Cambridge University Judge Business School has ousted London Business School (LBS) from the first place in the FT 2016 ranking of finance programmes for students already employed in the sector.
LBS had been occupying the top spot for the past five years. Meanwhile, in the ranking of programs for students with little or no industry experience, HEC Paris retained the first place ESCP Europe of France and IE Business School moved up by one place.
The FT ranking of Masters in Finance program covers both the pre-experience category as well as courses for professionals in the sector.
Thus, The 2016 rankings feature the top 55 pre-experience courses and five post-experience programmes. Only a handful of schools offer post-experience courses in finance.
FT uses the data provided by the business schools and the alumni who graduated three years ago taking into account the alumni salaries three years after graduation and how much seniority or international mobility they had achieved.
According to the data, Judge was found to have played a strong role in aiding career progression. The class of 2013 managed to get the second highest salary three years after graduation at around $130,000 besides offering greatest value for money.
FT uses the data provided by the business schools and the alumni who graduated three years ago taking into account the alumni salaries three years after graduation and how much seniority or international mobility they had achieved.
However, alumni of LBS retain their reputation as the highest salary earners, with an average of just under $137,000. The school also held top rank for international experience.
In the pre-experience category, HEC Paris was on top with the second highest salary at $96,000, slightly ahead of IE Business School. However, it was no match for MIT Sloan School of Management at $117,000.
Meanwhile, the University of Hong Kong moved up 10 places to 30 to register the best progression. Its alumni salaries showed a significant rise, from $60,000 to $75,000. In career rankings too, it climbed 17 places to rank 30.
Lancaster University Management School notched up the second best progression, moving up 10 places to 30. This was on account of higher salary from $43,000 to $55,000 and an improved career rank. It was also the only school that had only international students.
The number of schools in the pre-experience ranking went up to 55 from the previous year’s 50. While four schools ranked last year were not considered due to low response from alumni, eight were ranked for the first time.
The new schools include three from France, two from the US and mainland China and one from the UK. EmLyon of France emerged the highest new entrant at rank 24 ahead of another newcomer, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in the 28th place. The latter was ranked second overall for value for money, just behind HEC Lausanne.