Masters in International Management and Strategy

Vlerick Business School placed 14th worldwide in the Financial Times Masters in Management 2025 ranking, with a weighted three-year salary of about US $98,000 and a 97% employment rate at three months.³ The school’s careers service ranked 2nd in the world on the same table — one of the highest careers scores of any European programme — which says a great deal about how a comparatively small Belgian school punches above its weight.

Overview

Vlerick is one of Belgium’s two internationally recognised business schools, founded in 1953 and operating from campuses in Brussels, Ghent and Leuven.¹ The FT Masters in Management 2025 entry at #14 is its Masters in International Management and Strategy (MIMS) — a 10-month programme taught entirely in English from Vlerick’s Brussels campus, focused on international management and strategy.¹

At 10 months from September to June, it is one of the shorter top-tier European MiMs — closer to the one-year UK model than to the two-year French grande école structure — and the emphasis is on getting capable graduates into strong international first roles quickly. Brussels, as the de facto capital of the European Union and home to a dense cluster of multinational headquarters and consultancies, makes for a strategically useful base.

Curriculum & Structure

The MIMS covers the full management core — strategy, international management, finance, marketing and operations — with a strongly international and strategy-facing orientation that distinguishes it from Vlerick’s more generalist Masters in General Management. Throughout, the programme draws on Vlerick’s corporate network and its unusually well-resourced careers operation.¹

Application & Deadlines

Vlerick has published its September 2027 cycle, and the shape is a rolling process with two hard edges rather than a set of rounds.¹ Applications are assessed on a rolling basis from October. Applicants who need a visa to study in Belgium must apply by 30 April 2027 — the school states this as the latest date for the following September intake, not as a one-off.¹ Applicants who do not need a visa have until June, but Vlerick allocates places “first come, first served”, so a June file is competing for what is left rather than for the whole class.¹

Scholarships close on an earlier clock than admission, which is the part most applicants miss: Vlerick asks for the scholarship application to be submitted together with the programme application, before February.¹ Waiting for an admission decision and then applying for money is, on the school’s own description of the process, too late.

Tuition & Funding

Tuition is €23,500 for the September 2027 intake — up from €22,950 for the 2026 intake — which still makes the MIMS one of the better-value programmes in the European top 15.¹ What the figure includes is unusually specific and worth reading before comparing it against a bare tuition number elsewhere: the four-week Global Immersion tour abroad, its accommodation included, and a year of full online access to the Financial Times and The New York Times.¹ What it excludes is flights — Vlerick asks you to budget roughly €800 for return flights and visa fees on top, and travel for the company project depends where it lands.¹ Students can pay in four instalments across October, November, January and March by signing a contract and paying a €250 administrative fee.¹ Vlerick offers scholarships worth up to 50% of tuition, along with a fully sponsored scholarship funded by an alumnus — another reason to apply early in the cycle. A GMAT Focus score of 655+ strengthens scholarship applications.

Class Profile

Vlerick’s most recently published MIMS cohort is 45 students with an average age of 23, drawn from 15+ nationalities.¹ An earlier reading of the class profile (6 July 2026) recorded 40 students, 50% women and 16 nationalities; the school’s current page states the cohort size, age and nationality count but no gender split, so the 50% is not restated here. It is a deliberately small, internationally diverse class run from Brussels, well positioned for multinational placements across Europe’s institutional and corporate centre.

Career Outcomes

The Financial Times 2025 ranking reports a weighted three-year salary of about US $98,000 and a 97% employment rate at three months.³ Strategy and consultancy is the dominant destination at 42% of placements, and 96% of graduates are employed within three months.⁵ Named employers include Bain, BCG, Bekaert, Dell, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, Hilti, Roche and Toyota.⁵ The standout figure is the careers service rank — 2nd in the world on the FT table — which reflects the intensity of Vlerick’s recruiter relationships for a school of its size.

Campus & Reputation

Vlerick operates from Brussels, Ghent and Leuven, with Brussels the home of the MIMS. Belgium’s position at the administrative and commercial heart of the EU, and Vlerick’s dense links to Belgian and international employers, give the programme a practical, well-connected character. For the broader case for the degree, see our pieces on whether a MiM is worth it in 2026 and how to build a competitive MiM profile.