Cape Town - UCT’s full-time MBA programme at the Graduate School of Business has been ranked 52nd in the latest Financial Times of London’s Global MBA Top 100, released on Wednesday.
This position is up from last year’s ranking of 59th, against the largest competition pool in the history of the ranking.
This year, a record 159 business schools participated in the ranking process, up from last year’s 153.
“It’s gratifying to be acknowledged as a school that’s staying ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive market. Business schools have to adjust for the shifting demands of the market or risk irrelevancy, a death knell in these times,” said Professor Walter Baets, UCT GSB director.
The UCT GSB remains the only business school in Africa ranked in the FT Full-time MBA Top 100 for its full-time programme. This is the 12th consecutive year that it has been listed.
In another highlight for the school, the GSB was marked out as offering the best value-for-money MBA in the world, which Baets said spoke to the school’s belief in remaining relevant to its context as an emerging market business school.
“Rankings are a convenient testament to the quality of your education; considering the incredible time and effort it takes to get your MBA from a top school you want that investment to pay off, so we take pride in our steady progress in the rankings as a reflection of this,” said Baets.
FT research showed UCT GSB graduates were ranked 20 out of 100 in terms of weighted salary average after they graduated, and 25 in terms of career progress.
The GSB was also named as the top business school in Africa in the Eduniversal Rankings, released last October, the seventh year that the school has walked away with the top honours for best business school on the continent.
One of the ways the school is standing out from its peers is through its specialist centres such as the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Allan Gray Centre for Values-based Leadership and the Solution Space - an innovation hub at the heart of its campus.
One of the Solution Space’s many projects includes the Philippi Village development, which aims to nurture entrepreneurs and support skills development and job creation in Philippi.
These initiatives are helping to redefine the role of the UCT GSB.
“We take a long-term view and are constantly working to ensure a stronger base for business in Africa.” said Baets.
Cape Argus