January 29, 2018. Shanghai – The CEIBS MBA has moved up 3 spots to #8 in the Financial Times ranking of the world’s top 100 full-time MBA programmes, making its way back into the top 10 and cementing its position as #1 in Asia. The 2018 ranking was released by the FT today. The top10 are: Stanford, INSEAD, Wharton, LBS, Harvard, Chicago Booth, Columbia, CEIBS, MIT Sloan and Berkeley. The annual assessment of MBA programmes is considered, within business school circles, as the most authoritative ranking.

“We are pleased to be back in the top 10, regaining the #8 spot we held in 2009,” said CEIBS President Professor Li Mingjun in reacting to the results. “It is an indicator of CEIBS’ ability to produce talented professionals who are well positioned to make an impact in many of the dynamic industries currently emerging in China, as the country continues its impressive economic development. It is also a result of the unrelenting efforts being made by the MBA department, supported by the rest of the school and the wider CEIBS community, to work together in finding innovative ways to meet the changing needs of today’s MBA students on their learning journey and in preparation for their post-MBA careers.”

Last year, for example, a Digital Business concentration was added to the previous focus on General Management, Finance, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, in recognition of the changing skill sets needed for graduates to effectively compete in today’s job market. “China’s digital revolution has changed the way we do business, so we have to change the way we teach business,” said Associate Dean and MBA Director Professor Juan Fernandez. “For example there is the newly initiated CEIBS Real Situation Learning Method™ (RSLM), a combination of classroom teaching with company visits where students can engage directly with industry experts. This is one of the strengths of the CEIBS MBA, providing an in-depth understanding of China.” CEIBS MBAs also benefit from the Integrated China Strategy Project (ICSP), which provides hands-on experience working with companies to address important strategic challenges.  The ICSP typically focuses on the digital economy and market disruptions, e.g. Industry 4.0, IoT, VR and big data.

In addition to this China Depth, the CEIBS MBA also has a clear global component that has had a positive impact on its performance in the FT ranking. CEIBS moved up 15 places in the category of international course experience, a reflection of the way students engage globally through company internships, research projects, study tours and exchange programmes. They have the opportunity to go on exchange and/or benefit from career services at many of the other schools that made the FT’s top 10.

Another area in which the CEIBS MBA has performed well, according to the FT, is in advancing the career of its MBA graduates. CEIBS moved up 3 spots in the category of career progress, which is based on the level of seniority and size of the company in which graduates are working, compared to their pre-MBA roles. Based on the most current data, almost 95% of CEIBS MBA students who graduated in 2017 received job offers, with a salary increase of over 100%. Among them, 78.1% of the international students are working in the Asia Pacific region.

There has also been significant improvement in the broad area of programme diversity with a 22-point jump in the category of female faculty and a 7-point increase in the number of international students. “This has been a good way to start 2018, and we are heartened by the results of the ranking. Now we have to work even harder in the years and months ahead,” said MBA Director Professor Fernandez. That is expected to include on-going efforts to boost faculty development and deepen CEIBS’ engagement and impact internationally. 

The 2018 FT global MBA ranking includes a total of 15 Asian schools, including 4 in mainland China, 3 in Hong Kong, 4 in India, 3 in Singapore and 1 in South Korea. CEIBS is the only school from mainland China to make it to the top 10. This is the 14^th consecutive year that CEIBS MBA has made it into the FT’s top 25 ranking (2005-2018). Forbes also ranks the CEIBS MBA #1 in Asia and #3 globally among 2-year programmes outside the US.

About CEIBS
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) is among the top international business schools in Asia, where it is the only b-school to have simultaneously made it to the Financial Times’ top 30 list of MBA, EMBA and Executive Education programmes.
CEIBS has more than 20,000 alumni from more than 80 countries worldwide, and has provided a broad range of management programmes for more than 130,000 executives both at home and abroad. CEIBS’ faculty team is uniquely equipped to deliver a combination of China Depth and Global Breadth in both teaching and research. CEIBS has campuses in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen Zurich and Accra.