The return on investment of an MBA from the University of Georgia is once again the top rated in the world, according to a new MBA ranking from the Financial Times.
The Full-Time MBA at UGA’s Terry College of Business is ranked 11th among public universities in the U.S., and the Financial Times judged Georgia’s MBA to be the No. 1 value for the money globally for the second straight year.
The London-based financial newspaper surveyed 125 full-time MBA programs at leading graduate business schools worldwide and ranked the top 100 global MBA programs. The Financial Times calculated “value for money” by dividing the average alumni salary three years after graduation by the total cost of the MBA, which included tuition, lost salary, opportunity cost and other expenses.
“Coming to Georgia is a collaborative investment. Our students are making an investment in their future, but we are investing in them as well,” said Santanu Chatterjee, director of the Full-Time MBA program and an associate dean at the college. “That takes us into areas well beyond financial aid. It’s the quality of business education, of course, but also career counseling, networking and interview prep, and upskilling outside of the classroom.”
Georgia MBA graduates surveyed by the Financial Times gave the program a 9.06 “overall satisfaction” rating on a 10-point scale, which placed UGA in the top 20 worldwide and 6th among U.S. public universities.
“To see the Georgia MBA recognized as a great educational investment and a top-ranked program is very gratifying to everyone associated with teaching and supporting our graduate students,” said Dean Ben Ayers. “Our commitment at Terry is to set up students for career and life success. Our affordability helps them to be in a good place financially at graduation, and our program of study instills the skills and habits needed for future advancement in their chosen field.”
In its 2025 survey of global MBA programs, the Financial Times ranked UGA No. 55 worldwide. More than half of the ranked programs are based in other countries. The MBA rankings methodology used by the Financial Timesconsiders 21 different measures, including average salary after graduation, career progression, alumni network, employment rate, faculty expertise, research productivity and several international and ESG criteria.
Terry College’s MBA career services ranked in the top 10 globally, at No. 6 overall. Chatterjee noted that the career services team has consistently received high rankings in the Financial Times survey.
“The number of one-on-one and small group interactions with our faculty and staff usually comes as a surprise to our students,” Chatterjee said. “Whether it’s presentation workshops and introducing them to the latest AI technologies, or something more personalized, like matching a resume to a job description or helping a student connect with an advisory board member on a capstone project, we listen to our students, learn about their backgrounds and work very closely with each of them to reach their goals and aspirations.”
Hand in hand with the quality of career services, the Georgia MBA program reported a robust employment rate of 95 percent within three months of graduation. The Terry College’s “salary percentage increase,” meaning the difference in alumni salary from before their MBA to now, averaged 155% for the Georgia MBA survey respondents. That salary percentage increase led all public business schools in the top 100 and ranked 2nd in the U.S. overall.
The 2025 edition of the Financial Times’ Global MBA rankings was released in February.
