QS Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), global higher education analyst, has released the 2023 edition of the International Trade Rankings, in partnership with the Hinrich Foundation.

The Rankings provide insights for aspiring professionals, employers, universities and business schools into the world’s best international trade graduate programmes, to be expanded and refined through an annual iterative process and continued stakeholder engagement. The first edition assesses 200 programmes in 43 countries and territories based on their performance across seven key lenses, including course content, graduate outcomes, industry networks, teaching methods and research.

The results feature 15 Indian programmes, making it the third most represented country in the Rankings. Of these, two rank among the world’s top 100, including its top performer, GITAM University, with its MBA International Business which ranks 62^nd globally. The Master in Global Management at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management is crowned the world’s best international trade programme, while the Master of International Trade at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and Singapore’s Professional MBA (International Trading) at Nanyang Business School take second and third place respectively.

Kathryn Dioth, Hinrich Foundation CEO, said: “These Rankings highlight what great master’s trade programmes look like and how they’re producing graduates that can advance the industry.”

Dioth continued: “Through the Rankings, the Hinrich Foundation supports students to identify programs that will secure them employment and accelerate their trade careers, enables companies to hire work-ready talent, and provides universities with comparability, recognition and the means to enhance their global trade programs.”

QS International Trade Rankings 2023: India Focus

• GITAM University’s MBA International Business is India’s highest-ranked course, placing 62^nd. This programme enjoys outstanding industry partnerships and faculty with industry experience alongside world-class internship opportunities.
• Balaji Institute’s MBA International Business is India’s only other top 100 international trade offering. It enjoys the country’s best course content across major areas of cross-border trade, including policy, logistics, supply chain management and finance, and boasts an outstanding graduate employment rate.
• The Indian Institute of Management – Calcutta ranks in the 141-150 band for its Executive MBA programme and commands India’s most renown among international academics and employers.

Dr Drew MacFarlane, Rankings Manager at QS, said: “The design of the QS International Trade Rankings involved extensive consultation with key stakeholders, including employers, academics and alumni.”

He added: “For the inaugural edition, we assessed over 250 universities and business schools offering graduate programmes in this field of study, which is typically linked to excellent employability and career outcomes.”

MacFarlane continued: “We are thrilled to offer prospective students independent insights to support their decision-making process.”

The detailed methodology of the QS International Trade Rankings is available here.
The full Rankings are available on www.TopUniversities.com

For interviews with QS’s analysts and experts please contact:
Notes for Editors

QS Quacquarelli Symonds

QS Quacquarelli Symonds is the world’s leading provider of services, analytics, and insight to the global higher education sector, whose mission is to enable motivated people anywhere in the world to fulfil their potential through educational achievement, international mobility, and career development.

The QS World University Rankings portfolio, inaugurated in 2004, is the world’s most popular source of comparative data about university performance. Their flagship website, www.TopUniversities.com – the home of their rankings – was viewed 147 million times in 2021, and over 96,000 media clippings pertaining to, or mentioning, QS were published by media outlets across the world in 2021.

Hinrich Foundation

The Hinrich Foundation is a philanthropic organisation working to advance sustainable global trade through research and education. It offers research and teaching materials to aid the strengthening of global trade education as well as research grants for academics and scholarships to support candidates. The Hinrich Foundation’s objective in launching the International Trade Rankings is to affect significant improvement in graduate trade program outcomes worldwide.

QS International Trade Rankings 2023

Global trade has been a driver of development and prosperity for decades. Yet, the trade sector is experiencing unprecedented challenges. If trade is to continue to provide economic and societal benefits for all, it must attract talented people who are equipped to deal with complexity, and drive policy and business decision-making.

In support of this talent development goal, the Hinrich Foundation has launched the International Trade Rankings in partnership with QS, the established world leader in higher education performance and insights, and publisher of topuniversities.com. The Rankings are the only specialized ranking of graduate trade programmes globally.

Through the Rankings, the Hinrich Foundation supports students to identify programs that will secure them employment and accelerate their trade careers, enables companies to hire work-ready talent, and provides universities with comparability, recognition and the means to enhance their global trade programs.

To ensure the relevancy of the ranking criteria, the Foundation drew on its rich expertise in trade, and elicited input from a panel of trade professionals and graduate-level professors of practice.

Among key recommendations are that a quality trade curriculum includes courses on cross-border trade, policy, logistics, international trade finance and cross-cultural leadership. Top programs have professors with rich industry experience, strong industry engagement and innovative teaching approaches.

To discover the top graduate trade programs, visit the International Trade Rankings