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The US-based MIT Sloan School of Management has topped the FT’s 2026 Global MBA rankings for the first time, beating out contenders such as France and Singapore-based Insead and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
MIT’s rating rose several spots in the rankings from a year ago at a time when students are increasingly focusing on the importance of technology, including artificial intelligence, as they prepare for disruption in the workplace.
Richard Locke, who was recently appointed dean of the University of Massachusetts, said Sloan will forge close collaborations with other departments at MIT known for their engineering and science expertise and focus on how AI can be used “as a tool to enhance rather than replace jobs.” He added: “We are exploring how to reinvent management education for the 21st century.”
MIT Sloan, Insead and Wharton were followed by Spain’s Iese, London Business School, HEC Paris, Spanish school Esade and China’s Ceibs in the top eight.
FT Global MBA Ranking
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Check out the 2026 MBA rankings and reports.
The rankings come at a time of intense debate over the cost and value of MBAs, with the latest data from the FT showing that while inflation-adjusted salaries outside the US and Canada have fallen over the past decade, the real cost of the degree has also fallen over that time. And even graduates from top business schools have struggled to find work in a patchy job market over the past year.
However, in a separate survey of 1,152 graduates of all ages from multiple business schools around the world, 83% said they rated their MBA or Executive MBA “very highly” or “very highly.” This additional survey was carried out by the FT in collaboration with Switzerland’s ZHAW Faculty of Business and Law and Beta Gamma Sigma, an honors society for high-scoring students. Satisfaction among MBA and EMBA graduates was higher than among graduates of business administration or pre-experience master’s programs.
The FT Global MBA Ranking evaluates business schools that choose to participate in this process based on factors such as graduate salaries three years after course completion and salary increases from before the program began to the present.
MIT Sloan Dean Richard Locke said the school is focused on the future impact of AI.
The rankings also take into account faculty research output, alumni feedback on career services, and how well graduates achieved their goals during their time at the school. The top 100 ranked institutions are all accredited by either the U.S.-based AACSB or Europe’s Equis.
MIT graduates reported an average salary of $245,991 three years after completing their MBA, the third highest after Harvard Business School’s $259,874 and Wharton’s $246,813, weighted for variation between fields and adjusted for international purchasing power parity.
The Indian School of Business reported the highest salary increase compared to pre-degree earnings, increasing 248 percent to $201,712. The school rated as the most cost-effective was the University of Georgia Teley School in the US, followed by NTU Nanyang Business School in Singapore.
Wharton topped the research ranks for faculty publications in major academic journals, followed by Harvard University, University of Chicago Booth, Inseed, and London Business School.
Also included in the MBA report
© Amanda Maglione, FT
Ranking; advice on application and study. MBA ROI;Adventurous Placement. Data in chart. Student experiences and tips. Teach AI and Ethics. Alumni survey. methodology
Dartmouth College (Tuck University in New Hampshire), Yse University in Barcelona, and Cornell University (Johnson College in upstate New York) were rated as having the strongest alumni networks. Rice University: Houston’s Jones led the graduating class in goal completion rate.
More than half of the 100 schools in the ranking had more than 50% international students, and at IMD in Switzerland, the percentage of foreign faculty reached 98%.
In total, UK business schools remain more reliant than their non-Asian rivals on students from the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for 57% of total enrollment, compared to 37% for other European schools and 24% for the US and Canada.
The four schools that achieved the highest scores for gender equality among students were Audencia and ESCP in France, the University of British Columbia Sauder in Canada, and Miami Herbert in the United States. The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and IIM Indore each reported only 12% female students.
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The gender pay gap among graduates will be 7.1% in 2026, the lowest in 10 years.
Two business schools have achieved gender parity among their faculty: University of Porto — FEP | PBS in Portugal and Audencia in France. The rest had more male than female academics, with only 12% of them at XLRI (Xavier Institute of Management, India) being women.
Spain’s IE Business School and Iese, France’s Edhec were ranked top for incorporating environmental, social and governance topics into their core curriculum, while Australia’s UNSW Business School’s AGSM, UC Berkeley’s Haas and IE were top for their efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
