The Olin School of Business’ MBA program has dropped seven spots in the Financial Times’ annual rankings, placing 41 out of 149 “top” business schools.

According to the report, the publication compared schools by “the career progression accrued from the MBA – particularly its purchasing power in the marketplace – diversity of experience and the school’s research qualities.”

Associate Dean and Director of MBA Programs Joe Fox summarized Olin’s response to the report.

“We will investigate much more carefully the details that Financial Times accumulated the scores on, where we came up strong, where we came up in the middle, and where we came up weak,” said Fox. “And if we need to take action to fix things, then we will.”

However, Fox added that Financial Times places great emphasis on accepting international students and also placing graduates into international jobs. According to Fox, Olin focuses on placing graduates in general, instead of concentrating on the international sector.

Fox said Olin fell behind six international schools in the ranking that were not included in last year’s study. He estimated that international applicants rely on Financial Times more than American applicants, citing the journal as one of the most widely read international financial papers.

However, Assistant Professor of Education Keith Sawyer stressed the importance of rankings to student applicants.

“A lot of students and parents do pay attention to those rankings,” said Sawyer.

Nonetheless, Sawyer cited a graduate program’s good name as more essential to job placement than its status in a journal. Furthermore, Sawyer said Olin’s reputation remains more stable than studies may indicate.

“I think hiring is based so much on the business school’s reputation in the business community, and this reputation wouldn’t fluctuate as much as the rankings,” Sawyer said.

While Fox said career placement services is working overtime to place students in the fragile economy, he thinks Olin’s drop in the rankings won’t affect graduate placement.

“I don’t think this Financial Times ranking will have any impact at all on opportunities for graduates,” Fox said. “I think it’s inconsequential.”

The Financial Times ranking system changed this year, and the report explained that these alterations may affect the numbers in their report. The journal placed a greater weight on international business programs than previously.

Researchers sent questionnaires to the business schools as well as to graduates of their MBA programs from the classes of 1998. Financial Times tracked the progress of these alumni since their graduation from business school to assess the success of each program.

The study compared alumni salary growth rates to the cost of tuition at each respective school. With this information, researchers calculated the return on every dollar spent for an MBA.

To determine the final scores, Financial Times considered the success of career placement services on each campus. Each school’s diversity, measured by the percentage of international and female students, as well as the language requirement, also factored into the ranking. The final criteria include a program’s research performance and capabilities.

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