The Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver landed at No. 45 in the 2023 rankings – dropping from their No. 38 place in the 2022 rankings. Despite the change in ranking, this year, the B-School’s acceptance rate was slightly more selective at 57.30% for the most recent incoming class compared to last year’s 61.39%. Their average SAT score shot up from 1294 for last year’s incoming class to an impressive 1375 average for this year’s incoming group of students.
Employment-wise, Daniels dropped – with 85.33% of 2023 graduates securing a full-time position within three months of graduation as compared to 91.21% of graduates last year. Daniels broke their streak of landing internship rates in the low 90’s this year, with 83% of their 2023 grads securing a business-focused internship before graduating.
As for the three methodological categories, Daniels placed 55th in Academic Experience, 45th in Admissions Standards, and 54th in Career Outcomes.
TWO DEGREES
Daniels offers two distinct degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.
The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree offers seven majors to choose from including Business Information and Analytics, Finance, Hospitality Management, International Business, Management, Marketing, and Real Estate and the Built Environment.
The Bachelor of Science in Accountancy is an integrated accounting program that also offers the option for students to continue on to the Master of Accountancy degree, also known as the 3/2 Program.
RELEVANT CURRICULUM
One of the key characteristics of the Daniels education is the relevance of the information that students learn in the classroom. Experiential learning is well integrated across the curriculum.
“As a hospitality major, most of my experiences with studies were experiential,” one 2018 alumni told us. “One of the most memorable, and beneficial, was a Human Capital class where the course focused on the importance of the employees. As part of this class, we worked with a student in the refugee program at the school and mentored/trained them to be the service staff at a formal dinner. This experience was both eye-opening and very educational. A great learning experience provided by the school.”
Daniels College has long been a forward-thinking and innovative institution. The B-school launched the first-ever “Business of Marijuana” course in the state of Colorado back in 2017, offering students a thorough view of the growing industry (no pun intended), from management to ethics.
“I took the only accredited Business of Cannabis class in the country at the time,” one alum recalled. “That specific class is the reason I have the role I do today.”
With its innovative curriculum, Daniels can consistently offer students a relevant education that opens doors to internship and job opportunities. Moreover, Daniel alumni view the quality of teaching relatively well, with surveyed alumni giving an 8.64 average rating.
STRONG MENTORSHIP & SUPPORT
Daniels offers a number of resources to support students in their professional development. Its LEAD (Learning by Example, Attaining Distinction) Mentorship Program pairs undergraduate business students with professionals in their chosen field or career trajectory. Mentors meet with undergraduate students once a month and offer guidance and support from someone in their professional development and help them build connections with professionals in the community
Students interested in exploring potential careers can participate in the Job Shadow Program, where undergraduate students can shadow professionals and learn more about the day-to-day job of the role that they are interested in. Alumni also rated the B-school’s faculty highly for availability for informal discussions and mentoring outside of class, giving this category a 8.29 average rating.
But the career support at Daniels goes beyond mentorship and shadowing programs. All Daniels undergraduates are required to take part in professional development as part of the Daniels Core Curriculum. Students must complete requirements including creating a polished resume, writing a cover letter, attending career services workshops, participating in mock interviews, and more.
With an innovative curriculum in the classroom and plenty of support outside the classroom, Daniels students are given the tools they need to succeed in any career path they choose to take.
Alumni say:
“Created a database for a mobile app startup. I enjoyed my time because it felt more real than many projects we did. Projects can have missed answers or aspects that don’t work, this had to work because there was a company on the other end relying on it. It took much more problem solving and communication than I saw in the classroom.”
“In the international marketing class I took, we split into groups to develop a marketing plan for a company we chose to move into a new country. We had to develop the plan, research what, where, why, and how, and then present within a time limit to the class a concise summary of all the plans made in our full-length marketing plan.”
“The Business Law and Ethics program, case competitions, the Ethics Fellows capstone class, and Ethics Boot Camp all provided wonderful opportunities to learn about ethics in business and expand my perspective. “
“During my tenure at DCB/The Burns College, I was engaged in various case competitions and experiential learning opportunities. Of the activities that I was involved in, I have to name the Daniels Fund’s Ethics Competition and the NAIOP Challenge as two of the most meaningful and impactful. To quickly summarize, both of those events went above and beyond in terms of allowing me to practice my learned skills in a practical setting and I can unequivocally say that they prepared me for life after university.”
“The business analytics department has a real life consulting project for a current company with real time data. This sets you up with work experience as well as enables you to practice and perfect the skills you learned throughout the program.”
“We worked with McDonald’s corporate in an advertising class. I benefited from the experience of presenting in front of an actual client and getting their honest, real-world feedback on my ideas.”
