MBA programmes of Hult, SP Jain Dubai

Two Dubai-based global MBA programmes have secured positions in the Financial Times top 100 Global MBA Rankings this year. Hult International Business School came 65th and SP Jain School of Global Management was in 91st position, which is a drop from last year's rankings. In 2011, Hult came 61st and SP Jain was 68th. The global MBA programmes are still among the world's top one per centd, Professor Christopher Abraham, who heads SP Jain's Dubai campus, said. According to the rankings, SP Jain graduates make $78,937 (Dh289,943.49) on average per annum while Hult graduates earn $100,747 each year. Abraham explained SP Jain's poor performance this year: "The major limitation was our mix of international students. Our students are mainly from India and the percentage of international students was not high enough to augur a high ranking." However, the school achieved a 100 per cent score for graduates gaining employment after within three months of graduation, Abraham said. SP Jain's global MBA was also ranked number three for value for money. Nick Van Der Walt, dean and executive director of Hult's Dubai campus, said he was satisfied that the school held its place among the top 100 global MBA programmes. He also pointed out that the school fared better in The Economist — its MBA programme was in the 40s — because they took the current cohort into account in terms of international students, salaries, employment success among other criteria. He said Hult would become the biggest graduate business school in the world by the end of the year owing to its rapid expansion in Dubai, San Francisco, Shanghai, New York and London. The international nature of its cohort is one of the school's biggest strengths, Van Der Walt said. "We have people from a range of different countries and no one nationality will dominate. In fact, the maximum for any nationality is 18 per cent." "Hult has become a very well-known name. In terms of employment, 83 per cent of our students are getting employment after graduation." "Rankings are about brand perception. It's also who ranks you as all rankings may not get the kind of credibility that FT does," Abraham said. FT has a good measure of goodwill among business schools and prospective students pay attention to these rankings, he said. The issue is still a contentious one. "We do debate rankings time and time again as different rankings use different parameters."