Not for the first time, French schools dominate a list of the world’s best places to study business management.

• Sarkozy lashes out at Financial Times (13 Apr 12)

The eighth annual Financial Times ranking of masters in management programmes, released this week, puts five French schools of higher learning in the top 10.

The first-ranked programme is offered by Switzerland’s University of Saint Gallen, followed by ESCP Europe, which has campuses in France and four other European countries, and Cems, the Paris-based institution.

HEC Paris is ranked fourth, followed by Essec Business School, also based in the French capital.
    
The list of graduate programmes offered by 70 schools is weighted heavily toward European institutions.

Only one school from outside Europe — the 10th ranked Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad — made it into the top 10.

The FT rankings are based on criteria that include salaries three years after graduation, achievement rates, international experience, value for money and career service effectiveness.

Nearly half of the schools evalauated are either French or British, including 19 schools from France and 13 from Britain.

The FT notes that 90 percent of entrants to the UK schools are from overseas, compared to one third in France.

The survey shows that students at French schools spend more time abroad on exchanges, research or internships than their counterparts at British schools.
 
So while, UK schools score higher for “international diversity”, the French fare better in “international course experience”.

Enrolments for management master’s programmes rose by 18 percent between 2009 and 2012.

Motivating factors include a 90 percent employment rate three months after graduation and attractive salaries, the FT said.

Weighted average annual pay for students from French schools in the top five ranged from $60,571 to $77,232, three years after graduation.