IESE MBA Ranked No. 2 by Forbes

Is an MBA worth the investment? That’s the question Forbes‘ biennial ranking of business schools attempts to answer. If it’s an IESE MBA, the answer is “yes”.

While other rankings take into consideration a myriad of factors such as faculty diversity or a school´s idea generation, Forbes looks solely at the return on investment achieved by graduates. By this measure, an IESE MBA ranks second highest among similar programs worldwide.

Five-Year Gain of $97,100

For its ranking, Forbes surveyed approximately 17,500 alumni from more than 100 business schools; the ranking is divided by U.S. and non-U.S. programs, as well as by one- and two-year programs. MBAs’ earnings from the first five years out of business school were compared to their opportunity cost (two years of forgone compensation, tuition and required fees) to arrive a “five-year MBA gain,” which is the figure on which the schools are ranked.

IESE graduates earned an average five-year gain of $97,100. The 2012 class earned a median salary of $58,000 before embarking on the MBA and $177,000 last year.

What´s With the Ranking?

Forbes’ ranking looks at two-year programs and one-year programs separately for the simple reason that forgoing one year of compensation versus two years affects the opportunity costs. Therefore, calculating the “five-year MBA gain” requires dividing the ranking in this way.

The Forbes ranking is yet another international ranking from 2016-2017 that places IESE within the top ten worldwide. Other rankings include the Financial Times Executive Education ranking (1^st), Bloomberg Businessweek Top International Business School (5^th), The Economist MBA ranking (8^th) and the Financial Times MBA ranking (10^th).