ASU Thunderbird ranked No. 1 by QS International Trade Rankings

In the first-ever rankings of their kind, the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University was recently named No. 1 in the world in international trade by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the premier global higher education analyst organization.

This top ranking places Thunderbird ahead of Harvard, MIT and Stanford, domestically, and Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, internationally. 

In partnership with the Hinrich Foundation, QS selected Thunderbird’s Master of Global Management degree program as the “world’s best international trade programme,” according to a recent press release announcing the 2023 QS International Trade Rankings.

The Master of Global Management — Thunderbird's flagship graduate program — is an innovative leadership and entrepreneurship degree for professionals seeking careers across global private, public and nonprofit sectors. The program builds on a foundation of global management courses and adds 21st century skills such as digital transformation, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and more. 

Thunderbird was ranked among the top 200 universities and business schools across the globe that offer graduate programs in the field of trade study.

“For more than 75 years since our founding in 1946, Thunderbird has advanced a powerful belief that ‘borders frequented by trade seldom need soldiers,’” said Sanjeev Khagram, director general and dean of Thunderbird. “With this No. 1 ranking, we honor this deep tradition and re-establish our global leadership of international trade education for the next 75 years and beyond.”

According to QS, these rankings provide insights for aspiring professionals, employers, universities and business schools into the world’s best international trade master’s programs. The first edition assessed 200 courses in 43 countries and territories based on their performance across seven key lenses, including course content, graduate outcomes, industry networks, teaching methods and research.

“These rankings highlight what great master’s trade programs look like and how they’re producing graduates that can advance the industry,” said Kathryn Dioth, chief executive officer of Hinrich Foundation. “Through the rankings, the Hinrich Foundation supports students to identify programs that will secure them employment and accelerate their trade careers, enables companies to hire work-ready talent, and provides universities with comparability, recognition and the means to enhance their global trade programs.”

With a unique vision to advance inclusive and sustainable prosperity worldwide, Thunderbird has been a top-ranked international management school for more than 75 years.

This recognition proceeds Thunderbird’s top ranking in the Times Higher Education/The Wall Street Journal Business Schools Report in 2019. Since then, Thunderbird’s Master of Global Management has been ranked No. 1 in the world.

"With deep gratitude, I thank our faculty, students, staff and our partners across ASU, who make Thunderbird a truly remarkable institution of higher learning. We are honored to have ranked No. 1 among top institutions worldwide in this inaugural edition of the QS International Trade Rankings," Khagram said. "This recognition demonstrates our commitment to a global and digital curriculum and delivery innovation.”