If you're interested in business schools and have already started looking into them, you'll certainly have noticed that many of them display their position in national or international rankings.
But amidst all this, you may sometimes feel lost: which rankings are the most important? Are they nationally or internationally recognized? Do they apply to a single school or program? What criteria are they based on? Let's decipher the world of French business school rankings together.
When it comes to management, two international rankings set the standard: the FT ranking and the QS ranking.
The Financial Times ranking is one of, if not THE most reliable ranking in the world of business schools.
It ranks not only schools as a whole in its ranking of the best business schools in Europe, but also programs such as MBAs, Master in Finance or Master in Management (Programme Grande Ecole).
To determine the results, the survey is carried out with schools (who provide declarative data) and alumni (who have completed their Master in Management within the last 3 years). One of the most important criteria in the ranking of the best Masters in Management is the salary of graduates 3 years after graduation as well as their evolution since leaving the school. The survey also looks at graduates' international mobility and international experience within their course of study.
This is a fairly selective ranking, in which entry is of great value to the schools.
The QS ranking is established by Quacquarelli Symonds. It is one of the most prestigious rankings of the world's top universities. In addition to this global ranking, which only concerns universities, QS also establishes rankings for masters programs, such as the Master in Management ranking.
This program ranking is based on declarative data supplied by the schools themselves, such as graduate employability, return on tuition investment, alumni career opportunities and faculty diversity.
In France, there are several rankings to consider:
Le Figaro explains that its ranking of the best post-bac business schools is a ranking that “prioritizes the business schools awarding the Master's degree”. It focuses on post-bac business schools (some business schools are accessible post-pépa). These schools are accessible via competitive entrance examinations such as the Sésame or ACCES directly after the baccalauréat.
Recognized in France, it takes into account indicators such as the school's international reputation, the quality of its research, professional integration and the number of professors.
Each year, Le Figaro also publishes a general ranking of the top business schools.
The SIGEM (Système d'Intégration aux Grandes Ecoles de Management) ranking is recognized for its objectivity, since the results depend on students' opinions and their choice of one school or another.
It ranks business schools that are accessible post-pépa, i.e. after having attended a preparatory class.
It's a ranking of the preferred schools of these prepa students. The hierarchy is established on the basis of applicants' responses and withdrawals on the Sigem platform (which enables them to apply to post-prepa schools). For example, if a student is accepted to 2 schools, SKEMA and Ehdec, the school he/she chooses between the 2 will gain places in the ranking.
L'Etudiant ranks the top French business schools. In 2024, they analyzed 37 grandes écoles whose Grande Ecole Program confers a master's degree. The rankings are based on the quality of training, rapid integration into the job market and graduate salaries.
The Eduniversal ranking of the best Masters, MS and MBA programs is a ranking that evaluates individual programs, not individual institutions as a whole. It is based on 3 criteria: reputation of the course, salary on graduation and student satisfaction.
The ranking of the best Licences, Bachelors and Grandes Ecoles has existed since 2009. It ranks programs by specialty.
It is published nationally, and since 2023 also regionally. The evaluation criteria are the same as for the Masters, MS and MBA rankings.
You can find more details on the various rankings here 👇