The Economist today issued its annual rankings of full-time MBA programmes. UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business achieved the top spot in the North American rankings this year, while IESE Business School at the University of Navarra takes the top spot globally. 

It has been a tough year for business schools. Blamed by many for aiding and abetting the credit crunch, they have themselves become one of the recession’s casualties. The collapse of the financial services sector—traditionally the biggest recruiter of MBAs—has meant a difficult job market for graduates, while many have re-designed their curricula in response to criticism that they churned out greedy managers, irredeemably focused on the short term.

It is those business schools at the top of The Economist ranking that have dealt best with the difficult environment. Now, more than ever, schools which can demonstrate the effectiveness of their careers services will be highly sought after. At IESE, 98% of graduates found employment within three months of graduation, with an average basic salary of $125,000. It is a similar story of success throughout our top-ranked schools. Harvard, fifth in our ranking, attracted recruiters from 11 different sectors, paying graduates an average $124,000.

Over the past 21 years, Which MBA?  has surveyed over 150,000 MBA students. The rankings examine full-time programmes on their ability to deliver to students the things that they themselves cite as most important. It weights each element according to the average importance given to it by students surveyed over the past five years. These include career opportunities, personal development/ educational experience, earning potential and networking potential. 

The Economist also announced it has developed an interactive web tool that allows users to create their own rakings. The user determines which individual factors are most important to them, and weights each accordingly.  A personal ranking is then produced.  The tool can be accessed at www.economist.com/business-education/whichmba

The 2009 North America Rankings (2008 position in brackets):

1. University of California – Haas School of Business (4)


2. University of Chicago – Booth School of Business


3. Harvard Business School (6)


4. Dartmouth College—Tuck School of Business (3)


5. Stanford Graduate School of Business (2)


6. University of Pennsylvania—Wharton School (8)


7. York University—Schulich School of Business (7)


8. New York University—Leonard N. Stern School of Business (5)


9. Northwestern University—Kellogg School of Management (9)


10. Massachusetts Institute of Technology—MIT Sloan School of Management (10)

The 2009 Global Rankings (2008 position in brackets):

1. IESE Business School—University of Navarra, Spain (2)


2. IMD—International Institute for Management Development, Switzerland (1)


3. University of California at Berkeley—Haas School of Business America (6)


4. University of Chicago—Booth School of Business, America (3)


5. Harvard Business School, America (12)


6. Dartmouth College—Tuck School of Business, America (5)


7. Stanford Graduate School of Business, America (4)


8. London Business School, Britain (9)


9. University of Pennsylvania—Wharton School, America (17)


10. Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Belgium (14)

The full listing can be found at www.economist.com/business-education/whichmba

Which MBA is available on newsstands as of October 15.