UCD Smurfit School MBA ranked 74th best in world

A Financial Times study places the school as the 35th best in Europe

UCD Smurfit School’s executive part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) course has risen 15 places to be ranked 74th in the world.

The Financial Times top 100 global executive MBA ranking, published Monday, ranks the Smurfit school as the 35th best in Europe and makes it the only Irish institution on the list.

"UCD Smurfit School has made great strides over the years in consistently improving its global reputation as one of the world's leading business schools. Today's announcement by the Financial Times with our Executive MBA programme climbing 15 places in its rankings is further evidence of that," said UCD business interim dean, Tony Brabazon.

“Since we announced our intent last year to become a Top 50 global school by 2020 much has been achieved in the first year with three programmes achieving Top 50 status. We remain confident that the collective efforts of the School’s advisory boards, faculty and staff will deliver on that vision as we continue to invest in and execute our strategy,” he added.

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As part of its analysis, the Financial Times identified 51 per cent salary increases among Smurfit MBA graduates with annual remuneration of $128,552 (€109,035) achieved within three years of completing the programme.

Of the 100 institutions, Smurfit ranked 13th for the highest percentage of females working in the faculty. Additionally, 100 per cent of the MBA programme lecturers hold doctorates, a metric achieved by 20 schools worldwide.

While this isn’t Smurfit’s best ranking (which was 48th place in 2006), it marks a steady recovery from its lowest score of 96th place in 2014.

Peter Hamilton

Peter Hamilton

Peter Hamilton is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in business