BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Amid strong competition from around the world, graduate business programs at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business continue to be ranked among the best in the country and the world, according to Quacquarelli Symonds, which published its 2021 Global MBA Rankings on Sept. 30.
Kelley’s Full-Time MBA Program remains in the top 20 among U.S. programs with a No. 19 ranking and a top 40 program worldwide (38th globally). These rankings came at a time when the number of accredited business programs continues to grow outside the United States, particularly in Asia.
For example, in 2012 there were 13 schools in China accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Today, there are 39 schools in QS’ Global MBA Rankings. European programs are seeing similar growth.
This is the biggest ranking of accredited international MBA programs in the world. QS ranked the most MBA programs ever, 258, and collected nearly 25 percent in additional data on schools at 40 study destinations. It surveyed nearly 70,000 employers and academics. A year ago, QS ranked 240 programs. The company also produces the prestigious World University Rankings.
Andrew Macfarlane, QS’ senior research manager, noted that the skill set that MBA students acquire through their MBA studies makes the degree more relevant than ever. The top five skills global employers were looking for were communication, problem solving, teamwork, flexibility and interpersonal skills.
“If we think about the times that we’re living in, I think these five skills could not be more important. They always have been, but they are crucial in terms of getting the right leadership into industry, or indeed into government,” Macfarlane said in a webinar about the rankings.
“We have some of the biggest problems in the world and have had for recent memory at least to solve. Businesses are facing really severe challenges as we respond to the pandemic and will be looking for creative, flexible and insightful data driven senior leaders,” he added. “MBAs are absolutely integral to making sure that companies of the future have the right skills to deal with some of these global problems that we are facing.”
Program rankings were based on return on investment, entrepreneurship and alumni outcomes, thought leadership, employability and diversity. Kelley scored particularly well in terms of ROI in the decade after graduation (13th in U.S.) and employability (15th, U.S.), which is based on a survey of employers on the schools they prefer to hire from and the employment rate for Kelley students three months after graduation (95 percent).