Thirteenth Financial Times ranking of international business training programs (taught in English) led by London Business School (LBS), and Wharton, shared the 1st place. The same alignment of forces was in 2009, and in last year’s ranking of the LBS pressed Wharton, becoming the first. The three also entered Harvard Business School – another school that already received the title of the best. The main reason for the dynamics in the ranking of the top lines – the uneven growth of salaries of graduates.

Wharton returned

Wharton again took 1st place after last year’s assignment of LBS, which is not surprising: for nine years, from 2001 to 2009, Wharton led the ranking either alone or together with other schools. Return to business school in the 1st place was impressive against the background of data on earnings of graduates, while last year’s ranking showed falling wages of graduates after the economic crisis.

Data on salaries of graduates in 2007, gathered for the FT rankings this year, showed that their incomes were not only recovered but also increased over the last three years average salary of graduates of Wharton was $ 171,550 (+7%).

Last year’s graduates of the Wharton found a job much faster than their predecessors, 84% of graduates in 2009, looking for a job, did so within three months after graduation, 9% more than a year ago. That – along with strong data on other indicators that are used for the FT ranking (research and the number of teachers with doctoral degree) – it was enough for Wharton to reduce the backlog from last year’s LBS.

Despite the fact that Wharton has regained first place in the ranking, this world-renowned School of Management is already preparing for a change: after more than two years of discussions at the disposal of Wharton is an agreed scheme of changes in full-time MBA-program. “We have added the program more flexibility by eliminating a few core courses” – says Professor Thomas Robertson, Dean, who took office in August 2007 These changes, he said, will give students the opportunity before to focus on topics that interest them, because will be allowed to choose different courses even for first year students (now all students are taught by the same program). The purpose of these changes – to help students prepare for internships in companies, which begins at the end of the first year and often ends with proposals for a permanent job.

The new program will be partially launched this year and finally – in the following: students who received in 2011, they see the changes – more than 200 elective courses, online learning opportunity, as well as free access to training courses after graduation MBA. 10 years after graduation, students will want to get even more leadership skills and communication, and higher wages, says Robertson.

LBS does not lag

Graduates of LBS, which, as it were, a third year is celebrating its leadership in the solitude and sharing it with Wharton, three years after earning 132% more than before the training.

Impressive graduate employment statistics for 2009 LBS, 91% of them found jobs within three months after release (10 pp to the year before).

Naturally also, that the graduates of LBS in 2 nd place in the number and duration of movement around the learning process (in the summary table ranking the figure is called the “international experience” and has a weight of 2%. – “Vedomosti”). This was possible because 85% of faculty LBS – international and 9 out of 10 students in the MBA program last year were not the subjects of Great Britain. But now the question becomes relevant student visa, says Professor Andrew Likierman, Dean, who took office in 2009: in the next few months the British government decides what to do with the students – graduates from countries outside the EU, but there is no doubt that previously existing concessions that will allow graduates to work in the UK for two years after release, more will not apply.

Dynamic bottom

Although the ranking of the top lines of the first year are occupied by three schools in the bottom of the table there is a significant change. Hong Kong University of Science & Technology continues its rapid ascent, he went into the rating as number 17 in 2008 and broke into the top 10 last year, now he’s in 6th place. IESE be right behind him. This school is based in Barcelona, ​​is among the ten best schools this year and took 9th place at the MIT Sloan School of Management. The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) has become the most highly risen rookie ranking: impressive data on the salaries of graduates, on average three years after graduation ($ 174,440), and the growth of earnings after the MBA-program (152%) allowed it to debut soon in 11th place. These findings are consistent with another key indicator of the ranking: IIMA graduates headed the lists of employees for promotion – an option to compare the positions of students to teaching and three years after completion of MBA.

one at all

Trends that can be seen in the top lines of the ranking, can be traced across the table. Graduates of the last academic issue to find jobs faster than their predecessors, 83% completed training in 2010 found work within three months after release, a 3 pp higher than a year earlier, but still not as good as was in 2008 (then it was lucky 89%). Wages of graduates in 2010, recovered: of 81 schools, which appears in the rankings the past three years, 61 schools have reported an increase of the average wage, compared with last year’s rankings. This contrasts with the number of schools that showed falling wages of graduates last year (when there were more than half). But despite the positive trends in the income of graduates reported by schools by end of 2010, the average salary of 32 students from 81 school management remains lower than in the 2009 ranking (in which the estimated salary for 2008).

More detailed analysis showed some differences in wages across sectors. The most highly paid graduates work in banks and financial matters, their average salary – $ 160 000. Three of the 10 graduates are working in these sectors, making it the most popular among the holders of a diploma of business schools. Consulting – the second most popular destination and the number of graduates working in it, and the level of wages: 15% of graduates working in consulting, indicated a salary of $ 140 000.
Finally, graduates of MBA, working in other countries earn more than their counterparts who remained in their country: the average salary of about $ 143 800 international staff are paid about $ 7,000 more.

But these salaries and their dynamics are far from what it was before the crisis. Previously, MBA salary for three years after graduation grew by 3 times. Between 2000 and 2003. salary of graduates, at least 20 of the top 25 schools in three years has increased by 150%. Now an MBA degree has become less and less influence on wages. Ranking in 2010 included only two groups of 100 graduates who have experienced similar growth in revenues: the Spanish IE Business School (an increase of 159%), where he studied a lot of Spanish-speaking students from Latin America and the Indian School of Business (166%) . This year, three such schools, and all of them in developing countries: Indian School of Business (187%), IIMA (152%) and Ceibs, China (155%).