The Texas MBA program climbed eight spots to no. 20 worldwide in AméricaEconomía’s (AE) annual ranking of MBA programs that are of particular appeal to Latin Americans. Harvard, Stanford, and London Business School took the top three spots, respectively.

McCombs also rose in rank among U.S. schools to no. 9 and among American public institutions to no. 3. Only Berkeley (5) and UNC (17) fared better among public schools.

The only other southwestern school to be ranked was SMU, which came in last at no. 33.

This is the second time this year that McCombs has excelled in MBA rankings south of the border. The suite of Texas MBA programs rose six ranks globally to no. 23 in the annual ranking by Mexico’s influential Expansión magazine.

Arguably the most read business magazine in Latin America outside of Mexico, AE began its global MBA rankings in 2001. The magazine operates in 19 countries in Latin America and boasts more than 300,000 print readers and more than half a million online users per month.

The magazine strengthened its rankings this year by tightening definitions on data points, and, in particular, by prohibiting schools that did not actually submit school data from entering the ranking. The number of ranked schools fell precipitously from last year’s total of 60 to this year’s 33.

AméricaEconomía’s methodology includes: academics and faculty prestige (25%), student selectivity (25%), the strength of a program’s Latin American network and connections (20%) and a cost/benefit analysis (10%). The remaining 20 percent is relegated to a school’s prestige factor among Latin Americans, ascertained by an online survey of AE’s readership.