The SMU Cox School of Business Executive Master’s of Business Administration and Professional Master’s of Business Administration programs claimed the No. 3 spots in Bloomberg Businessweek 2013 national business school rankings released Thursday.

The programs have climbed four spots since both ranked No. 7 in the magazine’s last survey, released in 2011. The jump in the rankings is largely contributed to surveys of more than 10,000 recent EMBA and PMBA graduates of 138 schools, who gave the SMU Cox programs high marks.

EMBA graduate responses account for 65 percent of a school’s score, while program directors’ survey responses count for the remaining 35 percent. PMBA rankings are based on “separate measures of student satisfaction, academic quality and post-graduation outcomes,” according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

The PMBA measures include GMAT scores, average student work experience, the percentage of tenured teachers, average class size in core business classes, the number of business electives available to part-timers and the percentage of students who complete the program. “Student surveys include 40 percent of the final ranking with academic quality and post-MBA outcomes contribute 30 percent each,” according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

“Our goal has always been to provide an exceptional educational experience that will yield a lifetime of rewards,” said Albert W. Niemi, Jr., dean of the Cox School of Business, in a press release.

“Our commitment to our students continues to focus on offering outstanding faculty, innovative programs, forward-thinking research centers and a wonderful global alumni network.”

The Cox Full-Time MBA program ranked No. 29 in 2013, a large jump from 2011’s spot at No. 12. The undergraduate program stayed at No. 30 in the nation, the same rank from 2011 and two behind North Texas neighbor Texas Christian University, which also stayed stagnant at No. 28.