MBA Rankings Australia
Introduction FT (Financial Times) BOSS/AFR BOSS EMBA GMAA The Economist Forbes QS Top MBA US News
Introduction
The Australian MBA ranking systems follow a number of different process including listings in the global world MBA rankings and other domestic rankings with a local approach. Most of these involve an analysis of various components relating to a mixture of objective factors such as business school metrics and graduate outcomes and also more subjective factors relating to the student experience. However there is an ongoing problem in determining which is the top MBA in Australia or even the best Australian MBA because of the metrics used and how the criteria for assessment relates to a prospective student’s particular requirements in pursuing this form of postgraduate business studies.
FT (Financial Times) Global MBA Australian rankings
The Australian MBA programs provided by AGSM and MBA have been the only Australian entries listed over previous years and have both been dropping from once being in the top 50 to now only remaining in the top 100. However things have changed in 2015 with Macquarie entering the top 100 for the first time and securing position 68 making it the top ranked Australian MBA in the FT ranking system. This is good news for Macquarie and the university would be hoping it provides a boost to its general university rankings.
| Business School | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Weighted Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macquarie University | – | 68 | 56 | 49 | 131,488 (A$174,000) |
| AGSM University of New South Wales | 62 | 75 | 66 | 54 | 121,794 (A$161,000) |
| University of Melbourne | 68 | 90 | 87 | 76 | 100,319 (A$133,000) |
The FT (Financial Times) Global MBA rankings is one of a set of international rankings conducted by the media entity. The Global MBA FT ranking system focuses the ranking on objective criteria rather than on alumni responses, but the problem is that a very high weighting is giving to alumni salary and this skews the results towards countries and cities with higher rates of pay for MBA graduates. FT attempts to deal with this problem by applying purchasing power parity to salaries (PPP), but it is not clear how well this achieved.
The main criteria used in the rankings (with the percentage weighting in brackets) are:
- Weighted salary (20): average alumnus salary three years after graduation
- Salary increase (20): average difference in alumni salary before the MBA to now
- FT research rank (10): from the number of research articles published in approved publications
Other factors used in the rankings include: Value for money (3), Career progress (3), Aims achieved (3), Placement success (2), Employed at three months (2), Alumni recommend (2), Female faculty (2), Female students (2), Women board (1), International faculty (4), International students (4), International board (2), International mobility (6), International course experience (3), Languages (1), Faculty with doctorates (5), and FT doctoral rank (5).
Latest BOSS AFR Australian MBA Rankings
The Boss / Australian Financial Review AFR Australian MBA rankings have become a popular reference source partly owing to their promotion through Fairfax Media. The rankings are released on a biennial basis and rely on business school and alumni participation for completion. The key features of the ranking system are:
- Schools that participate can earn a maximum of 100 points.
- 55 points based on responses from alumni who have graduated within the past three years.
- 35 points based on data provided by the schools
- 10 points allocated to research output based on Excellence in Research Australia
| Rank | Business School |
|---|---|
| 1 | University of Queensland (UQ) Business School |
| 2 | Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne |
| 3 | Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Graduate School of Business |
| 4 | Griffith Business School, Griffith University |
| 5 | University of Southern Queensland (USQ) School of Management and Enterprise |
| 6 | Adelaide Business School, University of Adelaide |
| 7 | Bond Business School, Bond University |
| 8 | University of the Sunshine Coast, School of Business |
| 9 | University of South Australia (UniSA) Business School |
| 10 | Victoria University, Graduate School of Business |
| 11 | Deakin Business School, Deakin University |
| 12 | Curtin University, Graduate School of Business |
| 13 | Central Queensland University (CQU) School of Business and Law |
| 14 | La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University |
| 15 | University of Wollongong, Sydney Business School |
| 16 | RMIT University, Graduate School of Business and Law |
| 17 | University of Technology (UTS) Business School |
Boss / AFR Australian Executive MBA (EMBA) Rankings
Boss has also ranked the Australian Executive MBA (EMBA) program offerings with the following results.
| Rank | Executive MBA Provider |
|---|---|
| 1 | University of Sydney Business School |
| 2 | Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne |
| 3 | Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Graduate School of Business |
| 4 | Bond Business School, Bond University |
| 5 | University of the Sunshine Coast, School of Business |
| 6 | Australian Catholic University (ACU) School of Business |
| 7 | University of Technology (UTS) Business School |
| 8 | RMIT University, Graduate School of Business and Law |
| 9 | University of Wollongong, Sydney Business School |
Graduate Management Association of Australia (GMAA) 5 Star MBA Rankings
The Graduate Management Association of Australia (GMAA) conducts a survey of MBA providers before allocating star rankings based on the results, with the highest ranking providers receiving a 5 star ranking. The main focus of the GMAA rankings is on the business school and program rather than on student experiences and outcomes.
The GMAA rankings uses 47 questions to produce the assessment made of:
- Mandatory pre-assessment matters (4 criteria)
- Institutions’ links with the business community and overseas schools (9 criteria)
- The size, diversity and experience of the academic staff (11 criteria)
- Support facilities the institution provides to assist students / graduates (5 criteria)
- Entry requirements for prospective students (6 criteria)
- The size and diversity of the student population (3 criteria)
- The program length and content (5 criteria)
- Matters relating to accreditation (4 criteria)
The following table presents the most recent GMAA 5 star ranked MBAs in alphabetical order:
| Rank | Business School |
|---|---|
 |
La Trobe University |
|
Queensland University of Technology |
|
RMIT University |
|
University of Adelaide |
|
University of Queensland |
|
University of South Australia |
|
University of Western Australia |
The Economist Global MBA Rankings
Australia had 3 MBAs in the top 50 (the only Australian MBAs in the top 100) with University of Queensland dropping a couple of places since 2013 but still maintaining a creditable ranking at number 16. MBS and Macquarie maintained their general positions, with Macquarie continuing its gradual improvement since 2011.
The Economist Global Rankings of Australian MBA Programs
| Business School | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Queensland | 27 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 10 |
| University of Melbourne | 38 | 27 | 40 | 43 | 34 |
| Macquarie University | 61 | 55 | 49 | 28 | 46 |
| Curtin University | 46 | – | – | – | – |
The Economist MBA ranking methodology covers a range of components grouped together within four categories. These categories with their weighting percentage and number of components are:
- Open new career opportunities (35% – 4 components)
- Personal development / education experience (35% – 12 components)
- Increase in salary (20% – 2 components)
- Potential to network (10% – 3 components)
Forbes Rankings of MBA Programs Outside America
Forbes’ main MBA ranking focus is on the domestic American program offerings and it accordingly presents a separate MBA rankings table for MBA programs outside of the United States. The main emphasis of the Forbes rankings is on salary increase, years it takes for this increase to pay for the tuition, and the medium GMAT score.
AGSM was the only entrant In the latest round of the Forbes rankings of MBA programs outside of the United States, coming in at number 24.
Forbes Rankings of MBA Programs Outside the US
| Rank | Business School | Years to Payback | Median GMAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | AGSM University of New South Wales | 4.4 | 630 |
QS Top Australian Business Schools
QS Top MBA programs is based on an assessment of the business schools determined by a survey of academics and actively hiring MBA recruiters.
The Asia Pacific Rank (A/P Rank) shows that Australian business schools still have some improvement to do to be regarded as better than the top business schools in Singapore and Hong Kong.
| Australian Rank | Business School | Asia Pacific Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne | 7 |
| 2 | AGSM MBA, University of New South Wales | 9 |
| 3 | College of Business and Economics, Australian National University ANU | 11 |
| 4 | La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University | 14 |
| 5 | Monash Business School, Monash University | 15= |
| 6 | UQ Business School, University of Queensland | 19 |
| 7 | Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong | 22 |
| 8 | Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University | 24 |
| 9 | Graduate School of Business and Law, RMIT University | 25 |
| 10 | UWA Business School, University of Western Australia | 27 |
| 11 | The University of Adelaide – Business School, University of Adelaide | 28 |
| 12 | QUT Graduate School of Business, Queensland University of Technology | 30 |
US News Top 100 Economics & Business Schools Australian Entrants
The US News top 100 economics and business school rankings system is based on a range of variables including academic research performance along wth regional and global reputation within this particular area of study. The field itself extends beyond just the MBA itself to include individual subjects such as organisational science, management, finance, and human resources.
| Aus Rank | University | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Melbourne | 37 |
| 2 | University of New South Wales | 55= |
| 3 | Australian National University | 60 |
| 4 | University of Sydney | 66= |
| 5 | University of Queensland | 71 |
| 6 | Monash University | 79 |
| 7 | University of Technology Sydney | 95 |
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