ESMT Berlin: World business school rankings
ESMT is one of only two business schools in Germany to appear in every international ranking among the top business school rankings, reflecting impressive career placement of graduates and high satisfaction among current and former students.
On this page, you can find out how ESMT's program and the school itself ranks with independent publications such as the Financial Times or the Economist.
Business School Rankings
Bloomberg Businessweek: European Business School Ranking 2024-25 (#14 in Europe)
ESMT Berlin placed 14th in the Bloomberg Businessweek European Business School Ranking 2024-25
September 17, 2024
The Financial Times European Business School Ranking 2023 (#3 in Germany & #19 in Europe)
ESMT Berlin ranked #3 in Germany and #19 in Europe in the Financial Times European Business School Ranking 2023.
Berlin, December 4, 2023
The Master in Global Management program combines internships, exchange options and a social impact project with applied coursework and research on the latest business and management theories.
Master in Global Management rankings
The Financial Times: Global Master in Management ranking (#19 globally)
ESMT has ranked #19 in the world in the Master in Management ranking. The Master in Global Management is ranked 6th for international work mobility.
The Economist: Which MBA (#14 globally)
The ESMT Master in Management program has been ranked #14 in the world in the Economist "Which MBA?" global ranking of the top Master in Management (MIM) programs in 2021, up four places from the previous year. This ranking surveyed current students, alumni, and staff to assess indicators such as the number career opportunities, increase in salary, faculty quality, and more.
The ESMT MIM is also ranked:
- #5 for 'Education experience'
- #8 for 'Personal development and educational experience'
- #8 for 'Faculty quality'
CEO World: ESMT's MIM program among top 3 in Europe
ESMT Berlin has been ranked 3rd in the list of Europe's Top B-Schools for Master in Management (MIM) Degrees.
Poets & Quants: ESMT's MIM ranked #6 in the world
Poets & Quants have formed a composite ranking of Master in Management programs, combining The Economist and The Financial Times.
"To gain a better sense of where programs ranked, we combined both lists, equally weighting each ranking, to come up with a Top 25 list from the 40 schools ranked by The Economist and the 100 schools ranked by the Financial Times."
ESMT Berlin ranked joint #6. Read more.
ESMT’s MBA is a 15 month, personalized program with significant international and intercultural components. MBA courses focus on innovation, technology, managing big data, sustainable business development, entrepreneurship, and global strategic management.
Full-time MBA rankings
Bloomberg: Best B-Schools Rankings 2024-2025 (#14 in Europe)
ESMT Berlin is ranked 12th of all international programs in the Bloomberg Businessweek European B-Schools Ranking 2024 of international (non-US) full-time MBA programs 2022-2023.
Berlin, September 15, 2022.
Corporate Knights Better World Ranking
ESMT Berlin was ranked #7 in Europe and #1 Germany in the Corporate Knights Better World MBA ranking. See the full ranking here.
Forbes: The Best Business Schools (#10 among one-year, international programs)
ESMT Berlin placed 10th among non-US business schools and 17th globally in the Best Business Schools 2019 ranking by Forbes.
The Ranking compares schools’ full-time MBA programs based on their return on investment (ROI). With an average five-year MBA gain of $81,600, ESMT ranks above renowned American business schools such as Columbia, MIT Sloan, and Cornell Johnson. It is one of only two schools based in Germany in the ranking.
The Forbes ranking is based on the median ROI achieved by the graduates from the class of 2014. The five-year MBA gain represents the post-MBA salary of a typical alumnus after five years minus the cost of the program and foregone salary. The authors of the ranking, which is published every two years, surveyed around 17,500 alumni from more than 100 schools worldwide.
The Financial Times: Global MBA Rankings
ESMT reconfirmed its place in the Financial Times MBA ranking in 2022*. This ranking is among the most competitive and prestigious in the world. The largest part of the ranking is based on a survey from alumni graduating three years previously. Alumni answer questions about their career growth and satisfaction with their MBA results in their careers. The largest part of the ranking relies on the salaries and salary growth of alumni answering the survey.
In 2022, ESMT ranked:
*ESMT Berlin made a strategic decision to extend our full-time MBA program, thus making it even better for our students, by including internships, exchange programs and other opportunities. A result of this extension is that ESMT does not appear in the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2023. Although ESMT has demonstrated its ability to run a sustainable, sizeable program each and every year, the technicality of having no graduates in the calendar year 2020 means exclusion from the ranking this and next year. We will be back in the FT Global MBA Ranking stronger than ever in 2025!
The Financial Times: Top MBAs for entrepreneurship (#2 in Germany)
In its first "MBA for Entrepreneurship" ranking 2018, the Financial Times ranks ESMT Berlin as:
- #38 Globally
- #16 in Europe
- #2 in Germany
The ranking shows that 18% of our graduates started their own company within three years of graduation. ESMT places second internationally in the female entrepreneurs category, with 44% of entrepreneurs being women.
The Financial Times: Top MBA schools for environmental, social and corporate governance teaching (#8)
ESMT has been ranked #8 in top MBA schools for environmental, social and corporate governance teaching as voted by Alumni and published by The Financial Times.
The Economist: Which MBA? (#12 in Europe)
The Economist Which MBA? ranks the world's full-time MBA programs. This ranking places significant value on students' reported satisfaction with a wide range of program indicators, such as classroom experience, faculty quality, classmate quality, and facilities. Current students and the three previous MBA classes are surveyed.
In 2021, the Economist ranked ESMT's MBA program as:
- #46 in the world
- #2 in Germany
- #12 in Europe
- #26 for faculty quality
- #27 for personal development and educational experience
- #38 for post-MBA salary
Find MBA: Top Programs for Technology or Information Technology
Find MBA lists ESMT's full-time MBA amongst the world's top 10 programs for Technology or Information Technology (IT) 2018. The reasons for the program's top position globally: Over 20 percent of ESMT’s MBA class of 2016 went into roles in the technology industries. The school’s elective track in “Management of Innovation and Technology” covers a variety of topics; its Berlin location puts it in the heart of a blossoming tech hub.
Poets & Quants World's Best MBA Programs for Entrepreneurship 2025
ESMT Berlin was ranked #8 globally and claimed the #1 spot in Germany in the 2025 Poets & Quants ranking for the World's Best MBA Programs for Entrepreneurship. Read the full list of here.
The ESMT EMBA is a rigorous management program that leads you through developmental phases designed to deliver the experiences and skills you will need to become an effective, integrative leader capable of thriving in complex international business environments.
Executive MBA rankings
The Financial Times: EMBA Ranking
- #45 globally: ESMT's EMBA program ranks #7 globally in career progress.
The Economist: Which MBA (#14 globally)
In 2018, the Economist ranked ESMT's Executive MBA program as:
- #14 in the world
- #1 in Germany for stand-alone programs
- #5 for "Percentage of students who have been promoted or grown their own company since graduation"
- #7 for students' rating of culture and classmates
The Economist places ESMT's Executive MBA program among the top 15 worldwide. In its bi-annual ranking, the Economist evaluates all EMBA programs on educational experience and personal development as well as career progression. The methodology includes more quantitative measures, such as details of students and faculty, the number of overseas assignments required and reports on alumni and their current salaries.