UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Smeal College of Business MBA program is ranked No. 8 globally in the “value for money” category in the 2019 Financial Times MBA Rankings, propelling the program’s overall rank 12 spots ahead from the previous year.
Ranking No. 63 worldwide — and No. 33 among U.S. schools — this marks the second year in a row that the Smeal MBA achieved a double-digit gain within the top 100 full-time global MBA programs.
“This is a testament to our entire MBA community and our commitment to each student’s success at the end of the day,” said Michael Waldhier, admissions director of the Smeal MBA program.
The Financial Times rankings, which were released earlier today (Jan. 28), are largely based on alumni survey responses.
“Our strong network of employers and recruiters, quality alumni, and ability to provide about 95 percent of our students a form of financial support all leads to a stronger ROI,” Waldhier said.
The value rank is calculated using salary earned by alumni; program length; tuition and fees; and the opportunity cost of not working during the duration of the program.
Prospective MBA students can even use the Smeal MBA Cost Calculator to calculate their estimated return on investment based on the previous class’ employment and salary statistics.
Also contributing to the year-over-year improvements were: higher base salaries upon graduation, increases in salary over pre-MBA status, and a high career services rank.
More information about Smeal’s MBA Program can be found online.