Looking For MBA In Europe? Spain Is An Attractive Option

An MBA in Spain is turning out to be an increasingly attractive option for those planning to go to Europe in pursuit of the degree.

Spain is in the third spot just behind Germany and France but ahead of Switzerland and Netherlands in the 10 most-favored MBA study locations, says the QS Applicant Survey 2015. What is attractive about studying in Spain for people from other countries is that it opens up a virtual gateway not only to the south European country, recovering from the recent economic crisis, but also to several emerging economies in South America and the Caribbean with good job or business prospects. Another plus point is the Mediterranean type of weather that spells milder winters and plenty of sunshine.

Top Business Schools in Spain

Among the top B-Schools in Spain is the IE Business School located right in the capital city Madrid. It was founded in 1973 and figures on the sixth spot in QS’s latest regional MBA rankings for Europe.

What is attractive about studying in Spain for people from other countries is that it opens up a virtual gateway not only to the south European country, recovering from the recent economic crisis, but also to several emerging economies in South America and the Caribbean with good job or business prospects.

Students can take up a one year full-time MBA (international MBA) with the medium of instruction being either English or Spanish, or as a bilingual option. Average age of students at IE is 29 years with five years average experience. It has 25% students from Latin America and 15% each from North America and Asia.

IE Business School also offers six part time MBA courses. The IE-SMU MBA, a joint initiative with Singapore Management University, is of 12-month duration. Claiming to offer insights into Asia Pacific markets, business strategies and management culture, it has students with 29 years average age and five years experience with English as medium of instruction.

The Global MBA is of 15-months duration, English medium with students’ average age at 30 and six years experience. It has been voted the world’s best online MBA by Financial Times. The course involves short face-to-face periods at the University campus apart from online teaching. The school also offers two Executive MBAs. The course with Spanish as medium of instruction runs 10-13 months, face-to-face or blended. The average age of students is 32 years with 7.5 years experience. The other one, a 15-month course taught in English, has 34 years as average age for students with 10 years experience.

ESADE Business School is located in Barcelona, within the Ramon Llull University. It has got a spanking new campus with glass and steel structures at Sant Cugat, a mere 20 minutes drive from the city. The school’s full-time MBA, is a flexible program that allows students to complete it in 12, 15 or 18 months.

Its class of 2017 with 167 students has a sizable presence from Asia at 30% along with 28% from Latin America.

ESADE offers several part-time MBA and EMBA programs that includes a joint EMBA degree in collaboration with Georgetown University in the US. ESADE is seventh in QS’s latest regional MBA rankings for Europe.

IESE Business School at the University of Navarra in Barcelona has a 2-year full-time MBA program. It boasts of the case study method, on the lines of the one developed by Harvard Business School. IESE produces more than 100 of its own business cases each year. Here again, Asia has sizable presence of 26% among the students with 15% each from North and Latin America. Aside from the full-time MBA, IESE Business School also boasts a trio of executive MBA program offerings. IESE placed ninth in QS’s latest regional MBA rankings for Europe.

Apart from these three B-schools, other options are there both at Barcelona and Madrid. The capital city has the ESIC Business & Marketing School and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, placed 23rd and 50th in QS’s Global 200 rankings for Europe, respectively.

Prospects of landing a job in Spain after graduation is also looking up as the country witnessed a a 10% rise in MBA job opportunities across 2014-15, with employers anticipating further growth of 6% in 2015-16 (source: QS MBA Jobs & Salary Trends Report). Salary levels for new recruits hired from business schools in Spain in 2014-15 at an average of US $ 93,100, put it ahead of Canada and Germany, in the world’s top 10.

Return on Investment

As to the question of return of investment (ROI) the average cost of study in Spain was more than the regional average of around US $ 50,000, according to QS 2015 assessment of MBA ROI of 46 full time courses in Europe. However, graduates could pay off this investment (including salary loss while attending the course ) in a little over two years through their increased earnings. MBAs received an average rise in salary of more than US$40,000 on completion of their studies. The average post-MBA salary level received by graduates of IESE Business School was reported to be US$114,770. It was also one of nine European schools in the study to post an average figure over the US$100,000 threshold.

IE Business School and ESADE, together with IESE, are also part of a group of 20 institutions in Europe whose alumni might expect to earn something in the range of US$3 million more on average over a 20-year period with their MBA degrees than they would likely have earned without achieving the qualification from one of these institutions.

Among the top recruiters of MBA graduates in Spain are the same who make a beeline to US schools to fill positions in consulting, finance and technology. Credit Suisse, EY and Amazon are among those who return year after year and listed among top employers in IE Business School reports of 2012/13 and 2013/14. McKinsey and Bain & Company figure in IESE Business School’s class of 2014 report. Other reputed firms like Telefónica and Mango based in Spain are also in the list.  There should, therefore, be plenty of options at the disposal of the talented MBA graduate of a leading business school in Spain.