Wharton’s EMBA Program Ranked Number One in North America

The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania has been ranked the best in North America in the QS EMBA Rankings by Region 2018.

Released today, the QS EMBA Rankings 2018 feature a ranking of the best EMBA programs globally and by region, with Wharton topping the North America table. The rankings also include a separate table of the best joint programs. You can find out more about the methodology used to produce the rankings here.

The top 10 in North America can be seen below:

As well as topping the North America rankings, Wharton Business School was also ranked number one globally. The university achieved a perfect score of 100 in three out of five ranking indicators: employer reputation, thought leadership and career outcomes, and they’re the only school in the North America rankings to achieve a perfect score for employer reputation.

Wharton’s EMBA program takes place at either their Philadelphia or San Francisco campus. The 24-month course costs $205,200 including room and board for all required class days and course materials. Of their current EMBA students, 25 percent are women and 27 different nationalities are represented. The average number of years of work experience is 11.

Ranked second, MIT Sloan School of Management scored highly across all indicators, achieving a perfect score in two: thought leadership and executive profile. MIT’s EMBA program is taught at their Cambridge, Massachusetts campus, and the 20-month program costs $169,000. 44 percent of MIT’s current EMBA students are international, while 27 percent are women. On average, EMBA students at MIT entered the program with more work experience than their Wharton counterparts, having amassed an average of 17 years’ work experience.

In third place, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University only achieved a perfect score in one indicator, career outcomes. The EMBA program at Kellogg can be taken in two formats: bimonthly at the Evanston, Illinois campus, or monthly at the Miami campus. The cost for the full two years is $201,120.

Wharton isn’t the only North American business school to also rank highly in the global table, with seven out of the top 10 schools in North America also featuring in the global top 10. Click here  to read more about the top EMBA programs globally.

Top EMBA Programs in Canada

As you can see, the North America rankings are dominated by universities from the US, with no Canadian business schools in the top 10 and only a few featured among the total of 54 business schools that have been ranked this year.

Leading the way for Canada are the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, which is ranked 12^th in North America, and Ivey Business School at Western University which is 15^th. Should a top Canadian school interest you, the total cost of tuition at Rotman is CA$107,000 (US$84,813), excluding living costs.

Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University brings up the rear for the Canadian schools, with a rank of 47. Beedie has a close connection to one other school in this year’s ranking, as the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, ranked 31st, offers students on its Global Immersion Track of the Executive MBA the opportunity to study at Beedie in Vancouver. Ordinarily, Owen students are based at the main Vanderbilt campus in Tennessee.

Cameron McPhee graduated from the EMBA program at Beedie in 2016, and now works as a general manager at a waterworks company in Canada. Of his EMBA experience, he says: “I started out knowing very little about business, and left feeling that I had a much greater understanding of it. I frequently reference my lecture notes and class readings to enhance my knowledge of different skill areas, and to apply it at work.

“In addition, being pushed to the limit for nearly two years taught me the importance of relying on a strong team to achieve success, as well as skills to deal with the accompanying stress at the individual, team, and organizational level.

“If you’re considering an EMBA, determination and believing in yourself will get you through anything. My undergraduate GPA was below 3.00, so I had to take the GMAT to meet SFU's requirements. I didn’t excel on the GMAT but I was confident in my first interview, and agreed to retake the GMAT if necessary if it would improve my chances of being admitted into the program. I was granted a second interview with the Dean and was then admitted into the program.”