SA university MBA rated best value for money in the world

 ·5 May 2015

The latest global MBA ranking from the Financial Times shows that the University of Cape Town is the country’s top business institute in the country, and in Africa.

According to the rankings, the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) is the 52nd best business school in the world.

UCT was ranked 59th in 2014, and 74th in 2013.

The GSB Masters in Business Administration (MBA) is the only MBA programme in Africa listed in the Financial Times ranking.

The fees attached to the course total R184,450 ($15,400), with a R15,000 acceptance fee, ranked as the best value for money out of all 100 institutes on the list.

The top ranked business school, Harvard, has full-time fees starting at $98,400 (R1,18 million), while the institute ranked as having the least value for money, the University of Southern California, has fees starting at $93,223 (R1.1 million) for the first year, totalling $170,500 (R2 million) for two years.

“For the third consecutive year, Harvard Business School is number one in the FT Global MBA rankings — the sixth time it has taken the top slot since the FT published its first ranking in 1999,” the Financial Times said.

“Though Harvard lags behind many European schools in the diversity of its student body and international mobility of its graduates, its alumni top the ranking for salaries three years after graduation, and the school runs Wharton a close second in the research and PhD rankings.”

The group said of UCT’s course: “With a focus on ethics, governance and entrepreneurship, UCT’s MBA programmes are rooted in the complexity and uncertainty that are inherent in emerging economies.”

MBA salaries

The FT ranking is based on surveys of the business school graduates, career progression of alumni, idea generation and diversity of students and faculty.

One of the key indicators tracked by the group is MBA holders’ salaries, which range from $82,237 (just under R1 million) for alumni from Canada’s University of Alberta, to $180,183 (R2.2 million) for Harvard Business School alumni.

UCT MBA graduates track the middle ground with an average salary of $144,744 (R1.73 million).

The following table shows the top 10 business schools in the world and the average MBA alumni salaries, as well as the average difference in alumni salary before the MBA to now.

# Business School Country Average salary Salary increase
1 Harvard Business School USA $180,183 96%
2 London Business School UK $155,754 97%
3 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton USA $172,699 90%
4 Stanford Graduate School of Business USA $178,929 80%
5 Insead France / Singapore $155,546 86%
6 Columbia Business School USA $170,849 106%
7 Iese Business School Spain $144,782 121%
8 MIT: Sloan USA $157,360 97%
9 University of Chicago: Booth USA $162,791 97%
10 University of California at Berkeley: Haas USA $159,140 88%
52 University of Cape Town GSB South Africa $144,744 76%

The University of Cape Town has been ranked as South Africa’s best university on all but one global ranking.

Here is a breakdown of the institute’s performance on the FT ranking in selected indicators looking at diversity and expertise.

Indicator Performance
Overall rank 52nd
Value for money 1st
Graduates employed at three months 100%
Female faculty 29%
Female students 24%
International faculty 54%
International students 29%
Faculty with doctorates 77%
FT doctoral rank 87th
FT research rank 99th

You can view the full FT rankings on the website.

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