ESCP Business School has topped the 2026 FT ranking of masters in finance courses for pre-experience students at a time of strong demand for financial training, despite disruption in the graduate job market and the rise of rival qualifications.
The business school — founded in Paris and with campuses across Europe — heads the MiF table for the fourth successive year, followed by Skema in Lille, Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing, and French schools Essec and Edhec.
The top ranking tier of eight schools is completed by Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance at SJTU, HEC Paris, and Nova School of Business and Economics in Portugal.
A survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council found that global demand in 2025 for Masters in Finance programmes was up 14 per cent on 2024, while administrators say they are adapting their curricula to focus on “soft” skills, artificial intelligence and emerging topics, including private markets.
More in the Financial Training ranking report
