London Business School Achieves Best International Ranking from Forbes
If you’re set on getting the right bang for your buck, why not head to London?
The London Business School just topped Forbes‘ new list for two-year international schools with the best return on investment, or ROI.
The business publication puts out lists every two years deciphering MBA programs’ ROI. One of those lists looks specifically at two-year programs outside the United States. Forbes calculated that the London Business School is the best after looking at how much its graduates earn during those first five years post-graduation. The publication reports that graduates from the best two-year international schools gained, on average, $74,300 over five years. Those within the U.S. saw that number stay at $50,000.
This is the business school’s breakdown, per Forbes:
“Alumni of its class of 2012 realized a 5-year gain of $119,100, the highest of any 2-year program in the world, and it took the typical graduate 3.4 years to pay back their investment. In comparison, alumni of Wharton, the top-ranked MBA program in the U.S., saw a 5-year gain of $97,100 and took 3.8 years to pay back.”
LBS is looking good right about now. The business school has been around since 1964 and offers a full-time MBA, executive MBA, masters in finance, masters in management, and other masters programs. The median GMAT score among enrolled students is currently 708, writes Forbes. So it’s no surprise that this is the school’s fifth consecutive time topping the list.
“Going to business school represents one the most significant professional, personal and financial investments that one can make,” said Gareth Howells, Executive Director of the London Business Schools’ MBA program to Forbes. “That investment is for the long term, rather than just about the role upon graduation.”
An investment into the London Business School isn’t easy though. It’s super competitive. Just 17 percent of applicants are accepted. May the odds be in your favor.
LBS Opens New Sammy Ofer Centre Expanding Its Teaching Space by 70 Percent
On September 26, the London Business School opened its new, state-of-the-art teaching hub: the Sammy Ofer Centre. Located in Old Marylebone Town Hall, the new center will increase teaching space at LBS by 70 percent. It includes 37 seminar rooms, six new lecture theaters, a new library, and multiple breakout areas. The center also features a mix of classical 1920s structure with the latest in architectural design for a beautiful aesthetic.
Of the new center, LBS Dean François Ortalo-Magné said in a press release: “The school’s London location puts us at the heart of the world’s financial and business community and has shaped our character and success since the early 1960s. The Sammy Ofer Centre embodies the quality of the LBS brand and promotes an exciting future for the school.”
The opening of the Sammy Ofer Centre was made possible due to a fundraising campaign that raised more than £125 million, a portion of which was used to develop the new facility. During the campaign, LBS also received its largest gift ever, a £25 million donation from the Idan and Batia Ofer Family Foundation. Thanks to that generous gift, the new center was named in honor of the late Sammy Ofer KBE, an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
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As for the motivation behind the £25 million donation from the Ofer Family Foundation, Idan Ofer was an MBA graduate from LBS and wanted to give back to the school that helped shape him.
“Seeing the new center with my own eyes has brought alive to me the tremendous spirit of this institution and why it deserves its reputation,” Idan Ofer said in a press release. “LBS is rightly considered among the best in its class, renowned for nurturing the entrepreneurs and leaders of tomorrow, something which has always been close to my heart. I am confident that this wonderful new building will ensure the school is fully equipped to serve the next generation of students and to remain at the front rank of business education worldwide.”
Many school officials and influencers attended the official September 26 opening ceremony for the Sammy Ofer Centre. Among them were Idan and Batia Ofer, the Hon Apurv Bagri, chairman of LBS’s governing body and managing director of the Metdist Group of companies; LBS Dean François Ortalo-Magné, and former LBS Dean Sir Andrew Likierman.
For more on the much-anticipated new addition to the LBS campus, click here.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from Clear Admit.
The Highest Paid MBA Starting Salaries in London
The draws of London may be too numerous to list: from a booming global economy to robust historic and cultural attractions, the city has a little something for everyone.
It’s likely no surprise that the city would take the sixth spot in The Atlantic‘s list of the “World’s Best Cities for Business, Life and Innovation.” While a number of factors were taken into consideration for creating the list, London’s ranking was likely boosted by its top spot in financial/business employment, and its 2nd overall spot in attracting job-creating foreign investment.
Such attributes make London an ideal spot for those pursuing or graduating with MBA degrees. As a center for global business, the opportunities for someone with the skills of an MBA are seemingly endless. However, the same vibrancy that attracts visitors across the world to London can make it an incredibly expensive city to live in from day-to-day, and those considering a move will need to consider both the cost of the city as well as earning potential.
Thankfully, London is home to some of the top MBA programs in the world, boosting the hireability and earning potential of graduates.
The Highest Paid London MBA Salaries
Saïd Business School – University of Oxford
Students at the Saïd Business School at the world-renowned University of Oxford take their education to countries around the world and into a wide variety of industries. Even considering the uncertainty brought to businesses in UK with the ‘Brexit’ referendum, the salaries of Oxford MBA graduates continue to rise from from the previous class to 2016 graduates. The average class salary for recent MBA grads at Saïd was £69,132, or $93,404 US—an increase of almost $13,000 from the previous year. These salaries varied slightly with industry, with salary averages for fields like finance and consulting reaching $96,273 and $98,458, respectively.
London Business School
With a staggering 96 percent of MBA graduates from London Business School accepting an offer within just three months of graduation, LBS graduates don’t need to wait long to start their dream job, with hopefully a salary to match. For MBA graduates of LBS, the average salary could range between £32,000 and £151,000, with the mean coming at an impressive £77,600. Salaries varied slightly between industries and also by region, with LBS graduates staying in the UK making slightly less than those venturing to North America.
READ MORE: “London Business School Launches More Flexible MBA”
Judge Business School—University of Cambridge
Graduates from the University of Cambridge Judge Business School will quickly realize the benefits of having such a well-regarded degree: about 92 percent of students from the graduating class received job offers within three months of earning their degree. The Cambridge MBA data also reveals the degree’s success in aiding those as they transition to a new career—98 percent of the 2015 graduating class switched either country, function, or industry sector just two years after graduating. The typical salary of Judge graduates increased greatly for the MBA class of 2015—likely a result of fluctuations in the pound after the Brexit decision—at a current average of £99,000, or, $133,792 USD.
Cass Business School—City University London
The Cass Business School at the City University London ranks among the top three schools for career development in the UK, a ranking reflected in the data of MBA graduates from the University. About 87 percent of MBA graduates reported a 53 percent increase in their salary. The average salary for MBA graduates at Cass is $99,000, with an even greater increase for those with an Executive MBA degree, at $130,000.
London Business School Welcomes New Dean Ortalo-Magné
The London Business School newest dean has arrived, heading to London from Wisconsin.
Dean François Ortalo-Magné will be the school’s ninth dean. He previously served as dean at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2011 to 2017, according to a press release. Now, he’ll be embarking on a tenure with the London Business School.
“In a challenging world, LBS has the opportunity to show the way,” he said. “I am excited for the journey.”
While at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ortalo-Magné built the university’s faculty, raised money, and improved the school’s brand. Inclusion and diversity were some of his key pillars as dean. Though Ortalo-Magné was previously based in the United States, his career actually began in London, attending the London School of Economics and Political Science in the mid-90s. He taught at the London Business School for six months as a visiting research scholar as well.
The previous dean, Sir Andrew Likierman, leaves his eight-year position, but he’ll continue teaching at the London Business School as a professor of management practice in accounting. Ortalo-Magné is excited to follow in his foot steps.
“I feel particularly grateful for the opportunity to succeed Sir Andrew, who has created such great momentum in the school,” Ortalo-Magné said. “I am energized by how engaged everyone is: our alumni, students, staff, and faculty members. They are all ambitious for the school, and this makes it an inspiring place to be.”
However, the new dean isn’t the only one excited about this change. So is the school’s Governing Body Chairman Apurv Bagri.
“François is ideally placed to take us forward and build on the great work carried out by Sir Andrew,” Bagri said. “The school goes from strength to strength, and I’m confident that François will continue to enhance its reputation for academic excellence and the delivery of world-class degree and executive education programs.”
London Business School Professors Earn Thinkers50 Nominations
Two professors with the London Business School have gained some global recognition.
Professors Andrew Scott and Lynda Gratton have been shortlisted for a 2017 Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Award. Thinkers50 is responsible for “the world’s most prestigious ranking of management officials,” according to its website. More than 4,000 people were nominated.
Scott and Gratton are in the “Breakthrough Idea Award” category, which recognizes work that can radically alter the way people do business. The professors were nominated for their 2016 book, The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, which breaks down how individuals should take advantage of humanity’s increased lifespan. “The 100-Year Life” draws on Scott and Gratton’s expertise in psychology—and economics. Finances, time, and relationships are among the book’s topics.
“Our research explores the reality of a multi-stage life with a variety of careers to include breaks and transitions, demonstrating how to make a gift from a long life,” Scott said in a press release.
Scott focuses on macroeconomics and has taught at Harvard and Oxford University. Gratton, on the other hand, specializes in organizational behavior, which she’s covered for more than 20 years. She was also named the best teacher at the school in 2015.
“Being shortlisted for this award is very exciting,” Gratton said. “A 100-year life means taking responsibility for the shape of one’s own life, rather than leaving it to the institutions of work and state that have governed many people’s situations for several generations.”
Check out the rest of the Thinkers50 shortlist, which also includes Aaron Hurst, CEO of Imperative and author of the 2016 book The Purpose Economy, former Apple executive and fellow author Nilofer Merchant, among others.
Winners for the Thinkers50 award will be announced at its gala November 13 in London.
London Business School Launches More Flexible MBA
An MBA program needs to continuously evolve to stay relevant. That’s why most business schools reevaluate their curricula every few years to ensure that they’re on the cutting edge.
The London Business School recently completed a top to bottom review of its MBA program to determine how it could improve. The school found that while it has a strong employment outlook, conversations with students, alumni and recruiters revealed than an overhaul of the program itself would help to better meet the needs of students and employers.
Why the London Business School Updated Its Curriculum
“There were two drivers,” Gareth Howells, Executive Director of the MBA, MiF and Early Career Programs at LBS, tells us in an interview. “In terms of inputs, we were seeing a diversification in our pipeline of the professional aspirations of our students. Historically, 80-85 percent of our students went into consulting and finance, but what we’ve found is that more candidates are coming to LBS and considering a much more diverse set of companies: tech, not-for-profit, luxury retail, etc.”
The need for this change was also reflected on the employer side. Though LBS still has strong recruiting representation from finance and consulting, Howells reported that Google and Amazon have become two of LBS’ biggest recruiters. In fact, 22 percent of last year’s LBS MBA graduates went into tech-related roles.
These facts made a compelling case for updating the MBA curriculum. “We’re not moving away from finance and consulting, but we feel that there’s a way we could restructure the program to better serve our diverse candidates and recruiters,” Howells explains .
Growing the MBA Program
To start, one of the first things that LBS did to better serve its MBA students was increase the size of its program. In the past, LBS has been considered a relatively small to medium-sized program. Currently, it enrolls about 420 students each year but, starting next year, they’re planning to add about 60 more students.
“Obviously, that will take us into that medium-size,” Howells says. “We felt it was right that the MBA should grow. We want to attract a bigger market share of applications. Since the launch of our updated curriculum, we’ve posted a 12 percent increase in applications, and we’re expecting this class to be our highest quality class yet.”
One Size Doesn’t Fit All
The changes go far deeper than class size. “We wanted to give students the opportunity to customize their learning journey toward the business sector they’re most interested in,” Howells adds. “In addition, we also wanted to make the program more practical. We’re giving our MBA students a wide choice of courses so that they can choose to broaden and deepen their skills how they see fit.”
To keep up with the constantly changing global business environment, LBS reviewed all of its MBA courses, as well as the knowledge and skill sets that they felt were common to all industries—whether working at Google or Goldman Sachs. When they did this, they were able to pare down their core courses to a small set of “sector neutral” topics in areas such as teams, finances, etc. Core coursework now only comprises the first semester of the first year.
Then, by the second half of year one, students can tailor their studies to better fit their sector-specific interests. “This puts students and recruiters in the driver’s seat,” Howells says. “We offer courses on digital transformation, marketing, customer and market insights, value chain management, global economic analysis and more.”
There are also many new courses focused on digital competencies. According to Howells, recruiters said that they needed students who were comfortable with programming, coding and digital transformation. So, LBS developed a suite of courses around this technology—including FinTech—so that LBS MBA graduates are able to navigate the new digitally focused world.
Focusing on Practical Experience
In addition, LBS adjusted its courses to be more practically focused. “Just giving theory isn’t enough,” explains Howells. “Recruiters wanted students to have a more integrated and practical learning experience—pushing the dial from knowing to doing.”
To turn this practical focus into reality, LBS has added an on-the-ground London experience in year one. This new experience capitalizes on the school’s location to allow MBA students to undertake a business project with organizations around the city.
“Leveraging our London location is important,” says Howells. “London is a global finance leader as well as a great location for tech, finance, entrepreneurship and more. A lot of our projects will be drawn from all the sectors and students will be able to target the industry according to what they want to do.”
This experience is followed in year two by the global experiential experience. “Global is in our DNA. Ninety percent of our class is not from the UK,” says Howells. “We have over 70 different nationalities represented in our MBA program.” Recognizing this, LBS takes its MBA students on a global business experience to one of seven different locations around the world to learn in the local environment.
Flexible Scheduling
Flexibility in the length of the program was also important. “We wanted to give students the best possible chance of maximizing their career output,” he says. “So, we decided to offer multiple exit points for the MBA to offer students maximum flexibility.”
Too often, MBA students will complete an internship and be offered an immediate job with the company, and they want to start work sooner. Or, they find a job halfway through their second year and want to get a jump-start. With flexible 15-month, 18-month and 21-month exit points, each MBA student at LBS can choose what works best for them.
And LBS doesn’t make students choose their exit point at the start. They can change their schedule at any time and work with a counselor to determine what classes they need to complete to graduate when they want. “We put the student in the driver seat,” Howells notes. “We tell them what they need to do to achieve the exit time frame they want, but they have control over how they accomplish it.”
So far, the new program is being received well. LBS received more applications for their first class under the new design than in previous years, and Howells only expects that trend to continue.
“No one wants to be put in a box,” he says. “We provide opportunities for students to drive their learning journey. We’re giving them control.”
