The latest international ranking of MBA programmes by Expansión – Mexico’s leading business news provider – has positioned Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School at N° 17 in the world. Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School is the only Belgian school to make the league table. This excellent score confirms the growing international interest in Vlerick’s MBA programmes and stresses the importance of Vlerick on an international level.

Peter Rafferty, Director of International Business at Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School comments: "This excellent ranking reflects our continued development of the Latin American market following our admission by CLADEA (the council for Latin American Business Schools) two years ago. We look forward to further enhancing our contribution to management education in this key market."

Methodology

The ranking evaluates the educational experience of studying a full-time MBA in an overseas business school by taking into account several different factors, including the school’s reputation in the Mexican market.

The ranking methodology is weighted as follows:

Academic Quality (70%)

• The GMAT score, based on the international selection exam by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), is taken as an indicator of student quality.
• Evaluation of the knowledge creation undertaken by a school’s faculty (based on the Financial Times’ Research Rank indicator).
• Strength of faculty – established through an evaluation of the percentage of PhDs in the school’s faculty.

Return on investment (20%)

Based on the percentage increased on student earning power after graduation.

Programme internationalisation (10%)

• Evaluation of the percentage of foreign students in the MBA programme.
• Evaluation of the number of countries represented by the students in the MBA programme.

In order to accurately reflect the position of each school in the Mexican market, Expansión also conducted an on-line survey with the participation of 1,087 Expansión subscribers, in which they were asked to indicate the five international business schools that were best positioned and most highly regarded in the Mexican business community. The main score obtained by using the above criteria was adjusted by adding a bonus worth up 30% to reflect the value of a school´s MBA in México, as assessed by the corporate leaders, decision makers and top executives who make up Expansión´s readership base.