The UK Financial Times has just published its 2013 rankings for global Masters in Management, which features the top 70 programmes for students with minimal working experience.

Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University (RSM) improved its ranking from last year and is now equal fifth.

Top spot went to the University of St Gallen in Switzerland for the third year running. Second was ESCP Europe, with various campuses in Europe, and third was WHU Beisham in Germany.

Dutch universities

Other universities in the Netherlands to make the list were Maastricht University School of Business and Economics at 41, Tilbury University TiasNimbas at 54 and Nyenrode Business Universiteit at 64.

RSM’s Msc in International Management was rated as doing well in "careers rank" and "value for money," while "aims achieved" and "school diversity" were ranked highly by surveyed alumni.

The school itself was ranked second for "international mobility" and third as a top school for international business.

Methodology

This ninth annual Financial Times Masters in Management (MiM) ranking assesses the world’s top pre-experience degrees in general management, calculated according to data provided by schools and alumni.

To take part, business schools must be internationally accredited and their nominated programme must have run for four years. Courses are one or two years in length and designed for graduates with minimal work experience.

Eighty schools participated in this assessment by completing an online survey, along with their alumni who graduated in 2010.

Masters in Management

While MBA programmes in the Netherlands are also popular, people who take an MiM express different motivations. They say that increasing pay is not their main motivation and they are much keener to enhance their international mobility.

More than a third of alumni who studied in south and southwest Europe now work elsewhere. Most schools in that region send students abroad on exchange programmes or internships.

Top 10 MiM programmes