KAIST Business School placed 99th in the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings 2011, becoming the first and only Korean school selected among the top 100. KAIST ranked seventh in Asia.

The main criteria for the ranking were international exposure as well as salary and career progress upon graduation. For “international exposure,” which considers student exchange program availability and participation, KAIST ranked sixth. It also came seventeenth in career satisfaction.

With a one hundred percent success rate of employment within three months of graduation, KAIST College of Business received a higher rating than Harvard Business School in that particular category. KAIST also placed 25th in the number of Ph.D’s given in the past three years.

“KAIST Business School has proven itself as a globally prestigious MBA program by entering the top 100 ranking this year – followed by 2009’s 45th ranking in Executive Education,” said Dean of KAIST College of Business, Ravi Kumar.

Dean Kumar also said that while the high ranking was a major victory for Korea, the school administration is putting plans together to be in the top 50 as soon as possible.

Every January, the Financial Times releases its full-time global MBA rankings, while part-time Executive MBA (EMBA) rankings take place every October. The Financial Times’ rankings list is one of the most respected due to its interactive ranking methods and wide range of criteria.
U.K.’s London Business School and University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School jointly placed first in global MBA ranking, while Harvard Business School placed third. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Business School topped the chart for Asia in sixth place.