ESCP, France, leads the ranking of pre-professional master's programs in finance in the world Financial Times in 2025. In addition to supporting the development of executives, excellent courses in the curriculum contribute to building the reputational journey of leaders.
Three other French institutions (Skema, Essec and HEC Paris) are also among the top five, along with the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing. No Brazilian institution is on the list.
The ranking of pre-professional master's programs in finance offered by 70 accredited institutions uses data provided by the institutions and their alumni three years after completion of the courses. The survey is weighted according to categories such as salary, career progression and career service.
Chinese competition and higher wages
Despite maintaining their good performance in the rankings, European schools have faced increasing competition from Chinese schools. In addition to their good positions in the overall survey, Chinese institutions stand out for having among their alumni those with the highest average salaries – when adjusted for international purchasing power parity.
In this regard, the Faculty of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University is among the first, followed by Peking University: Guanghua and the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance of SJTU.
The survey shows that reported average salaries for alumni across all ranked programs fell nearly 41% to $90,254 this year, after rising over the past four years to $93,737 in 2024.
Most sought after careers
According to the survey, the most popular careers for Masters in Finance alumni are in investment banking and consulting, followed by private equity, asset management and private banking.
Most alumni indicated that better career opportunities and higher earning potential were the main reasons for enrolling in a finance master's degree.
This year, the Financial Times did not rank post-professional masters in finance courses because few institutions met the eligibility criteria.
Top 10 in the ranking in 2025
* In pre-professional master's programs
- ESCP Business School (France)
- Skema Business School (France)
- Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (China)
- Essec Business School (France)
- HEC Paris (France)
- Nova School of Business and Economics (Portugal)
- Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance at SJTU (China)
- London Business School (United Kingdom)
- University of St Gallen (Switzerland)
- Peking University: Guanghua (China)
Source: Financial Times
