Wharton & Columbia Top FT's Latest EMBA Rankings

Business Wire, Oct 14, 2002

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Business Editors/Education Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 2002

While a growing number of business schools launch Executive MBA programs, there remains finite room at the top.

In the latest annual FT rankings of the world's best Executive MBA programs, Wharton, Columbia, NYU and London Business School locked up the top four spots for the second year in a row. US Executive MBA programs performed extremely well in the survey, capturing six of the top ten places.

Executive MBAs are part-time programs for mid-career professionals who typically do not have the time to undertake a formal MBA program. Published on October 14th, the survey reflects the increasing number of professionals choosing to combine a part-time MBA with a full-time career, as well as the increasing number of EMBA programs being offered. Results of the survey can also be viewed on FT.com.

The Financial Times survey ranks the world's top fifty business schools according to the effectiveness of their EMBA courses. It will also address the following issues:

-- Why EMBA's continue to prove so popular, and which are the best programs?

-- Distance learning: How Internet technology has become an essential tool for students.

-- Global Programs: the high costs associated with a global EMBA

Della Bradshaw, the FT's business education writer and editor of the Executive MBA survey, explains: "Executive MBA programs are one of the fastest-growing and most innovative areas in business education."

The Top Ten executive MBA programs

1. University of Pennsylvania, Wharton

2. Columbia Business School

3. New York University, Stern

4. London Business School

5. Instituto de Empresa

6. Duke University, Fuqua

7. University of Chicago, GSB

8. Northwestern University, Kellogg

9. GSBA Zurich

10. Emory University, Golzueta

The rankings will also appear on FTCareerPoint, the career management service from FT.com (www.ft.com/careerpoint) The Business Education section of FTCareerPoint also gives users access to previous FT surveys, including FT MBA 2002 with its interactive rankings and online applications facility, the UK Business Schools survey and the non-degree Executive Education survey.

Notes to Editors:

The Financial Times, one of the world's leading business information companies, aims to provide a broad range of business information and services to the growing audience of internationally minded business people. The FT Group includes:

1. The Financial Times, one of the world's leading business

newspapers, which is recognised internationally for its

authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing extensive news,

comment and analysis, the newspaper is printed in 20 cities

across the globe, has a daily circulation of over 480,000 and

a readership of more than 1.6million people worldwide.

2. FT.com, the newspaper's internet partner, which combines

agenda-setting editorial with relevant financial data and

discussion groups, as well as a broad range of business tools

including the largest search function on the internet. FT.com

has more than 55 million monthly page views and over 2.7

million unique monthly visitors.

3. The FT Group's pan-European network of national business

newspapers and online services including France's leading

business newspaper and website, Les Echos and lesechos.fr, and

Spain's leading business newspaper and website, Expansion and

expansiondirecto.es. In February 2000, the FT launched a new

German language newspaper, FT Deutschland, with a fully

integrated online business news and data service.

4. Through FT Interactive Data, the FT Group is one of the

world's leading sources of securities pricing and specialist

financial information to global institutional, professional

and individual investors. Its products include eSignal, an

online realtime streaming quotation service for brokers and

active traders.

5. FT Business which produces specialist information on the

retail, personal and institutional finance industries. It

publishes the UK's premier personal finance magazine,

Investors Chronicle, and The Banker, Money Management and

Financial Adviser for professional advisers.

6. The Financial Times Group also has a stake in a number of

joint ventures, including;

-- FTSE International, a joint venture with the London Stock

Exchange.

-- Vedomosti, Russia's leading business newspaper and a

partnership venture with Dow Jones and Independent Media

-- A 50% stake in BDFM, publishers of South Africa's leading

financial newspapers and websites.

-- A 50% stake in The Economist Group, which publishes the

world's leading weekly business and current affairs journal.

The FT Group is part of Pearson plc, the international media group.