The Financial Times (UK) Online MBA Rankings 2016 have today listed the online MBA program offered by AGSM @ UNSW Business School as 8th best in the world in their prestigious annual list. 

AGSM entered the innovative MBAX program into the ranking for the first time this year and is the only Australian business school listed.

Deputy Dean and Director AGSM, Professor Julie Cogin said: “We’re delighted with this result which reflects the significant time and effort we’ve invested in improving our digital delivery capability. We’ve significantly enhanced what happens inside and outside the classroom and are committed to embracing a digital future.  

“While this is the first time we’ve been included in the online rankings, the result reflects our digital heritage and the fact we’ve been successfully running a world-class online program for over 20 years. We’re now building on the tradition of quality online learning for which the AGSM is renowned.

“This result also highlights the strong performance of our online graduates as a critical part of our global alumni community.  While we are committed to providing an academically rigorous program in a rich online learning environment, our ultimate goal is to prepare great people to achieve great things and provide a life-long community they are proud to be part of.”

Professor Cogin said it was very pleasing that UNSW’s PLuS Alliance partner, Arizona State University: Carey, also moved from 12th to 10th position in the online rankings this year.  

The PLuS Alliance is an exciting partnership between UNSW Australia, Arizona State University and King's College London that will provide online and blended learning opportunities at these top-tier universities for students worldwide.

Professor Cogin also pointed to the strong results AGSM achieved in the value for money catego​​ry coming in 4th in the world. This result is essentially a return on investment calculation by considering the salary uplift before and after graduation as well as course fees.

“Enormous effort goes into ensuring that we offer a content-rich program that students can immediately use in their current work environments. The fact that the FT have acknowledged the value of a student’s investment is very satisfying.

“The teaching staff engaged with our online program consistently receive high approval ratings and it is pleasing that this has also been reflected in our ranking.”

AGSM has also consistently performed well in the “International Mobility” criteria of FT surveys, with AGSM being ranked 5th in the world for the global employability of our graduates.

“We implemented some significant changes to the MBA offering in 2015 including the roll-out of specially-designed course content on iPads utilising the latest education technologies and to make the program more accessible than ever.”

The FT Rankings have strict entry criteria and are based on a survey that consists of two parts; one that evaluates alumni salary and experience on the program, and the other, information about the school. The alumni surveyed this year were the 2013 MBT cohort, a program that was revised and renamed to MBA (Technology) in 2015.​

For more about the FT​ Online MBA​ Rankings results and methodology.

For further information:

Alison Avery | Head of AGSM Brand & Communications 

Telephone +61 (2) 411 281 184