How Students Rank Their Business Schools

THE MOST POPULAR SCHOOLS

So which schools scored the highest among students? Not surprisingly, the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business ranked #1 among students in surveys. Why isn’t this news a surprise? Notre Dame has ranked as the #1 undergraduate business program for five consecutive years. They school earned A+ grades from their students for teaching, facilities, and job placement in both 2013 and 2014. Not to mention, the Fighting Irish were ranked #4 by employers in their surveys and #2 in academic quality (which includes SAT scores, student-to-faculty ratios, student internships, and student preparation for class).

So what sets Notre Dame apart? Here are some insights from Notre Dame undergrads, courtesy of Bloomberg Businessweek:

“The program has a great focus on ethics. Also, the professors are not only available but also very active in the lives of the students. Professors, particularly those with previous industry experience, work hard to help students gain employment.”

“The school as a whole, and especially the professors, keep the focus on the big picture–what can business do to help society with the challenges it faces? Lectures, class material, and discussions focus on “how can you as an individual be an effective leader for positive change,” not “how can you get ahead and be a superstar your boss will love and promote?” The focus on personal development of character, through ethical decision making and keeping a larger goal in mind, is the most impressive thing to me, as these are skills and traits that will be transferable no matter what job or industry I work in.”

The University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management ranked #2 and #3 respectively in both student assessments and overall ranking (though McIntire replaced Dyson as the #2 school among students). Both schools earned A+ grades for their teaching, facilities, and job placement.

According to feedback from one student to Bloomberg Businessweek, McIntire is popular for its “emphasis on communications, teamwork, and leadership.” Another touts the school’s “holistic approach to learning about a business,” noting that its curriculum “dissembles a business into of its strategy, operations, marketing and financial components, and gives you in-depth knowledge for each division.”

At Cornell, students rave to Bloomberg Businessweek about its cross-curricular approach. “…Being a part of the College of Argriculture and Life Sciences the program affords us many opportunities outside of the business school in a wide variety of other departments and across Cornell’s seven colleges,” says one student. Another plugs the program’s structure. “…Students in the program major in applied economics and management. This requires students to take a range of management, economics, applied economics, and quantitative methods courses to ensure a solid business foundation. From there, students choose to specialize in up to two of ten focus areas, which range from finance, to international trade and development, to strategy, to food industry management. This allows each individual to develop expertise in the field that interests them the most.”

The Olin Business School at Washington University and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School rounded out the top five, with the assessment scores for Olin and Goizueta climbing from #6 to #4 and #8 to #5 respectively. Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, which ranked #4 overall, saw its assessment ranking jump from #15 to #10.

Rounding out the top 10 rankings for the top 10 were the University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flager), Richmond University (Robins), Texas Christian University (Neeley), the University of Texas (McCombs), and Boston College (Carroll). Despite ranking #27 overall, Neeley nabbed the #8 spot among undergraduate business students. Similarly, Thanks to positive reviews from students, Robins landed the #7 spot (while ranking #16 overall). In fact, Robins actually ranked #4 among students in 2013.

Wake Forest Makes Big Gains Among Students

Wake Forest University was another big winner in the Bloomberg Businessweek undergraduate rankings. Already ranked #1 for academic quality, the school climbed from #18 to #11 overall and from #41 to #20 among students. Here, students respond favorably to a “tough love” approach. One student argues that the Wake Forest’s “extremely rigorous course” helps push students “above and beyond what they think is their own personal limits.” Another gushes over the faculty: “Every single professor I have had genuinely cares about their students and because of that pushes everyone to achieve as high as they possibly can.”

Carnegie Mellon experienced a similar 20 spot jump among students. However, Tepper’s #72 mark among students pales in comparison to its #17 ranking overall. Other schools showing big gains in student surveys include Lehigh University (+17), Fordham University (+17), Case Western Reserve University (+14), the University of Southern California (+12), Georgetown University (+12), and Ohio State University (+12). In each of these schools, student assessments rankings were actually lower than overall rankings (acting as a drag on each school’s overall ranking).

Santa Clara Loses Ground with Seniors

However, some schools were given average marks by their students. Take Santa Clara University, for example. Its ranking among students plunged from #26 in 2013 to #45 in 2014, partially attributable to slight drops in teaching quality and facilities. Then again, when you consider that 2013 and 2012 student assessments collectively account for 50 percent of a school’s score, you can bet that Santa Clara’s 2014 survey was pretty disastrous.

The most striking number was posted by the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business Administration. Here, teaching quality plummeted from an A+ in 2013 to a C in 2014 (with C being the lowest mark in teaching among the top 50 schools). And that probably explains why the school’s student ranking dropped 16 spots to #86 (nearly double the school’s #44 overall ranking).

Other schools losing ground among their business majors include: The University of Loyola-Maryland (-18), Northeastern University (-12), Babson College (-11), and New York University (-11). Babson’s ranking was dogged by a C grade in quality of facilities.

Some Schools More Popular with Students Than Overall Rankings Indicate

Of course, some business schools produce more enthusiasm among students than their overall ranking might indicate. The University of Georgia is a case in point. Despite ranking #48 overall, it grades out at #16 among students, with teaching and facilities earning A and A+ marks respectively. Other schools that fall into this category include James Madison University (+22), Texas Christian University (+19), Elon University (+18), the University of Minnesota (+18), the University of San Diego (+16), and Georgia Tech University (+14). In fact, students at four of these schools (James Madison University, Texas Christian University, the University of San Diego, and Georgia Tech University) gave their teachers A+ grades.

Conversely, students ranked these business schools much lower than Bloomberg Businessweek’s overall rankings: Carnegie Mellon (-55), the University of Florida (-42), Case Western Reserve (-37), the University of California-Berkeley (-36), New York University (-29), the University of Illinois (-27), and Bryant University (-25). The biggest surprise? Try Berkeley, which ranks #15 overall and #51 overall, below programs such as Bentley University and the University of Miami of Ohio. Along with maintaining a high 17:1 student-to-faculty ratio, Berkeley also witnessed its teaching and facilities scores drop from A’s to B’s in 2014.

To review school grades and rankings, continue to the next page.