Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business Dean Peter Rodriguez with students in 2019. Rice Jones photo
The Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University will launch its first undergraduate major in business beginning this fall. It’s a big move within the undergraduate market as the Jones School has established itself as a bonafide up and comer in the MBA market in an interesting and developing region of the country.
“There’s a demand for deeper business education from our current and prospective students, and Rice Business can deliver to undergraduates the high-quality degree programs we have always delivered to MBAs, Master of Accountancy, and Ph.D. students,” Peter Rodriguez, dean of the Jones School said in a release from the school.
Rodriguez told Poets&Quants the school’s business minor has been the most popular major on campus by far for years now. The demand for that major is already so high, it was a natural evolution to create the major once they had the faculty and resources in place, Rodriguez explained.
DEGREE WILL FEATURE CONCENTRATIONS IN FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Based in Houston, the school has also been known for its entrepreneurship program and offerings. In addition to the minor in business, the school has offered a minor in entrepreneurship to undergraduate students for some time now. Rodriguez says the business major will be in a four-year format. While business students will be able to complete the degree requirements in three years or less, Rice’s traditional liberal arts curriculum will also be a part of the undergraduate business experience.
According to the school, the major will include a “robust foundation” in business fundamentals like accounting, finance, marketing, organizational behavior, strategy, and communications but will also include leadership training. Students will be required to complete either a finance or management concentration, which will require additional advanced courses.
“We strive to be a forward-thinking business school for the next generation of global leaders,” Rodriguez wrote in an announcement to the school. “I am thrilled to say we will now be educating tomorrow’s leaders a little bit sooner,”
Current freshmen and incoming undergraduates next fall will be eligible for the degree, which also boasts an honors program. The school says there will be no limit to how many students can enroll in the degree program.
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