The Financial Times (FT) has released its 2007 European Business School Rankings, and gold and silver go to the Paris HEC School of Management and the London School of Business respectively, echoing last year’s results. The battle for bronze, though, was more exciting to watch. INSEAD shot up from the number-10 spot it held last year to steal third, knocking Switzerland’s IMD down to fourth.
The European Business Schools Ranking is a meta ranking of European schools according to their results in five other FT rankings released this year, which look specifically at MBA, EMBA, open executive education, executive education, and management masters programs at business schools around the globe.
The EMBA program at INSEAD, with campuses in Fontainebleau, France, and Singapore, was included in the European ranking for the first time this year, helping the school make its ascent toward the top.
European schools in general are optimistic about the future, according to the FT. This is especially true given the approaching 2010 deadline for implementation of the Bologna Accord, which is designed to harmonize the European higher educational system and provide a more internationally recognized bachelors-masters progression for awarding degrees at schools in each of the 46 signatory countries. The anticipated consequence of the accord – and resulting parity between graduate program degrees across countries – is greater mobility for students and faculty.
In anticipation of the Bologna Accord’s implementation, there has been an explosion in masters programs across Europe. Of these, more than 12,000 are set to teach management, according to a report by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC).
The exact impact this will have on the traditional MBA market is unclear, but applications appear to be steady, the FT reports. “Most schools are reporting an increase in uptake of all courses,” Jeanette Purcell, chief executive of the Association of MBAs, told the FT. Interest in part-time MBAs, executive MBAs and distance learning seem to be on the rise, she says, but not to the detriment of traditional MBAs.
Purcell points to declining employer sponsorship of graduate management education as a contributing factor to the trend toward part-time programs, as students increasingly look for ways to pay their own way while working. Advances in technology, too, have made distance learning more attractive, she says.
Some European schools are reporting greater interest from abroad, especially as the Bologna Accord promises to make European degrees carry the same significance as those from other schools around the globe. Increased U.S. marketing and interest in one-year MBA programs are also cited as driving factors.
According to the FT, the Instituto de Empresa (IE) in Madrid counts 21 U.S. participants in its international MBA program this year and sees increased interest from Asia and consistently strong demand from India. Applicants at IE rose by 30 percent this year, and student numbers by 15 percent, the FT reports. The school is considering moving to two intakes – in April and November – and combining its full-time Spanish MBA program with its international MBA program taught in English.
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