UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School’s Full-Time MBA programme was ranked 67th in the world in The Economist's 2021 ranking of Full-Time MBA programmes released today. The ranking marks a jump of 23 places from the previous ranking of 90th in 2019.

“As Ireland’s leading business school our vision for our programmes is that they provide a transformational learning environment, developing impactful leaders of the future," said Professor Anthony Brabazon, Dean, UCD College of Business.

"This year’s enhanced ranking position in The Economist Full-Time MBA rankings reflects a long-term strategy of ongoing curriculum enhancement, sustained faculty investment and absolute focus on the leadership development of programme participants.”

“We continuously review, innovate and evolve our MBA portfolio and this year are very pleased to launch our new Modular MBA programme—a flexible programme designed to enable those juggling busy careers and personal lives to also consider an MBA. This commitment to the quality of the programme has earned us a presence in multiple, prestigious MBA rankings over the last twenty years.”

UCD Smurfit School scored highly in several areas, notably, a placement of world’s 34th in the ‘Student Quality’ category, as well as a global top 50 ranking in the areas of ‘Faculty Quality’ (48th place globally) and ‘Student/Faculty Diversity’ (46th place globally).

“The UCD Smurfit School MBA presents an opportunity to learn from both world-leading faculty and from the expertise of fellow MBA participants in a globally diverse community,” continued Dean Brabazon. “The ‘Student Quality’ ranking of 34th globally is an exceptional accomplishment as it exemplifies the outstanding reputation of the programme and the high calibre of professionals it attracts. These rankings are based partly on our alumni career progress and salary increases which are key indicators of success for many considering an MBA programme”.

See full rankings table here.

UCD Smurfit School remains the only business school in Ireland, and one of an elite group of schools worldwide, to hold the ‘triple crown’ of accreditation from the three centres of business and academic excellence—EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA.