MIT Sloan Best in the World For Master's in Business Analytics Programs

This article is based on the QS Business Masters Rankings 2019. View the QS Business Masters Rankings 2021.

MIT Sloan Graduate School of Management has retained its place as the best institution in the world for studying a master's in business analytics in this year's QS Business Masters Rankings.

The American institution tops this year's Business Analytics Rankings, achieving a perfect score in three out of five ranking indicators: employability, alumni outcomes and thought leadership.

In second place this year is Imperial College Business School, a new entry to the ranking which has been expanded this year to feature more institutions. In third place is the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

Professor Kalyan Talluri, program director of the MSc Business Analytics at Imperial College Business School, told us why graduates of their program are so valued by employers:

“We train our graduates to be highly self-sufficient and productive from day one – it’s a fundamental element of our program’s design.  Plus, we place a huge emphasis on communication, and creating narratives from data and analytical analysis throughout the program – which I believe is critical for analytics to make an impact within the organization.”

To be included in the Masters in Business Analytics Rankings 2019, programs had to be taught mainly on-campus (i.e. not distance learning), have had at least one graduated class, and a class size of at least 10 students.

Eligible programs were then ranked on five key ranking indicators:

• Employability (30 percent)
• Alumni Outcomes (20 percent)
• Value for Money (20 percent)
• Thought Leadership (20 percent)
• Class & Faculty Diversity (10 percent)

You can find out more about the methodology used to produce the rankings here.

Of the four business masters rankings released today (finance, management and marketing are the other three), the master’s in business analytics rankings is the only subject where there are more US schools featured than European programs (although only just; the final margin is 36 to 31).

There are also four Asian schools in this year's rankings. SMU - School of Information Systems is ranked 11th, NUS Business School is joint 14th alongside IIM Calcutta and Olayan School of Business is joint 33rd. Elsewhere in the world, there are two schools from Oceania (Melbourne in 16th and La Trobe at 51+), as well as one school, HEC Montreal, from Canada (ranked 51+).

The master’s in business analytics programs featured in the rankings have a diverse class profile, with 46 percent female students (just below gender parity), and 72 percent international students on average. The average number of years of work experience that students have before starting a program is only one year, reflecting the fact that many candidates will start their master's shortly after completing their undergraduate degree.