Top of the class: Mexico-based institutions boast solid reputations.

Prospective MBA students in Mexico have long had a wealth of choices among top-notch institutions.

Some programs are tailored to part-time students who want to work on their degree while holding down a job. Others offer a curriculum that requires a full-time, classroom commitment. Most feature exchange programs with renowned business schools in Mexico, in the United States and elsewhere.

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The solid reputation these schools have built up over the years helps to attract students from around the world, further enhancing the experience for its MBA students.

One such program whose name you can see scattered in the "Quality and International Insertion" column of the MBA rankings on the succeeding pages is Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management.

With a legacy stretching back nearly six decades, Thunderbird consistently ranks among the best in global business education. Its web site (www.thunderbird.edu/) boasts that for the ninth straight year, Thunderbird was ranked the No.1 graduate program in International Business by U.S. News & World Report and ranked No.1 in global business by The Wall Street Journal.

Tec de Monterrey offers a joint degree in conjunction with Thunderbird via its Global MBA for Latin American Managers program. In addition to its main campus in the Nuevo Leon capital, Tec de Monterrey has 33 campuses across Mexico, including three in Mexico City and one in Guadalajara.

The two-year program is aimed at working professionals. The program begins with a one-week visit to Thunderbird's Glendale, Arizona, main campus and ends with a one-week seminar there as well. Classes are offered via satellite to students in their home cities.

OlafCarrera, director of public affairs at AMCHAM/MEXICO and a Thunderbird student, does not withhold praise of the program. The satellite format takes some getting used to, he admits, but it results in a more enriching experience.

"You're not only having discussion in your local classroom, but with students in five other countries representing 17 nationalities." This "global vision" is a big plus, Carrera says.

"The unique aspect of this program is that business issues are discussed in a cultural, Latin American context, not just a Mexican context or in the context of any single country."

In contrast to Thunderbird, IPADE's MBA program requires full-time commitment from its students. However, the focus is basically the same.

"An international focus is embedded into all classroom work," says Martha Rivera, the international affairs director of IPADE's MBA program. "Each class aims to incorporate Mexican, Latin American and international perspectives into the discussion."

IPADE also features a three-month internship program with an additional benefit for students--they get paid!

"Payment of our interns is required," Rivera told BUSINESS MEXICO, "because they often take such an active role in the managerial projects that they are involved in." Rivera insists that IPADE stands apart from other institutions because of its commitment to the professional development of its students and its prominent emphasis on social responsibility.

IPADE (www.ipade.mx/) is an acronym for Instituto Panamericano de Alta Direccion de Empresa. It has three permanent campuses (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey) and two "itinerant" campuses (Aguascalientes and Torreon).

Other institutions in Mexico that have won accolades with their MBA programs include the Mexico City-based Instituto Tecnologico Autonoma de Mexico (ITAM -www.itam.mx/index1.html), the Universidad de las Americas, Puebla (UDLA - www.udlap.mx) and Mexico City's Universidad Iberoamericana (www.uia.mx).