Q: I can only see the 2021 surveys and not the new surveys?
A: Please scroll down the page and click on “Start New Application”. The new surveys will then appear.
Q: Where can I find the full methodology for the MBA Rankings?
https://www.topuniversities.com/mba-rankings/methodology
Q: Where can I find the current methodology for the Specialized Business Masters Rankings?
A: Please have a look here: https://www.topuniversities.com/business-masters-rankings/methodology
Q: Did you add a new ranking this year (2023 rankings)?
A: Yes. Masters In Accounting and Masters In Information Systems
Q: What are the criteria for participation?
A: The criteria are the following:
- There should be at least an average amount of 20 people in the class
- Schools and programs should be accredited by either AACSB, AMBA, EQUIS, EPAS
- All programs should have at least one graduating class.
- All programs should be mostly taught face to face and have a full time option
Q: Can I fill out the survey in PDF, Word or Excel?
A: No. We prefer you to fill out the survey using the login provided.
Q: Please can you clarify what you mean by Global MBA?
A: We are referring to your Full Time MBA, with usually between 2-6 years work experience.
Q: What do you mean by current class?
A: We are referring to the class that started in the 2021/2022 academic year. We define the academic year from July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. If you have several cohorts then we suggest you either choose the class which is more representative of your program or take an average of the classes.
Q: When you ask for tuition fees are you asking tuition per year, per unit, or for the total length of the program?
A: We are always asking for the total length of the program. Please do not include any mandatory fees except tuition.
Q: What do you mean by the question: What was the average tuition paid for the total length of MBA program for the students who graduated between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021
A: We know some students don’t pay the full price due to scholarships or discounts. We are looking for the average price paid from your last graduating class.
Q: If I open a survey does that mean I show my intent to submit information?
A: No. We will only treat submissions where the school has clicked on the final submission button.
Q: In the MBA additional information questions what you mean by “top 10 companies”
A: We are referring to the top 10 based on the number of students recruited.
Q: What are the approximate breakdowns (in percentage terms) for where your enrolled students are from? Are you asking where did they reside or where were they citizens?
A: We are referring to where they did reside before the program.
Q: How do I submit employer/academic lists?
A: Please read previous email correspondence/ the FAQ or email rankings@qs.com with your request.
Q: Until when can the employer/academic lists be submitted?
A: Although there is no official deadline, we will be taking a snapshot of the data May 4th 2022. If your contacts have not replied by then then their votes will not be counted this year.
Q: What is your policy regarding GDPR?
A: We can confirm that we treat GDPR and your data seriously.
Contact details that are provided to QS for the surveys:
- Will not be used for any commercial or business matters,
- Will be used for the sole purpose of inviting participation to the relevant QS reputation survey, that informs the QS World University Rankings.
- Will not be submitted or transferred to any other organization (especially outside the EU)
- QS will ensure that all rights of the “data subject” will be preserved.
Q: How do you define “international students” in the survey?
A: Number of students who are foreign nationals. The term ‘international’ is hereby determined by citizenship. EU countries: include all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. Hong Kong: include students from Mainland China.
Include : permanent residents The ‘deciding’ criteria for ‘dual citizenship’ should be ‘citizenship obtained through birth’, basically first passport obtained.
Q: What is the deadline to finish the surveys?
A: The deadline is 4th May 2022. This is for all school surveys.
Q: May I have an extension on the deadline date?
A: Yes, this is usually possible within reason. Please email rankings@qs.com.
Q: Is it possible to meet any of the QS Intelligence Team in person?
A: Yes!. Please reach out! Also if you are in Paris or London we would be happy to arrange a meeting.
Q: Where will the data I provide be used?
A: The data will be used for the rankings, QS Intelligence Unit research and your school profile on our websites.
Q: Do you survey alumni as part of the ranking?
A: We do not. Any data from alumni comes directly from the schools themselves?
Q: If you don’t survey alumni then why do you request alumni contact details?
A: We ask for alumni contacts per program in order to possibly feature them on our website so they can provide some informative information to our readers. We might also use some quotes in webinars we provide to schools. They are not used as part of the ranking. If we do use their contacts then we would email them a short survey shortly before the ranking is released.
Q: How do you define Masters In Management?
A: Masters In Management is a pre-experience qualification.
Q: Do we only count FT faculty?
A: No, please don’t only do headcount. Please also count FTE as per definition.
Q: Should we count only faculty that is relevant to the program or count the whole of the business school?
A: The whole of the business school
Q: When counting faculty staff should we use only Core or Core and adjunct faculty?
A: Please use both Core and adjunct faculty.
Q: What do you mean by “advanced degrees”?
A: We are referring to “postgraduate” degrees.
Q: We are not sure whether our program is suitable for your ranking as it’s name is slightly different to the ranking name.
A: The most important is that the course content and class profile is comparable to the other programs in the ranking. The name of programs tend to fluctuate.
Q: Do I have to fill out all of the ranking surveys?
A: No. We know some schools don’t collect every data point we are asking for. The most important responses are the questions connected to the rankings (as indicated in the survey). Please note that if you do not provide responses to these questions that QS will look toward publicly available information and/or make estimates as necessary.
Q: Does it affect my rank if I don't submit employer/academic contacts?
A: If you supply employer and academic contacts then this should increase your chance of being nominated. However, it might also increase the chance that some of your peers will be nominated. The survey is well established and we receive around 40,000 responses a year. Given this large database of existing employer nominations, not submitting a list is unlikely to impact your final ranking position much. However, it has the potential to make a marginal difference in your reputation scores, especially if you are located in an underrepresented market.
Q: After I have submitted my data can I get a copy of what I submitted?
A: Of course. You will be able to see a PDF of your answers on your dashboard.
Q: When will I receive my institution’s results?
A: We aim to send a detailed competitive fact file of your results approximately two weeks before launch.
Q: When do you plan to release the results?
A: We aim to release the results at the end of September 2022.
Q: Does the MBACSEA standards cover salary before the MBA?
A:The MBA CSEA does not publish standards for reporting pre-MBA information.
https://www.mbacsea.org/Files/MBA%20CSEA%20Standards%20Edition%20VI.pdf)
Q: How do you define “employed three months after graduation”?
A: Please use MBACSEA guidelines.