Masters in Finance 2021 rankings: methodology and key

Weights for the ranking criteria are shown below in brackets — (pre-experience) [post-experience] — as a percentage of the overall ranking.

Salary today US$ (20) [20]: Average alumnus salary three years after graduation, US$ purchasing power parity (PPP) equivalent†

Salary percentage increase (10) [20]: For pre-experience alumni, this is the average difference in their salary between graduation and today, but for post-experience alumni, the difference is from before the masters to now†

Value for money (5) [3]: Calculated according to alumni salaries today, course length, tuition fees and other costs†

Career progress (5) [5]: Calculated according to changes in the level of seniority and the size of company alumni are working for between graduation and now (for pre-experience) or before their masters and today (for post-experience)†

Aims achieved (5) [3]: The extent to which alumni fulfilled their goals†

Careers service (5) [3]: Effectiveness of the school careers service in terms of career counselling, personal development, networking events, internship search and recruitment, as rated by their alumni†

Employed at three months {f08ff3a0ad7db12f5b424ba38f473ff67b97b420df338baa81683bbacd458fca} (5) [3]: Percentage of the most recent completing class that found employment within three months of finishing their programme. The figure in brackets is the percentage of the class for which the school was able to provide employment data and is used to calculate the school’s final score in this category. Not all schools have employment data for their entire cohort*

Female faculty {f08ff3a0ad7db12f5b424ba38f473ff67b97b420df338baa81683bbacd458fca} (5) [5]: Percentage of female faculty

Female students {f08ff3a0ad7db12f5b424ba38f473ff67b97b420df338baa81683bbacd458fca} (5) [5]: Percentage of women on the masters course

Women on board {f08ff3a0ad7db12f5b424ba38f473ff67b97b420df338baa81683bbacd458fca} (1) [1]: Percentage of women on the school advisory board

International faculty {f08ff3a0ad7db12f5b424ba38f473ff67b97b420df338baa81683bbacd458fca} (5) [5]: Calculated according to faculty diversity by citizenship and the percentage whose citizenship differs from their country of employment (published figure)

International students {f08ff3a0ad7db12f5b424ba38f473ff67b97b420df338baa81683bbacd458fca} (5) [5]: Calculated according to the diversity of current students by citizenship and the percentage whose citizenship differs from their country of study

International board {f08ff3a0ad7db12f5b424ba38f473ff67b97b420df338baa81683bbacd458fca} (1) [1]: Percentage of the board whose citizenship differs from the school’s home country

International mobility (8) [8]: Based on alumni citizenship and the countries where they worked before their masters, on graduation and three years after graduation†

International course experience (8) [8]: Calculated according to whether the most recent completing masters class carried out exchanges and company internships in countries other than where the school is based. For 2021, an average calculation was taken from the past two years’ international course experience data (2021 and 2020), if available. For schools that have taken part for the first time this year, only data from the 2021 survey were used†

Extra languages (1) [n/a]: The number of languages required on graduation, excluding English

Faculty with doctorates {f08ff3a0ad7db12f5b424ba38f473ff67b97b420df338baa81683bbacd458fca} (6) [5]: Percentage of full-time faculty with doctoral degrees

For information only (not used in the rankings):

Average course length: Average completion time of the programme for the latest graduating class

Company internships: Percentage of the most recent graduating class that completed an internship as part of the masters programme

Overall satisfaction: Average evaluation by alumni of the masters course, scored out of 10. They were asked to rate their overall satisfaction, on a 10-point scale

For gender-related criteria, schools with 50:50 male/female composition receive the highest possible score

† Includes data from current and previous ranking where available

* Class that completed masters between April 2020 and March 2021