In 2023 the 12th edition of the FT Masters in Finance ranking was published, which lists the pre-experience programmes aimed at students with little or no professional experience. A table of post-experience programmes, which require participants to have worked in finance is not published due to an insufficient number of graduate survey responses.

Programmes must meet strict criteria to be eligible for the ranking. For example, they must be full-time, cohort-based and have a minimum of 30 graduates who completed the course three years ago. Also, schools must be accredited by either AACSB (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) or Equis (EFMD Quality Improvement System). The assessment is based on information collected in two separate surveys. The first is of business schools and the second of alumni who finished their degrees in 2020. For a school to be eligible for the ranking, at least 20 per cent of its alumni must respond to the FT survey, with a minimum of 20 completed surveys.

There are the following 18 indicators in the pre-experience ranking:

Salary today US$ (16%) - average alumni salary three years after completion, US$ purchasing power parity (PPP) equivalent.

Salary percentage increase (10%) - average difference in alumni salary between completion and today.

Value for money (6%) - calculated according to alumni salaries today, course length, tuition fees and other costs.

Career progress (6%) - calculated according to changes in the level of seniority and the size of the company/organisation alumni are working for between completion and now. 

Aims achieved (5%) - the extent to which alumni considered they fulfilled their study goals.

Alumni network (3%) - effectiveness of the alumni network for career opportunities, starting companies, gaining new ideas, recruiting staff and giving event information (such as career-related talks), as rated by alumni.

Careers service (5%) - effectiveness of the school careers service for career counselling, personal development, networking events, internship search and recruitment, as rated by alumni.

Employed at three months in % (5%) - percentage of the most recent completing class that found employment within three months of finishing their degree. 

Female faculty in % (5%) - percentage of full-time female faculty in the business school.

Female students in % (5%) - percentage of female students on the masters.

Women on board in % (1%) - percentage of women on the school advisory board.

International faculty in % (5%) - calculated according to full-time faculty diversity by citizenship and the percentage whose citizenship differs from their country of employment.

International students in % (5%) - calculated according to the diversity of current students by citizenship and the percentage whose citizenship differs from their country of study.

International board in % (1%) - percentage of the board whose citizenship differs from the school’s home country.

International work mobility (7%) - based on alumni citizenship and the countries where they worked before their masters, on completion and three years after completion. 

International course experience (6%) - calculated according to whether the most recent completing masters class carried out exchanges and internships, lasting at least a month, in countries other than where the school is based.

Faculty with doctorates in % (5%) - percentage of full-time faculty with doctoral degrees.

Carbon footprint (4%) - calculated using the net zero target year for carbon emissions set by the university or school, and a publicly available carbon emissions audit report within the last three years, approximately.

For all gender-related criteria, schools with a 50:50 (male/female) composition receive the highest score.