UQ was the highest ranked Queensland university, joining the University of Melbourne and the University of New South Wales in the top 3 spots.
UQ Business School’s highest scores were for the pillars of reputation, research and career impact.
Previously, the Best Business Schools ranking organised data into three pillars: Quality, Reputation and Career Impact. In 2024, AFR modified its pillars, adding a fourth to incorporate Teaching, Research, University Reputation and Career Impact.
Dean and Head of the Business School Professor Brent Ritchie says the result reflects the School’s position as a recognised leader in quality education and supporting career pathways.
Professor Brent Ritchie
“Placing as one of Australia’s top business schools is a testament to the deep connections we develop with industry and community for student learning, our expert lecturers and dedicated career support teams,” said Professor Ritchie.
In conversation with AFR, Deputy Head of the Business School (Graduate Education), Professor Lisa Ruhanen, highlighted UQ has a focus on embedding integrated learning into its degrees, with many programs partnering with industry for consulting projects.
“That gives students the opportunity to have that real-world work experience, but in the safety of the learning environment of the classroom.
“I’m always so impressed and humbled by how willing our industry is to come and meet with our students.
“It’s not just about recruiting staff anymore. I think it’s just that genuine desire to connect with the next generation of the workforce coming through,” Professor Ruhanen said to AFR.
Professor Ruhanen highlighted that dedicated career teams for the Faculty and MBA program support students and alums, along with building critical thinking skills.
Professor Lisa Ruhanen
“It’s about encouraging students to develop those critical and analytical thinking skills that they’re going to be able to apply to any career path that they might take,” says Ruhanen.
“It’s those more transferable skills that we really want to focus on, and also exposing students to some of the bigger picture, the wicked problems that they’re going to engage with as they go through whatever their career is around.”
The AFR ranking launched in 2022 using publicly available data from national and international sources. Australian data includes student satisfaction, research excellence and impact, salaries on graduation and full-time employment.
International data comes from the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) as well as the accreditation from the two recognised sources, AACSB and EQUIS.
