What a pride for European and Portuguese business schools (and for me)!

European universities are more affordable in terms of tuition fees and the ability to internationalize. And the Portugal is one of the countries with the best business schools in Europe, behind only France, England and Germany. I’m very proud!

American universities are an inspiration to the world. In the latest international ranking of universities in the world, World University Rankings by Times Higher Education, it is confirmed that most of the best universities in the world are located in the United States. There are seven US universities in the top ten and 16 in the top 25. This ranking reflects an objective reality, as American universities attract the best talent in terms of faculty and students from all over the world and produce a lot of high-level research. This success is linked to the significant investment in research from a competitive perspective for the best projects. But are there other criteria to consider?

First, the success of American universities has allowed tuition fees to rise well above inflation rates over the past 50 years. The average cost of a major US university is $60,000 per year. In the United States, there is evidence that the university system contributes to social divisions.. A university degree largely determines the economic future of young people. Secondly, American academic institutions turned out to be very patriotic. In other words, they attract international talent, especially in terms of teachers, but ironically, they have less than 20% of their undergraduates who come from outside the country.

In these two dimensions Europe (including the UK) is most successful. Tuition fees in England are around £10,000 (between £25,000 and £45,000 for students of other nationalities) and are almost free in France. Oxford, for example, has 23% of undergraduates from outside England. The Catholic University has 21% of international students. In an increasingly interconnected, globalized and complex world, it is essential to expose future generations to people from other cultures. in this context, European universities are examples of internationalization and affordablecreating less social division.

In terms of business schools, the United States is the MBA country, but Europe is the continent of the oldest business schools. Last year, ESCP (a French business school based in Paris, but also in London, Madrid, Berlin, Turin and Warsaw) celebrated its bicentenary. Europe has the advantage of having open borders between its countries, internationally attractive cities and relatively small countries. Finally, Europe has MBA programs that are shorter and cheaper than MBA, which becomes a good alternative.

It was recently published in Financial Times European Schools RankingRanking of European business schools. In the top 95 business schools in Europe, the top country is France with 25 schools, including HEC first in the ranking for four consecutive years and ESCP in third place, then comes the UK with 17 schools, including London Business School , and second in order. The third country is Germany which has seven schools compared to five for Portugal (previously the fourth country along with Switzerland and Belgium). Compared to the size of the country and level of wealth, Portugal is much more valuable with five schools than Germany with seven!

People often ask me why there are so many German students at CATÓLICA-LISBON, and no doubt one of the reasons has to do with the relatively small number of business schools in the international rankings.

For the future, I wanted to see more and more Portuguese universities and business schools in international rankings such as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings or the Financial Times European Schools Ranking. Europe is a continent of openness and values ​​that help the development of knowledge.

I am very proud to be part of one of the best European business colleges and universities and would like to know that we contribute to the reputation of Portugal (France as a French citizen) and Europe. I enjoy and take pride in preparing the future of the world by educating young people!