The Financial Times released its 2007 MBA rankings of global MBA programs, or "programmes" as the British write it.

The top 10 for 2007:

1. Wharton
2. Columbia
3. Harvard
4. Stanford*
5. London Business School
6. Chicago GSB
7. Insead
8. NYU Stern
   
9. Dartmouth Tuck
10. Yale SOM

*Stanford and Harvard tied for #3

The Financial Times rankings evaluate schools based on data supplied by alumni three years after graduations. According to the FT, "Three years after graduation, alumni from the classes of 2001, 2002 and 2003 ... report substantial salaries and salary increases."

Not surprisingly given that information, the MBA world is looking rosy at the moment, quite a turnaround from 2-3 years ago. Other  article of interest in this section:

• "New Dawn for the MBA" surveys both the recent increase in application volume and exploding demand for b-schools grads, both from traditional fields like banking and consulting as well as non-traditional fields that entered the MBA market during the post-9/11 slowdown.
• "MBA application trends: It’s no longer just about earning more money" takes a closer look at application trends.

A few highlights from both these articles:

• "The percentage of full-time programmes reporting that the quality of the applicants in 2006 exceeded that of the previous year was 56 per cent, compared with just 21 per cent for the same question in 2005."
• "Both US and non-US schools reported sharp increases last year in applications from foreign students."

Regarding the increase in US citizens going overseas for their MBA, the MBA Tour has launched an MBA Tour of European schools to the US. According to the MBA Tour, "In 2006, 22 per cent of prospective American students were interested in studying in Europe, according to a recent survey conducted by The MBA Tour." I have long felt that Americans interested in a global career, especially if their numbers were a tad south of where they should be for top schools, may have a better opportunity at the elite European schools.