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Executive MBA (EMBA) Programs

U.S. News and World Report

U.S. News and World Report (USN) has been ranking colleges since 1983, MBA programs since 1990, and EMBA programs--on a continual basis at least--since about 2003. Not a separate ranking per se, EMBA programs are included under the rubric of “specialty rankings” in the annual MBA peer assessment survey (see also specialty rankings). The annual ranking, which relies entirely on the opinions of deans and program directors nationwide, lists about 25 schools in late March to early April.
100% Peer assessment
Deans and program directors are asked to list (unranked) up to ten EMBA programs that they consider the best in the country. Each mentioned school gets one point and the points are simply tallied.

Pros:

  • Straightforward and easy to grasp
  • Ties are allowed

Cons:

  • Deans and program directors likely to know institutions more than actual programs; may reflect historical reputation more than current condition
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Bloomberg Businessweek

Bloomberg Businessweek (formerly BusinessWeek) has been ranking MBA and EMBA programs for over two decades. Unlike their MBA counterpart, BusinessWeek EMBA rankings appeared more sporadically and listed only “top programs” without rank in the first decade. Since about 2001, however, they have solidified into a biennial ranking of about 25 schools published in odd-numbered years in late October to early November. They are the most student-centric of any major business school ranking published.
65% Student assessment of program
The most recent graduates complete an online survey of 50 questions, evaluating many aspects of the program
35% Peer assessment
Executive MBA program directors are asked to rank their top-ten EMBA programs
Pros:
  • Captures opinions of actual students
  • Some data points published in ranking tables (tuition, work experience, etc.)
  • Counters volatility: student survey weights current year results as 50 percent of total rank and 25 percent to each of the two previous surveys

Cons:

  • Index scores not published; ties not allowed; clustering and gaps hidden
  • A handful of international programs are mixed into an otherwise domestic mix
  • Student opinion easily swayed by popular or unpopular changes that may have little to do with program quality or academic rigor; high weighting only exacerbates issue
  • Only the top 25 schools are ranked; the rest left in nebulous “second-tier” category
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The Wall Street Journal

One of newest rankings on the block, The Wall Street Journal EMBA rankings debuted in 2008 after their MBA rankings were permanently retired. Student assessment is heavily represented, but the inclusion of a corporate assessment and a management and leadership skills section are unique among b-school rankings. The ranking of about 25 schools is published biennially in even-numbered years in late September.
40% Student assessment of program
The graduating class is surveyed on program quality and utility; they also rate how well they mastered certain management and leadership skills.
40% Corporate assessment
Human resources or executive development officers of the companies where the students are employed are queried for impressions, critical skills and school ratings.
20% Management and leadership skills
Student ratings of each of 20 management and leadership skills are weighted by the percentage of corporate respondents who identified that skill as most important for an EMBA program to teach.

Pros:

  • Captures opinions of actual students and their current employers
  • Management and skills section focuses generic satisfaction into more concrete and, arguably, relevant channels

Cons:

  • Index scores not published; ties not allowed; clustering and gaps hidden
  • Currently does not attempt to counter volatility with weighting against previous years
  • Student opinion easily swayed by popular or unpopular changes that may have little to do with program quality or academic rigor
  • Only the top 25 schools are ranked, leaving the other 60+ EMBA programs in the dark
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Financial Times

Using a methodology almost identical to the one employed in its assessment of full-time MBA programs, Financial Times measures in its EMBA survey a broad spectrum of attributes, with salary/career and faculty prowess strongly represented. First published in 2001, the ranking is global in scope and privileges factors that favor non-U.S. schools. Fifty-five percent of the data comes from alumni three years post-EMBA, 45 percent from the school. The annual ranking of 100 schools appears in mid to late October.
50% Salary and employment-related issues
Includes salary 3 yrs post MBA, increase from pre-MBA, changes in seniority
20% Faculty and doctoral prowess
Publications, percentage with Ph.D., number of doctoral graduates
19% Diversity of faculty, students and school’s advisory council
Percentage of women and non-U.S. citizens only
6% Extent to which program is internationalized
International exposure during program, additional languages required
5% Alumni satisfaction
Extent to which alumni fulfilled their goals or reasons for doing an EMBA

Pros:

  • Global in scope
  • Allows for ties in rank
  • Salaries adjusted for industry sectors
  • Counters volatility: 55 percent of survey involves weighted “memory” with previous years: 50 percent current year, 25 percent for each of two previous surveys ‘

Cons:

  • Does not provide index scores; clustering and gaps largely hidden
  • Salaries not adjusted for cost of living; salaries in Europe and Middle East significantly higher than U.S. salaries in recent years
  • International bias: almost 20 percent favors criteria at which non-U.S. schools will excel (Note: In 2002 U.S. schools made up almost 56% of the top-50, compared with 30% in 2010)
  • Criteria oddly chosen: gender and citizenship diversity, number of doctoral students produced, are weighted heavily for survey meant to address quality of EMBA program
  • Uses its own MBA rankings to determine prestige of doctoral student placement; biased

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Poets and Quants for Executives

First published in 2011 as a follow-up to its MBA twin, Poets and Quants for Executives is not an independent ranking, but simply a composite snapshot of four other EMBA rankings averaged together. The website and ranking was created by John A. Byrne, former editor at BusinessWeek, who introduced the world to MBA rankings more than two decades ago. Each school is given a score for each of the following four surveys based on its rank in each. The scores are then averaged and ordered from top to bottom by an index score. The global ranking of 50+ schools usually appears in spring (Jan. - Mar.), but can potentially be updated every time a new EMBA ranking appears.
25% U.S. News and World Report (annual)
25% Bloomberg Businessweek (biennial)
25% The Wall Street Journal (biennial)
25% Financial Times (annual)

Pros:

  • Breadth: averaging four surveys allows a host of criteria to be at play
  • Averaging reins in outliers, smoothing out anomalies in a school's varying ranks
  • Index scores make clustering visible

Cons:

  • More like a meta-analysis than a ranking; no actual data is collected
  • What is being averaged is not the data, or the scores, but the ranks provided in other rankings, which are already interpretations of other data (with all their methodological problems)
  • Index scores, in this light, are less objective than they might appear