Ranking Criteria

Our ranking criteria rest on actual feedback.

This feedback originates from three different sources:

• students
• professors
• the business community

Definitions:

Students:

Present students attending the schools that are ranked. Typically, they fill in the questionnaire to be found on the main page and forward the completed form to us.

Professors:

Professors teaching at the schools that are ranked. They receive evaluation forms to be completed from the Business education (I.E.C). These forms are sent directly to professors chosen on a random basis.

The Business Community:

Employers, H. R. Managers, recruitment consultants, alumni. Evaluation forms to be filled in are sent directly, on a random basis.

Ranking philosophy:

We believe in "customer satisfaction". Although this notion may seem to be totally out of place in an academic environment, we are convinced that this is the right approach to evaluating Economics and/or Business programs specifically.

All the more since the variety of environments in which we conduct our surveys makes it impossible for the I.E.C to use a similar academic approach to every program regardless of its location on the world map. It became clear that we could not resort to the "one size fits all" philosophy and that any given set of criteria could not be applied in immensely different surroundings (be it from an economical, social, development level or cultural standpoint).

We chose to target the "end result" of Education as a concept, namely: efficiency in its particular setting. From that point on, it became obvious that we had to enter in close contact with the "end user", and determine the degree of satisfaction found at the various educational institutions. Clearly, this satisfaction is of many different natures. Just to name a few:

academic quality and "up-to-dateness",

• quality of student life,
• student contacts with the Faculty and Staff,
• overall reputation of the program,
• academic resources and equipment,
• development of job-finding skills,
• interface with the business world,
• international appeal, etc.

One can easily imagine the vast quantity of data we get in return... All of it is compiled, processed, and put into an accessible form. This form is a ranking. Several rankings based on overall quality and geographic location.

We hope this community service will prove to be helpful to you specifically, and to all those who are looking for more information on international programs.

Additional feedback is always welcome, and so is criticism, not to mention further questions.

Sincerely,

The commissioner of I.E.C

Last Updated : February 2007