The UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School's full-time masters of business administration (MBA) has climbed nine places to 70th on the annual Financial Times worldwide rankings. It is the only Irish business school to feature on the list.
The climb is good news for the UCD College of Business, which in late 2016 committed to spending €65 million on a new strategy through which it hopes to reach the top 50 in global business school rankings by 2020.
Its full-time MBA programme was placed 22nd in Europe on the latest rankings, which analyse the courses based on career progress, employment success, school and programme quality, faculty research capabilities and diversity.
Graduates of the programme saw their salaries increase by 71 per cent on average within three years of completing the course, UCD said.
Value for money
Smurfit’s MBA programme was placed 16th for value for money and improved its rankings in measures of diversity, such as representation of women on the faculty and female student participation.
Prof Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, dean of the UCD College of Business said the Smurfit School could be "justifiably proud" of its consistent record.
“The additional €65 million of non-exchequer funding committed over the next five years will be key to ensuring all aspects of our mission perform to the highest international standards as we compete with the very best providers of business education in the world,” he said.
UCD first offered the degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 1964, becoming one of the first universities in Europe to do so. The graduate business school has been open since 1991.
