St Gallen has been Europe's leading destination to study a MiM degree for some time, occupying the top spot in the FT's annually published ranking in all but one of the last 15 years (in 2023 France’s HEC Paris rose from second place to top the ranking).
Typically dominated by business schools in Europe, the 2025 FT MiM Ranking sees fewer European institutions among the top 10 than in previous years. French business schools historically fare well in the FT MiM Rankiing: the 2025 list places four among the top 10, down from six the previous year.
Three top 10 positions are taken up this year by Chinese business schools, a record number after only one school has ever placed among the top 10 in any of the previous years.
In total, 137 schools took part in this year’s ranking of MiM programs, down from 141 last year. Schools receive scores across a number of categories, with the highest weighting given to current average alumni salaries (15%) and average salary increases between a graduate’s first MiM level job and their salary three years after graduation (9%).
Financial Times MiM ranking: metrics and weighting
Masters in Management Ranking | Top 3 breakdown
The St Gallen Master in Strategy and International Management lands the top-ranked spot in 2025 due to its strong performance across the FT’s outcomes-related metrics, as well as several other factors.
With 98% of graduates securing jobs within three months and 91% of alumni reporting the program helped achieve their aims, this places the school among the top performers for career progression.
Average alumni salaries of around $140,000 place St Gallen among the top 10 business schools for earning potential. The school also helped graduates gain a solid salary percentage increase of 44%, placing it among the top half of schools in this category.
St Gallen is also boosted by a strong diversity assessment with 96% international students among the cohort and a 50/50 gender split within the classroom.
Second-placed HEC Paris achieves similarly strong results across a number of metrics. The prestigious school's average alumni salaries exceeded St Gallen's, at more than $141,000, while the school also recorded an average salary percentage increase of 63%, significantly higher than St Gallen. The school also achieved 99% employment success.
HEC Paris' diversity metrics are, however, lower than St Gallen's. The MiM cohort comprised 47% international students while 42% of the class were female. St Gallen also placed higher for value for money, career services, and internationally-focused metrics including work mobility—an assessment of how successfully a school places students in roles in other countries.
In its second year of being eligible to take part in the FT ranking, INSEAD retains its third-placed position. The school particularly impressed in international work mobility, where it beat St Gallen, as well as the percentage of international faculty (92%) and students (88%).
Masters in Management Ranking | Changing top 10
Outside the top three and occupying the remaining top 10 spots in this year's Financial Times Masters in Management Ranking are institutions from Portugal, China, Sweden, and the UK.
Portugal's Nova School of Business and Economics rises four spots from eighth to fourth, buoyed by strong showings in the alumni salaries, employment, and student diversity categories.
In joint fourth is China's Tsinghua, which has featured among the top 10 in previous years but was absent from the 2024 list, followed by Shanghai Jiao Tong Antai College of Economics and Management. Both schools achieved 100% employment rates and helped students achieve salary pecentage increases of more than 70%.
ESCP Business School, another top French institution, drops one place to rank seventh in the 2025 FT MiM Ranking. Also reporting a 100% employment rate and 88% aims achieved, the school's career-related performance helps it retain a top 10 spot.
The third Chinese school among the top 10, Tongji University School of Economics and Management is among the leading schools for earning potential, with MiM graduates earning more than $160,000 on average three years after graduation. Along with a 100% employment rate, this helps Tongji rise from 13th to eighth position.
Occupying the final spots in the top 10 of the 2025 Financial Times MiM Ranking are Sweden's Stock School of Economics and the UK's London Business School, both of which boasted 51% female students within the classroom.
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Masters in Management Ranking | Beyond Europe
As is typically the case in the FT MiM Ranking, the highest average salaries earned by graduates can be found at the top business schools in India. The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad reported the highest average salaries, with grads earning more than $181,000 on average, a roughly $25,000 increase on the previous year. IIM Ahmedabad rises from 39th to 34th overall this year.
In total, there are 11 Indian business schools in the FT’s top 100 MiM programs, down from 14 the previous year. This includes big name schools, with IIM Ahmedabad joined by the IIMs of Bangalore, Calcutta, and Indore, as well as SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.
The list also sees Singapore and Taiwan represented by Singapore Management University and National Sun Yat-sen University.
While the list is dominated by business schools in Europe and Asia, Morrocco's Rabat Business School also features, placing 20th overall and rising from 32nd last year; as does Australia's University of Sydney Business School, in 77th.
For the fourth year in a row, Hult International Business School and the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business are the only US-based schools with management programs ranked among the top 100. The MBA remains the dominant degree in the US, however there are increasing numbers of US schools choosing to launch MiM degrees, including Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and the highly prestigious Chicago Booth School of Business.
Financial Times 2025 Masters in Management Ranking | Top 20
The Financial Times Masters in Management ranking is based on surveys of both alumni and schools. Alumni responses comprise 56% of the total ranking, while school data is worth 44%.
To be eligible, a school must offer a full-time, cohort based, Master in Management program aimed at students with little or no prior work experience. The school must also be accredited by the AACSN or Equis.
FT Masters in Management Ranking: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017
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