Financial Times ranking: Increasingly satisfied NHH graduates

NHH drops from number 40 to number 43 on the list of the best master's degree programmes at European business schools, while the students at the school are becoming more and more satisfied with the education offered.

19.09.2011 - Espen Bolghaug

This is shown by the brand new figures from 'Global Masters in Management', the Financial Times' annual ranking of the best business economist (siviløkonom) study programmes in Europe. While 66 per cent of graduates with a master's degree from NHH stated that they were satisfied in 2007, the figure for 2011 is as high as 83 per cent.

Increasingly positive

These figures are based on a survey conducted among NHH graduates three years after graduation, and it is thus the first survey to only include graduates who have taken the five-year study programme (a bachelor plus master's degree).

Since 2007, the feedback from the graduates has become significantly more positive, which can be interpreted as meaning that the reorganisation from a four-year to a five-year siviløkonom study programme has been a success for the Norwegian School of Economics.

'It is pleasing to note that graduates are increasingly satisfied with NHH for each year we are included in the ranking. The fact that studying at NHH has helped them to achieve their goals is satisfying,' says Rector Jan I Haaland.

CEMS still up there

NHH has fallen in the ranking overall, from number 40 to number 43. This is in line with the trend for other top institutions in the Nordic countries. The Copenhagen Business School has dropped as many as 16 places to number 38, while Stockholm is down to number 17 from number 14 in 2010.

'Real earnings in Norway for highly qualified labour cannot compete in the international context when the Financial Times compares pay in different countries. There are also relatively few Norwegians working abroad. This is a cultural problem that we are struggling with along with Norwegian business and industry,' explains Mr Haaland.

NHH is one of the schools that offer a CEMS master's degree, and this year, as the year before, the study programme was awarded one of the top spots in the ranking, coming second.

'We are proud of this study programme, which NHH is the only institution in Norway to offer. The study programme is popular among our students and paves the way for studies at sister institutions around the world.'