IIM-B ranks 21st globally in FT Masters in Management Rankings 2026; these are the world top 10

A business school that began more than 125 years ago with the modest aim of training merchants for Switzerland’s booming textile industry finds itself grabbing top rank in the FT Masters in Management 2026 ranking, for the second consecutive year.

The University of St Gallen, founded in 1898 as an academy for trade, transport and administration, began teaching a year later with just seven enrolled students. More than a century later, the Swiss institution has retained its position among the world’s leading schools for management education.

The University of St Gallen is followed by Portugal’s Nova School of Business and Economics, which was established in 1978 as part of NOVA University of Lisbon and, Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Antai College of Economics and Management in the third rank.

The Financial Times has ranked 100 English-taught Masters in Management programmes in its 2026 edition. The ranking covers full-time, cohort-based programmes aimed primarily at students with little or no prior work experience.

It uses information provided by business schools as well as responses from alumni who graduated in 2023. Alumni responses account for 56% of the overall ranking score, while school data account for the remaining 44%. The University of St Gallen's first-place position marks its 15th overall No.

1 ranking in the FT's Masters in Management rankings and its third consecutive year at the top. Its long association with business education dates back to 1898, when the institution was created to supply trained workers to the textile industry in eastern Switzerland.

The school later moved to its present Rosenberg campus in 1963 and adopted the official name University of St Gallen in 1995. Nova SBE has made one of the biggest advances among the leading schools, moving from fourth in 2025 to second in 2026.

Founded in 1978, the school has an international orientation and offers programmes across economics, finance and management. Its international student share in the 2026 ranking stands at 93%, the second-highest figure among the top 10.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University: Antai has moved from sixth to third, marking a four-place improvement. International students account for 29% of its student body, lower than the proportions reported by most of the European institutions in the top 10.

Further down the list, Insead has dropped from third to fourth, while HEC Paris has fallen from second to fifth. Both remain within the top five, with international student shares of 87% and 49%, respectively. The sixth position is shared by ESCP Business School and Vlerick Business School.

ESCP has improved from seventh place in 2025, while Vlerick has recorded a notable rise from 14th. At 98%, ESCP has the highest proportion of international students among the schools in the top 10. IESE Business School has moved up eight places, from 16th to eighth.

Stockholm School of Economics has retained its ninth position, while Rabat Business School has entered the top 10 after rising from 20th in the previous edition. The FT ranking considers measures including graduate salaries, salary growth, career progression, value for money, international exposure, diversity and sustainability.

Average salary three years after graduation carries the largest individual weight at 15%, followed by salary increase at 9%.