Poets&Quants International 2024-2025 MBA Ranking: It’s INSEAD Again!
For the tenth time in the past 15 years, INSEAD has captured first place in Poets&Quants‘ ranking of the best full-time MBA programs outside the U.S. This latest win in our 2024-2025 international MBA ranking follows last year’s No. 1 showing for the European school with campuses in Fontainebleau, France, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and San Francisco.
It’s an extraordinary level of achievement. In the 15 years that Poets&Quants has published its composite rankings, no school has racked up more top honors than INSEAD. The closest is Harvard Business School, which has taken over the top spot in our U.S. MBA ranking seven times.
INSEAD’s 10-month Accelerated MBA program allows students to start in January or August on its France or Singapore campuses. The school takes in roughly 1,000 MBA students each year, making it the largest full-time MBA program in the world. With more than 80 different nationalities in a typical class, students enter into a truly diverse and quintessentially global experience. A recent revamping of the MBA curriculum has increased the focus on sustainability, with a real-life business simulation capstone. The program was named Poets&Quants MBA Program of the Year in 2023.
John Byrne
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POETS&QUANTS INTERNATIONAL RANKING: ISB REMAINS THE TOP SCHOOL IN INDIA
Rounding out the top five full-time international MBA programs this year were No. 2 IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, No. 3 London Business School in the United Kingdom, No. 4 SDA Bocconi in Milan, Italy, and No. 5 Oxford Said Business School. The MBA programs at both Oxford and Cambridge landed in the Top Ten, with Cambridge Judge placing eighth, down a mere one place from seventh last year. This ranking follows the publication of our 2024-2025 list of the best U.S. MBA programs.
Once again, the Indian School of Business beat out every IIM to gain the highest MBA ranking for a program in India. ISB placed 11th best, bumping up two places from its year-earlier rank. That put the school above IIM-Bangalore, which finished 13th, and IIM-Ahmedabad, which placed 19th. Only one school in China made the Top Ten: Ceibs in Shanghai, placing ninth in a tie with Switzerland’s IMD.
This year’s composite list includes one consequential change: the addition of LinkedIn’s MBA ranking which for the first time included international business schools. The Financial Times weighs 60%, while both Bloomberg Businessweek and LinkedIn account for 20% of the ranking. As a result, some rank changes occurred due to the shift in our methodology to include the extra LinkedIn datapoint which tracks the career progress of MBA graduates over time. That change proved extremely helpful to several of the Indian Institutes of Management, all of which rose in this year’s ranking. The IIMs in both Calcutta and Lucknow advanced in double digits, with IIM-Calcutta gaining 10 places to rank 31st and IIM-Lucknow moving up 11 spots to rank 38th.
SOME 13 MBA PROGRAMS SAW DOUBLE-DIGIT GAINS OR DROPS
Our ranking takes into account a massive wealth of quantitative and qualitative data captured in these two major lists, from surveys of corporate recruiters, MBA graduates, deans and faculty publication records to the latest salary and employment statistics of alumni. Poets&Quants ranks U.S. MBA programs separately. By blending the rankings together, we’ve come up with a more authoritative ranking of MBA programs. The list tends to diminish anomalies and other statistical distortions that often occur in one ranking or another.
The system penalizes schools that either fail to make both rankings or shop for the best ranking they can get and avoid lists where they are less likely to do well. Yet, many of those schools will trumpet their single ranking, hoping that readers will simply assume that a school’s position on one list will be similar to its rank on another. That’s not true as the often considerable differences in the ranks of a school across the two lists clearly show. So ranks based on more inputs have more credibility than those based on only one or two.
This year, some 13 MBA programs showed double-digit declines or improvements in their ranking. Cranfield University’s School of Management skyrocketed 31 places to 20th on the list from 51st a year ago. It was the most significant leap on the list. This surge reflects improvements in its Bloomberg Businessweek ranking (now #13) and its ability to leverage LinkedIn’s employment outcomes. Its emphasis on practical learning and close ties to industry have paid off.
P&Q’s Top Ten International MBA Programs Of 2024-2025
Once again, INSEAD’s 10-month accelerated MBA program tops the list, a feat the school has accomplished ten out of the past 15 years
| Rank & School | Y-O-Y Change | 2023 Rank | Size of Cohort | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. INSEAD | ——– | 1 | 1,000 | Class hails from 75 countries, with 110 nationalities. Average age is 29 |
| 2. IESE Business School | ——– | 2 | 350 | Some 85% of the students are from outside Spain, with the average age being 29 |
| 3. London Business School | +1 | 4 | 431 | Students represent 65 different nationalities, with just 10% from the U.K |
| 4. SDA Bocconi | -1 | 3 | 146 | Just over 20% of the students are from Italy while Latin America is the most represented, accounting for a quarter of the class |
| 5. University of Oxford (Said) | +6 | 11 | 348 | A mere 3% of the class is from the U.K. Students represent 59 nationalities, averaging six years of work experience |
| 6. IE Business School | -1 | 5 | NA | Some 92% of the full-time MBA students are from outside Spain, representing 48 nationalities with the average age being 29 |
| 6. ESADE Business School | +6 | 12 | 182 | Just 2% of the students are from outside Spain, with 43 nationalities represented in the current class. Nearly a third of the class is from Latin America and the Caribbean |
| 8. Cambridge University (Judge) | -1 | 7 | 244 | Some 49 nationalities are represented in the current class, with an average age of 29 and six years of work experience |
| 9. IMD | +1 | 10 | 103 | Some 44 nationalities are represented in the current class that ranges in age from 25 to 34, with three to eight years of work experience |
| 9 CEIBS | -1 | 8 | 115 | Overseas students account for 22% of the class from 14 countries. Women make up 50% of students, with 5.4 years of work experience |
OXFORD SAID CLIMBS INTO THE TOP FIVE FULL-TIME MBA PROGRAMS
Oxford’s Said Business School climbed into the top five, driven by higher rankings in the Financial Times and LinkedIn. The school’s reputation for producing versatile leaders with global perspectives is gaining traction.
ESADE Business School joins the upper echelon, tying with IE Business School at #6. Its jump reflects higher scores in the FT and Bloomberg Businessweek, signaling its growing influence in Europe.
ESSEC Business School also cracked the top 25, moving up from #37 last year. Its strong showing in LinkedIn (#15) and improvement in the FT rankings highlight its impact on career outcomes.
THE BIGGEST RANKING LOSERS: MANNHEIM AND NANYANG
And, of course, there were a number of surprising declines this year. Mannheim Business School plunged from #16 to #32 is one of the steepest drops. While its Bloomberg Businessweek ranking remained strong, a sharp drop in the FT rankings dragged it down.
Nanyang Business School suffered the second largest drop with Peking University, both schools losing 15 places. Once a top-25 school, Nanyang slipped dramatically, affected by stagnant scores in FT and a lack of presence in LinkedIn’s rankings. Guanghua dropped out of the top 25 due to weaker career outcomes as reflected in LinkedIn rankings and a slight dip on the FT list.
The P&Q ranking also highlights some new trends and insights. Flexibility and employment impact are key to performance. Schools leveraging LinkedIn data, like IIM-Ahmedabad (#19, +9) and WHU (#28, +8), have seen their rankings boosted. LinkedIn’s focus on employment outcomes is becoming a critical factor.
A STRONG RANKINGS YEAR FOR EMLYON AND ESCP BUSINESS SCHOOLS
Schools in Asia-Pacific are also on the rise. While some Asian schools like HKUST and Guanghua faltered, others like IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Calcutta (#31, +10) surged ahead, reflecting a broader trend of growth in the region’s global influence.
Smaller European schools also had a good year, with EMLyon (#29, +11) and ESCP (#18, +3) leveraging niche programs and strong employer networks to make gains in a competitive landscape.
Despite all the movement, of course, INSEAD remains at the top. Its consistent performance in the Financial Times and its strong LinkedIn presence underscore its dominance as a global leader in business education.
The 2024-2025 Poets&Quants’ ranking reflects a rapidly evolving landscape in global MBA education. With major leaps from schools like Cranfield and Oxford and surprising declines from Mannheim and Nanyang, it’s clear that schools must continually adapt to remain competitive. As technology, career outcomes, and global dynamics play a larger role, these rankings highlight where the future of business education is headed.
