CUHK MBA Ranked World Top 14 MBA in Finance by Financial Times

In the inaugural Financial Times Top MBAs for Finance 2017 ranking released today, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School MBA Program is ranked No.2 in Asia and 14th in the world among the top 50 full-time global MBA programs.

CUHK MBA is ranked No.1 in Asia and among the top five in the world in terms of career progress*, as well as No.1 in East Asia and No.6 in the world in terms of salary percentage increase*. Three years after their graduation, the average salary of CUHK MBA graduates working in finance has reached US$139,000 (over HK$1.08 million) per annum, an average increase of 132 percent over their pre-MBA salaries. CUHK MBA is also the best value for money* program in East Asia (7th in the world). Attributed to its world-class curriculum and strong student career counselling support, the outstanding ranking results demonstrate that CUHK MBA has played an important role to enhance its full-time graduates’ employability and career advancement in finance.

According to the data collected by Financial Times, three years after graduation, 40 percent of CUHK MBA alumni are working in finance* and 100 percent of students who worked in finance* before their MBA remain in the business sector. In addition, 11 percent of CUHK MBA alumni who did not work in finance before have successfully switched career*.

Prof. Kalok Chan, Dean of CUHK Business School and Wei Lun Professor of Finance at CUHK, said: “The outstanding ranking results undoubtedly prove that our MBA program is developing young leaders in finance and helping them to achieve professional advancement, career progression and self-enrichment. As our MBA program is moving toward the next 50 years, such great achievement and international recognition have motivated us to continue our effort in enhancing our curriculum, advancing education excellence and grooming talents.”

Ms. Stephanie Villemagne, Associate Dean (Graduate Programs) and Director of MBA Programs at CUHK Business School, added: “These ranking results reflect our continuous effort in responding to dynamic market needs and enhancing the quality of our MBA program. FinTech, for example, is one of our closely monitored areas in which we are keen to provide courses for our students. We will also offer more blended courses (online and face to face) for our part-time students who need a lot of flexibility in their studies.”

CUHK MBA was ranked 36th in the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2017 released on January 30. The program was also ranked No.1 in Hong Kong and among the top three in Asia in terms of career progress, as well as the best-ranked MBA program in Hong Kong in terms of salary percentage increase.

Read the full Financial Times Top MBAs for Finance 2017 ranking results (download a pdf copy)

This article was first published in the CUHK Business School’s website on May 1, 2017.

*Note on ranking criteria of measurement:

All criteria (except research) are based on data from alumni working in finance only, three years after graduation.

Salary: average salary three years after graduation, US$ PPP equivalent.

Salary increase: average difference in alumni salary before the MBA to now. Half of this figure is calculated according to the absolute salary increase, and half according to the percentage increase relative to pre-MBA salary — the “salary percentage increase” figure in the table.

Career progress: calculated according to changes in the level of seniority and the size of company alumni are working in now, compared with before their MBA.

Value for money: calculated using salary today, course length, fees and other costs, including lost income during the MBA.

Work in finance: proportion of alumni working in finance, three years after graduation.

Stayed in finance: proportion of students who worked in finance before their MBA and remain in finance.

Moved to finance: the proportion of those who did not work in finance before but do so now.