Executive MBA Rankings

Our Executive MBA rankings are based on surveys of EMBA graduates and program directors. The methodology combines results from three graduate polls over five years to measure long-term student satisfaction

When is the Executive MBA ranking published?
The Executive MBA ranking is published in November in odd-numbered years at the same time as the Part-Time MBA and Executive Education rankings.

How does BusinessWeek determine who is eligible for rankings?
We look at a number of different statistics, including but not limited to: age of the EMBA program, enrollment, test scores, acceptance rates, and number of international and minority students. A program must be accredited to be considered for ranking.

If a program has never been ranked before, how can it be considered for ranking?
The school's representative should send a note to geoff_gloeckler@businessweek.com in January of the ranking year. We'll request some information about your program and determine eligibility based on that. The information requested is outlined above (see: "How does BusinessWeek determine who is eligible for rankings?") Please do not send requests forinclusion before Jan. 1 of the ranking year.

What sources of data does BusinessWeek use to rank EMBA programs?
There are two main sources of data—a survey of EMBA graduates and a survey of EMBA program directors.

When do each of the surveys get distributed? How long are they available for completion?
The survey of EMBA graduates is distributed in May and is open for about three months. The survey of EMBA program directors is distributed in August and typically takes two weeks. A third survey, conducted by BusinessWeek.com, asks schools for statistical information about their programs, and is used to create online statistical profiles. That survey which is distributed in early summer and is open for about three months, is not used in the ranking.

How is the survey of EMBA graduates conducted?
The survey of EMBA graduates is conducted online. Using e-mail addresses supplied by the programs, BusinessWeek (with the help of Cambria Consulting) contacts students and directs them to a survey site where they can complete the survey. BusinessWeek will send out several reminders to ensure an adequate response rate. The survey consists of about 50 questions that ask students to rate their programs on teaching quality, career services, curriculum, and the caliber of their classmates, among other things. Using the average answer for each of the questions and each question's standard deviation, we calculate a student survey score for each school.

How is the survey of EMBA program directors conducted?
The survey of EMBA program directors is conducted via e-mail. The magazine (with the help of Cambria Consulting) contacts the directors of the eligible programs and asks them to list their top 10 programs among those with which they are familiar. No. 1-ranked programs are awarded 10 points, No. 2-ranked programs nine, and so on. The sum total of points is the director poll score.

How are the various factors weighted?
The three most recent surveys of EMBA graduates are first combined for a total student score that counts toward 65% of the final ranking. (The current survey counts for 50% of the total student score. The two previous surveys count for 25% each.) The survey of EMBA program directors contributes 35%.

Do schools ever get dropped from the rankings? If so, why?
Yes. Schools with a low response rate in the graduate survey, too few responses, or both will not be ranked. Also, if one of the initial requirements for consideration is not met—for example, if a school loses its accreditation or its enrollment falls below our threshold—then a school will be dropped.

Is there a minimum response rate for the survey of EMBA graduates? How are the response rate and minimum response rate calculated?
The response rate for each program is calculated by dividing the number of replies by the total number of surveys sent. The minimum response rate is determined after a review of all school response rates, and is typically about 20%.

What alternatives are there for schools that do not want to supply student e-mail addresses?
Schools can ask students to "opt out" of the survey, then supply BusinessWeek with the e-mail addresses for those who remain. A second alternative, known as the "opt-in" method, is permitted but strongly discouraged: schools send students an e-mail about the survey and give BusinessWeek a list of e-mail addresses for those who permit the release of that information.

How is the response rate calculated for programs that choose the "opt-out" method?
If a school chooses the "opt-out" method, the response rate is calculated using the number of e-mail addresses supplied to BusinessWeek. If 500 students are given the opportunity to opt out and 100 do, the school would supply 400 e-mail addresses. If we survey those 400 students and 200 complete the survey, the response rate is 50%.

How is the response rate calculated for schools that choose the "opt-in" method?
To calculate a response rate for schools choosing the "opt-in" method, BusinessWeek divides the number of responses by the number of students who received the "opt-in" e-mail.

If 1,000 students receive the "opt-in" message and 500 opt in, 250 survey responses would give that school a response rate of 25%, not 50%. Schools with response rates that fall below the minimum will not be ranked.

What do you do when schools refuse to provide e-mail addresses for the student survey and decline to use the other alternatives available to them?
We attempt to obtain student e-mail addresses using other legal means. These means include, but are not limited to, sending an e-mail to individual students and asking them to forward it to their friends, and taking out ads in student newspapers directing students to the survey site. If BusinessWeek is unable to obtain sufficient e-mail addresses and an adequate response rate, such schools will not be ranked.

For the student survey, how do you "fill in" historical data for schools that have never been surveyed before?
BusinessWeek employs the services of statisticians David M. Rindskopf and Alan L. Gross, professors of educational psychology at City University of New York Graduate Center.

Using statistical regression equations and the survey results from schools with complete data, Gross and Rindskopf are able to provide estimates of survey results from previous years.

Business Exchange

Track and share business topics across the Web.