
Seeking a career in the C-suite? An executive master's in business administration (EMBA) program might be for you.
An EMBA program differs from an MBA program in a few key ways.
For example, according to TopMBA, applicants to EMBA programs typically have about 10 to 15 years of work experience. And many EMBA students continue to work full time during the program. That means your employer might cover the cost of tuition; it also means you'll have less frequent interactions with classmates.
Education specialists QS Quacquarelli Symonds annually rank the best EMBA programs in the world, based on surveys of employers and academics.
For their ranking, they focused on factors including (but not limited to) how many employers recently recruited from the program, the program's strength of thought leadership, and how much of a salary bump or promotion graduates receive.
Here are the 25 best EMBA programs in the world, according to QS, as well as the programs' scores from 0 to 100 overall and on employer reputation.
25. Copenhagen Business School
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Overall score: 76.3
Employer reputation: 84.9
Thought leadership: 82
Career outcomes: 80
24. CUHK Business School
Location: Hong Kong
Overall score: 76.6
Employer reputation: 67.6
Thought leadership: 81.2
Career outcomes: 100
23. Ross School of Business (University of Michigan)
Locations: Ann Arbor, MI; and Los Angeles, CA
Overall score: 77.5
Employer reputation: 88.2
Thought leadership: 95.8
Career outcomes: 60
22. Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto)
Location: Toronto, Canada
Overall score: 78
Employer reputation: 78.3
Thought leadership: 89.2
Career outcomes: 90
21. Fuqua School of Business (Duke University)
Locations: Durham, NC; Santiago, Chile; Shanghai, China; Berlin, Germany; and New Delhi, India
Overall score: 78.9
Employer reputation: 92.1
Thought leadership: 84.4
Career outcomes: 80
20. IE Business School
Locations: Madrid, Spain; São Paulo, Brazil; Singapore; and Los Angeles, CA
Overall score: 80.9
Employer reputation: 95.4
Thought leadership: 68.2
Career outcomes: 100
19. IMD
Locations: Lausanne, Switzerland; Palo Alto, CA; and Beijing, China
Overall score: 81.3
Employer reputation: 91.6
Thought leadership: 68.8
Career outcomes: 100
18. National University of Singapore Business School
Location: Singapore
Overall score: 81.4
Employer reputation: 75.9
Thought leadership: 90.4
Career outcomes: 90
Read more about National University of Singapore Business School at TopMBA»
17. ESADE
Locations: Barcelona and Madrid, Spain
Overall score: 82.5
Employer reputation: 91.9
Thought leadership: 81.4
Career outcomes: 90
16. SDA Bocconi
Locations: Milan, Italy; Mumbai, India; Copenhagen, Denmark; Ann Arbor, MI; and Shanghai, China
Overall score: 84.9
Employer reputation: 91.4
Thought leadership: 90.4
Career outcomes: 90
15. New York University Stern School of Business
Location: New York, NY
Overall score: 85.7
Employer reputation: 92.1
Thought leadership: 96.4
Career outcomes: 80
14. Columbia Business School
Location: New York, NY
Overall score: 86.5
Employer reputation: 98.5
Thought leadership: 98.2
Career outcomes: 70
13. Cambridge Judge Business School
Location: Cambridge, the UK
Overall score: 88
Employer reputation: 89.1
Thought leadership: 98.2
Career outcomes: 90
11. (Tie) Saïd Business School (University of Oxford)
Location: Oxford, the UK
Overall score: 88.3
Employer reputation: 89.8
Thought leadership: 98.2
Career outcomes: 90
11. (Tie) Yale School of Management
Location: New Haven, CT
Overall score: 88.3
Employer reputation: 89.7
Thought leadership: 95.8
Career outcomes: 100
9. (Tie) INSEAD
Locations: Fontainebleau, France; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and Singapore
Overall score: 88.5
Employer reputation: 99.9
Thought leadership: 98.8
Career outcomes: 80
9. (Tie) University of California, Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Overall score: 88.5
Employer reputation: 94.7
Thought leadership: 97.6
Career outcomes: 90
8. Haas School of Business (University of California, Berkeley)
Location: Berkeley, CA
Overall score: 88.7
Employer reputation: 95.3
Thought leadership: 100
Career outcomes: 80
7. Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University)
Locations: Evanston, IL; and Miami, FL
Overall score: 89.3
Employer reputation: 99.4
Thought leadership: 96.4
Career outcomes: 90
5. (Tie) The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Locations: Chicago, IL; London, UK; and Hong Kong
Overall score: 91.6
Employer reputation: 97.6
Thought leadership: 99.4
Career outcomes: 90
5. (Tie) HEC Paris
Locations: Paris, France; and Doha, Qatar
Overall score: 91.6
Employer reputation: 97.9
Thought leadership: 94
Career outcomes: 100
4. IESE Business School
Locations: Barcelona, Spain; New York, NY; and Silicon Valley
Overall score: 92.1
Employer reputation: 95.3
Thought leadership: 91
Career outcomes: 100
Read more about IESE Business School at TopMBA»
3. London Business School
Locations: London, UK; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Overall score: 94.3
Employer reputation: 98.9
Thought leadership: 94.6
Career outcomes: 100
Read more about London Business School at TopMBA»
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management
Location: Cambridge, MA
Overall score: 94.6
Employer reputation: 99.2
Thought leadership: 100
Career outcomes: 90
1. Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Locations: Philadelphia, PA; and San Francisco, CA
Overall score: 95.9
Employer reputation: 99.9
Thought leadership: 100
Career outcomes: 100