By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF

Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) placed fourth in this year’s Financial Times ranking of the world’s top MBA programs, the newspaper announced yesterday. This year’s fourth place position is one spot lower than the previous two years, when the GSB was awarded third place in the Times’ global rankings.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School retained the top spot, followed by London Business School, Columbia, Stanford and Harvard in the top five. Wharton has been the top school in eight of the 10 years the rankings have been conducted.

The Financial Times grades schools in three categories: alumni success, the global focus of the school and its record in generating ideas.