The University for Continuing Education Krems has once again achieved top positions in the current Industriemagazin MBA Ranking 2026, reaffirming its leading role in Austria’s continuing education market. In the category of Executive MBA programs, the Danube Business School ranks first by a clear margin. In the Professional MBA category, it also places among the top providers, ranking third.
In the Executive MBA segment, the University for Continuing Education Krems achieved by far the highest recognition rate among all evaluated institutions, with 79 percent, and, with a recommendation rate of 58 percent, was recommended more frequently than any other provider. In the Professional MBA segment, the university achieved a recognition rate of 58 percent.
“The ranking results show that our approach is the right one. We continuously develop our programs to keep them aligned with the latest state of research while at the same time equipping students with the skills needed to address current challenges in professional practice,” says Univ.-Prof. Dr. Barbara Brenner, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Globalization. “We deliberately address topics such as the use of AI in our programs and examine them from a research-based perspective within the respective professional context. What matters are real-world challenges, concrete projects, and the direct transfer into participants’ own organizations – and that is precisely what distinguishes our programs.”
Future-oriented content with a strong practical focus
The Danube Business School offers a broad MBA portfolio aligned with international standards, combining management expertise with future-oriented topics. Flexible formats, individualized learning pathways, and a wide range of specializations enable executives to tailor their studies to their professional circumstances.
These include focus areas such as Sustainable Management and Agile Organizations & Collective Leadership, as well as an exclusive one-year Peer Learning Journey that strengthens executives in their transformative impact and supports them in testing initiatives for concrete organizational change in everyday practice.
A central feature of all programs is their strong practical orientation: case studies and project work are integral parts of the curriculum. Equally important is the exchange among participants. Many students regard the network spanning business, public administration, and academia as a lasting added value.
“Our graduates repeatedly emphasize that, alongside the high level of relevance, quality, and practical orientation, it is above all the diversity of learning formats that stands out — ranging from on-campus and online formats to entry opportunities through compact short programs,” says Dr. Birgit Feldhusen, Managing Director of the Danube Business School at the University for Continuing Education Krems. “The fact that executives recommend our programs so frequently is a wonderful confirmation that we are able to meet a wide range of demanding educational needs.”
About the ranking
The MBA ranking is based on a survey of 200 executives from Austrian companies with between 20 and 1,000 employees, conducted by the market research institute brandscore.at. The evaluation considered aided brand awareness and the willingness to recommend individual MBA providers. The rankings are based on a combination of both indicators.
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