European business schools dominate the Financial Times Finance Masters rankings 2023. Find out about the best Finance Masters programs in the world here
According to the 2024 Financial Times ranking, France’s ESCP Business School offers the best Finance Master’s program in the world.
ESCP Business School has held the second place in the rankings from 2018 to 2022, making this the second year in a row that it has taken the top spot.
The Finance Masters Rankings lists the 65 best Masters in Finance (MiF) programs in the world, but what are some of the other top programs according to this year’s list?
Below is a breakdown of the best finance masters programs in the world:
Best Masters in Finance | Winners
ESCP Business School continues to top the FT’s ranking of Masters in Finance, overtaking HEC Paris in 2023 after holding the top spot for 11 consecutive years.
This is because the school is ranked number one in career services and alumni network, and 96% of alumni respondents said they achieved their goals after graduation.
The salary of Master’s in Finance graduates also figures heavily in the rankings, making up the highest percentage at 16%. On average, graduates of ESCP Business School’s Master’s in Finance earn an astounding salary of $165,557 three years after graduation, which is a 57% increase compared to their previous earnings.
However, the highest average salary goes to graduates from China’s Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, who earn a whopping $198,874, keeping them in fifth place from last year.
Coming in second, HEC Paris also boasts impressive salary statistics, the highest on the list, with a 99% salary increase rate, which equates to an average of $183,928 three years after graduation.
Of the top 10 schools, five programs are all based in France: HEC Paris, ESSEC Business School, Skema Business School, and EDHEC Business School.
Ranked seventh, Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Shanghai Advanced School of Finance is the only non-European university to make the top 10. It also has the second-highest graduate salary, at $194,159.
Outside the top 10, Europe continues to dominate the MiF rankings: 17 of the top 20 programs are European, with the remaining number one spots held by three Chinese institutions, including Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management.
The University of St. Gallen in Switzerland has seen a dramatic drop in the rankings, from 6th in 2023 to 11th this year.
Grenoble School of Management and Stockholm School of Economics both dropped out of the top 20 this year, to 21st and 23rd place respectively.
Only six U.S. programs appear in the rankings, with the highest ranking being the University of Southern California, Marshall, at 39th place.
Best Finance MSc in the World | Breakdown
According to the Financial Times ranking index, China boasts the world’s highest total salary for finance master’s programs three years after graduation, with the top three being Tsinghua University, with graduates earning $198,874, followed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Shanghai Advanced School of Finance with $194,159 and Peking University’s Guanghua with $182,158.
The top school in Europe in terms of salary is HEC Paris.
The FT ranked ESCP top for career progression, followed by Università Italiana Suisse (USI) and Essec Business School, with ESCP’s careers services being rated higher than any other school for the sixth year in a row.
When it comes to diversity on finance masters programmes, the FT rates business schools on the percentage of female and international students, with Glasgow University’s Adam Smith coming out on top with 100% international students, while HCUK and Edinburgh University Business School are joint top with 56% female students.
However, of the 86 schools ranked, only six achieved gender parity.
The Financial Times also praised schools for their transparency regarding their carbon emissions and net-zero targets, with Milan’s SDA Bocconi coming in first, followed by Norway’s BI Business School and Spain’s IE Business School coming in third.
The top business school offering the best value for money is the Lucerne School of Business in Switzerland.
The FT’s MiF rankings are calculated based on survey responses from alumni who graduated from pre-experience programs three years ago, as well as school data. Alumni responses account for 57% of each school’s score, with school data making up the remaining 43%.
Schools are ranked using 18 different categories covering a wide range of areas, including salary, career progression, diversity, international opportunities and faculty expertise.
The FT also ranks the best post-experience programs based on the later stages in the careers of graduate respondents, and this year only three schools were assessed, with London Business School coming in first, followed by Judge School, University of Cambridge, and Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam.
