Future-proof master’s programs
According to international rankings, our master’s programs are among the best programs in their fields. WU’s Master in International Management/CEMS performed extraordinarily well in 2 prominent rankings in 2019: In the first year it has ever entered, the program came in 5th place out of 40 ranked programs in the Masters in Management Ranking published by the British weekly The Economist, and took 9th place out of 100 in the Financial Times ranking of the best management programs in Europe, making it the second best program in the German-speaking region.
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranked 3 of WU’s master’s programs among the top 20 worldwide: Our MSc in Marketing is ranked 10th in the Masters in Marketing ranking, the Strategy, Innovation, and Management Control program placed 17th in the Masters in Management ranking, and Quantitative Finance came in at 19th place in the finance category.
What is the secret of our success? Imparting up-to-date knowledge and practical skills is extremely important to us. At WU, students find a diverse and international environment, as well as comprehensive support for exchanges abroad at renowned partner universities. Our graduates are highly sought-after by employers and find jobs quickly.
An international top university
The World University Ranking by Subject, published annually by QS, is one of the most well-known university rankings. In 2019, WU made it to 38th place in the category Social Sciences & Management in the Business & Management Studies section, making it the only Austrian university among the top 50 in this category.
95 business schools from all over Europe qualified for the 2019 Financial Times European Business School Ranking. As in the previous year, WU came in at 41st place. The Business School Ranking is made up of 5 sub-rankings, so the overall result of a university also depends on how many sub-rankings it is represented in. WU only takes part in the global Masters in Management and global Executive MBA rankings, and is the best-ranked university with only two sub-rankings.
High quality Executive Education
The WU Executive Academy (EA) has a long-standing reputation for providing high-quality training and continuing education programs that are geared to the needs of the labor market, as confirmed by excellent placements in national and international rankings.
In the 2019 Financial Times Executive MBA Ranking, no doubt one of the most important annual MBA rankings, the EA’s Global Executive MBA again managed to secure a position among the top 50 programs worldwide, coming in at place 48. The Global Executive MBA program got top marks in a number of important categories:
- 9th place worldwide in the category “work experience”
- 13th place worldwide in the category “international course experience”
As in the previous year, the Global Executive MBA was able to improve its position in the 2019 QS Global EMBA Ranking: The double degree program offered by the EA in cooperation with the Carlson School of Management (USA) moved up one spot, earning 74.1 points (out of 100) in the joint programs category (joint MBA programs offered by 2 or more universities) and landing at an outstanding 12th place worldwide. In 5 out of a total of 9 individual categories (including the number of nationalities represented among students, the percentage of students promoted soon after graduation, and the percentage of students with C-suite experience), the Global Executive MBA program was awarded full marks.
The WU Executive Academy has been AMBA (Association of MBAs) accredited since 2010. AMBA is one of the world’s leading accreditation agencies and awards its certification only to those MBA and DBA programs that meet its high quality standards. In March, the AMBA assessment team visited the EA and confirmed that WU EA meets the agency’s strict requirements in all areas. They were particularly impressed by the level of diversity among the participants, the loyalty and enthusiasm of alumni, the support initiatives for female executives, and the innovative lab formats EA uses to integrate today’s most current topics into the programs.
Based on the positive results of this assessment, the WU Executive Academy was reaccredited with the international seal of quality for a full 5 years. The EA is the only AMBA-accredited school in Austria and one of only 7 business schools in the German-speaking region with this distinction.
Renowned researchers
WU has an excellent reputation for strong research. Our researchers have strong ties to their respective scientific communities and make important contributions to academic progress in their fields.
The German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche lists WU in 3rd place in its ranking of the strongest research universities in the field of business administration, making WU the best university in Austria. With a total of 136 publishing authors, WU has an extremely productive business administration faculty, not only among professors but especially among young researchers. Jan Mendling is WU’s strongest research professor, putting him at the top of his field in Austria.
Every 2 years, the German business daily Handelsblatt names the top 25 faculties in economics. WU improved its position by 2 places in 2019, moving up to rank 11, making it the best Austrian university in the field of economics.
The Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse, together with the German paper FAZ and the Swiss NZZ, regularly names the most influential economists of the year. The decisive factor for the evaluation is the researchers’ influence in academia, politics, and the media. Harald Oberhofer of the WU Institute for International Economics was ranked 16th in the Austrian ranking. The FAZ also published a list of the most influential economists in the German-speaking countries: Judith Kohlenberger from the WU Institute for Social Policy is the most highly ranked Austrian at 8th place.