corporate risk management, to equip students on how to cope with the changing global business landscape, he said.
The university said in a statement that despite the financial crisis last year, 47 per cent of its MBA graduates found jobs globally, in 13 countries.
Meanwhile, the London Business School again took the top position in the Financial Times rankings.
Last year, its MBA programme shared the top ranking with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Wharton came in second this year.
Professor Sir Andrew Likierman, the dean of London Business School, said: 'Our school is an institution of which we can all be proud.'
Of the students last year, 81 per cent found jobs within three months of graduation.
'Considering the economic conditions over the previous year, we are pleased and proud of our graduates' impressive achievement,' Likierman said.
MBA rankings
1 London Business School, UK
(Alumni earn an average salary of US$142,340 a year)
2 University of Pennsylvania Wharton, US (US$160,848)
3 Harvard Business School, US (US$161,887)
4 Stanford Graduate School of Business, US (US$164,863)
5 Insead, France/Singapore (US$139,941)
6 Columbia Business School, US (US$160,679)
6 IE Business School, Spain (US$139,458)
8 MIT Sloan School of Management, US ( US$154,058)
9 University of Chicago Booth, US (US$151,758)
9 HKUST Business School, HK (US$115,535)
...
28 Chinese University of Hongkong, HK (US$103,136)
(Note: The average salary is adjusted for variations between industries)
Source: Financial Times
