A major achievement for responsible business education: Maastricht University School of Business and Economics has been ranked #1 worldwide in Corporate Knights’ 2026 Better World MBA Ranking. The recognition places Maastricht University’s MBA programmes at the top of a field of 179 MBA programmes worldwide, highlighting their strong focus on sustainability, societal impact and responsible leadership.
Being recognised as the world’s leading Better World MBA is a significant achievement and one that reflects the work of students, alumni, faculty and colleagues across Maastricht University School of Business and Economics and its MaastrichtMBA programme.
Corporate Knights’ Better World MBA Ranking assesses how effectively MBA programmes prepare future leaders to contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable economy. This year, the ranking focused on two key areas: the integration of sustainable development themes into core MBA courses and the impact MBA graduates go on to make in organisations and functions contributing to social and environmental progress. The core curriculum accounts for 80% of the ranking, while alumni impact accounts for the remaining 20%.
Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights, reflects on the role of MBA programmes in advancing sustainability and responsible leadership:
“Corporate Knights research shows sustainable revenue at the world’s largest companies grew more than twice as fast as the rest of their revenue over the past five years. This year we doubled the weight on where graduates actually work, because the real test of a business school is whether its alumni go on to build that economy.”
For Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, the recognition reflects a longstanding commitment to making sustainability and societal impact an integral part of business education. Rather than treating sustainability as a separate topic, relevant sustainable development themes are embedded throughout the mandatory core curriculum – encouraging students to consider the wider impact of business decisions alongside performance and growth.
The ranking also looks at what happens after graduation. Corporate Knights measures the proportion of recent MBA alumni working for organisations focused on social or environmental solutions, as well as those working in functions related to areas such as sustainability, environment, safety or impact.
Together, these measures look beyond what students learn during their MBA and explore how that knowledge translates into action in the workplace and beyond. It reflects an important part of responsible business education at Maastricht University School of Business and Economics: empowering students to understand complex sustainability challenges and giving them the knowledge, perspective and confidence to help address them.
For Dean Mariëlle Heijltjes, this combination of education and impact is at the heart of the School’s approach:
“Being recognised as the world’s leading Better World MBA is a significant milestone, but we see it above all as an encouragement to keep pushing the boundaries of responsible business education,” says Mariëlle Heijltjes, Dean of Maastricht University School of Business and Economics. “The challenges facing society require leaders who can connect business performance with environmental and societal impact. At Maastricht University School of Business & Economics, we want our MBA students not only to understand these challenges, but to have the knowledge, perspective and confidence to act on them. This recognition belongs to our students, alumni and colleagues who bring that ambition to life every day.”
The Better World MBA Ranking is an annual ranking conducted by Corporate Knights, a Toronto-based B Corp focused on sustainability and responsible business. The 2026 ranking evaluated 173 global MBA programmes. Its methodology combines quantitative performance indicators with publicly available and school-supplied data that can be independently verified.
This article presents a publication of the recently launched 2026 Corporate Knights Better World MBA Ranking. MaastrichtMBA is a part-time executive MBA programme, designed for working professionals. The programme is Triple Crown accredited by AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. Read via this link more about our accreditations & rankings.
