Baylor EMBA Program Makes Financial Times Global Ranking

by Alan Hunt

Baylor University's Executive MBA-Dallas program has been rated among the world's 50 best executive MBA programs by the influential European publication, the Financial Times.
Baylor's program is ranked 31st and receives the highest rating among the three Texas universities included in the survey. Southern Methodist University is ranked at 36 and the University of Texas at 41. The ranking places Baylor's program 21st among U.S. universities in the survey.
Designed to meet the needs of professionals who choose to pursue an advanced degree while maintaining full-time career responsibilities, Baylor's two-year Executive MBA-Dallas program (EMBA) is based on the 30-acre campus of The Cooper Aerobics Center, a North Dallas health and fitness facility.
Dr. Linda Livingstone, associate dean for graduate business programs at Baylor's Hankamer School of Business, said, "In recent years, we have put considerable effort into building the quality and reputation of our Dallas EMBA program. This ranking confirms what the faculty and students involved in the program already knew -- that our Dallas EMBA program provides a world-class educational experience that adds significant value to our students' lives and careers. Tremendous credit goes to the students, faculty, staff and alumni of the program whose hard work made this ranking possible."
Described as its "inaugural" ranking of executive MBA programs, the Financial Times rated programs from 11 countries worldwide, including the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Australia, China, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Mexico. Programs offered by U.S. universities hold six of the first 10 spots in the rankings.
The publication says the ratings provide "a comprehensive assessment of the value of an EMBA and the business schools that provide them." The criteria chosen reflect what the Financial Times terms the most important elements of an EMBA program, "while allowing comparison between schools globally." A total of 72 schools and alumni from the EMBA class of 1998 were invited to take part in the survey by completing questionnaires.
"By surveying graduates who completed their EMBA three years ago, we can get an idea of how their experiences have helped them in the marketplace," says the publication.
"The position of a school in the table is determined by its performance in three broad areas: the career progression of the graduate, for which the purchasing power of the EMBA in the marketplace is a proxy; diversity and international experience; and research."
The average salary reported in the survey by Baylor EMBA graduates is $120,388, reflecting an average 93 percent increase in salary from their 1996 start in the EMBA program to the present day. This is the 12th largest salary increase in the survey. Baylor also scored high marks (94 out of a possible 100) on the survey's "aims achieved" index, placing the university at 15th in this category. Similarly, Baylor's program chalked up an impressive 94 percent (21st place in the survey) on the "faculty with doctorates" segment.
The Financial Times says from the point of view of the employer, many of which sponsor their managers on EMBA programs, perhaps the biggest dilemma is whether they are investing money in managers only for them to leave the company once they get a big-name MBA on their resumé.
"Not necessarily so, according to the class of '98," says the publication. "Of the total sample, 43 percent are still working for the same company that employed them five years ago, at the beginning of the EMBA program."
The publication says the difference between alumni from European schools and U.S. schools is notable. Forty-six percent of alumni from U.S. schools are still with the same employer five years on, whereas in Europe, 61 percent have changed jobs.
"One of the biggest reasons for managers sticking with their companies over the past three years, one of the real boom years times for experienced managers, is clearly the way corporations are using their skills and promoting them," it adds.
For more information, call Gerald Caldwell Jr., director of the Executive MBA-Dallas, at (972) 458-2327 or visit http://demba.baylor.edu .