IE is one of the world's top higher education institutions. A pioneer in business education, IE Business School trains tomorrow’s business leaders, shaping them with an innovative approach and acting as a catalyst for the creation of new businesses. IE is located in Madrid, a global and vibrant city. With more than 90 nationalities represented on campus at any given time, the IE Experience is a truly international one.

IE Business School's MBA programs (International MBA, Global MBA, Executive MBA, Global Executive MBA, IE Brown Executive MBA and IE-SMU MBA) have been met with worldwide acclaim, featuring highly in the FT, Economist, and Business Week business school rankings, and cementing IE's reputation as a global leader in business education. Catering to the real needs of the corporate world, IE Business School offers a number of formats (full-time, part-time, and Blended learning, which combines face-to-face periods with online interactive learning) to ensure utmost flexibility in its programs.

Annual Tuition: €72,200

Annual Tuition Non-Resident: €72,200

Acceptance Rate: 33%

Full-Time Enrollment: 450

Average GPA: 4

Median GMAT: 680

International: 95%

Minority: N/A%

Female: 35%

Male: 65%

Average Age: 29

Application Deadlines: Rolling Admissions

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The IE Business School MBA: What You Need To Know

A lot of business schools talk about being entrepreneurial, but entrepreneurship is in Madrid-based IE’s DNA. The school was set up in 1973 by three entrepreneurs, rather than academics, and it retains a creative spirit that other schools can only aspire to — as well as the flagship International MBA (IMBA), a highly regarded executive MBA, an online Global MBA (the world’s first), and an Asian-focused program run with Singapore Management University.

IE has enjoyed a stellar rise in the business school rankings in the last 15 years. In 2002 its full-time course was ranked just 35th in the world by the Financial Times, but IE’s ability to read the changes in the business education market meant that by 2010 it was a fixture in the top 10, and in 2017 it was ranked third in Europe. Its Global MBA is regularly ranked best in the world. Eyebrows were raised, however, when the FT excluded the school from its 2018 rankings because some of the data it supplied was incorrect. IE has acted quickly to protect its reputation by firing those responsible.

True to IE’s commitment to doing things differently, the 12-month IMBA is organized in an unusual way. It starts with a six-month Core Period that includes the usual business fundamentals, such as accounting and managerial decision-making. But it gives equal weight to two other areas: Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset — IE was the first business school to make an entrepreneurial course a requirement — and Thinking Beyond Business, which includes courses on Innovation in a Digital World, Critical Management Thinking, and Business, Government, and Society.

This is followed by a two-month Lab Period. Depending on how they see their futures, students can choose between Business Lab (for those wanting to work in a corporation), Start-Up Lab (for entrepreneurs), or Social Impact Lab. Alternatively, those focused on a career change can do a four- to seven-week internship.

The final, four-month Elective Period is where students choose from a long menu of electives and/or take on consulting projects, exchanges, or treks. There is also Venture Lab, which helps take a business idea to investment-readiness. All of this runs parallel with courses in Career and Behavioural Fitness, which promise to develop students’ soft skills to make them more competitive.

IE is committed to having a diverse cohort; each year 90% or more of its students are international, with 70-75 nationalities among the 440 students. Typically, a quarter comes from Europe, the same amount hails from Latin America, and North America and Asia account for another 15% each. Half of the cohort comes from non-finance or banking backgrounds, with 20% from industry, energy, and construction, and a further 15% each from consulting and consumer goods. Up to 40% of IE’s students get some sort of financial help with their fees.

Lee Newman, Dean

“At our business school, we believe education isn’t really about filling your head with facts. It’s about transforming you personally and professionally, creating those game-changing moments that all of us have at different times in our lives, that move us from being what we are now to something better. We call that the Next Best You.”

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