Bucknell University’s Kenneth W. Freeman College of Management placed No. 17 in this year’s rankings, for the second year in a row — a huge surge from 2020’s ranking of No. 35.
Admissions-wise, the B-school had a very selective acceptance rate compared to other undergraduate schools at 22.78%, and the average SAT score was 1352. As far as employment goes, Freeman scored high, with 92.31% of the Class of 2021 securing full-time employment within three months of graduation, and 81% of this year’s class landed a business-focused internship before graduating.
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts institution and the Freeman College certainly takes influence from that in its curriculum. Students can choose from majors including: Accounting; Finance; Business Analytics; Management and Organizations; Managing for Sustainability; Global Management; and Markets, Innovation & Design.
Freeman students are required to participate in the liberal arts-core and many of the management majors have elective requirements that require students to take classes outside of the College of Management. Additionally, all Freeman students graduate well-versed in writing as Bucknell requires students to take at least three writing-intensive classes.
Freeman alumni rate their education very highly across the board. 2019 alumni rated the quality of teaching in Freeman courses a strong 9.1 average rating and rated Freeman faculty availability for informal discussions and mentoring outside of class a whopping 9.3. Additionally, alumni also rated opportunities at Freeman to nurture their soft skills in business an 8.9.
COMMUNITY SERVICE AT THE HEART OF LEARNING
Many of the experiential learning opportunities at Freeman have an element of community service.
Management 101 is the hallmark of the Freeman education. In the required course, Freeman students learn about basic organizational forms, behaviors and decision making by forming a company in their first year, raising funds through a self designed product that is sold on campus and using the proceeds for a service project in the local community. Since its inception in 1978, 310 MGMT 101 companies have provided services and donations valued in excess of $500,000 and have worked more than 100,000 person-hours for their service client partners. At the other end, seniors in the Management Consulting class work with local organizations and communities, such as towns from the coal region in Central Pennsylvania, to rebuild the community.
“My sophomore year I took part in an experiential learning class where we had our own company that sold a business product (Bucknell branded patagonias) to fund our service project, where we completely renovated the house of a visually impaired man’s home. We learned how to run a company while also making a difference in someone’s life,” one 2018 alumni told us. “My senior year capstone/experiential learning experience allowed me to be a consultant and drive a business solution to Increase profits and streamline a process for a business in an underprivileged community.”
“Every senior project embodied a deeper meaning,” another 2018 alumni saud. “Each of which forced me to think beyond the project at hand but to think globally and how I could impact the world after leaving.”
Oftentimes, business students are taught to prioritize profit and return above all else. But at Freeman, students are taught the value of giving back as well – a powerful lesson that creates compassionate, socially responsible business leaders.
STRONG ALUMNI SUPPORT
Freeman has an expansive and strong alumni network. The B-school recently enhanced its alumni connections through an alumni-mentoring program, which partners first-year students with alumni employed at Goldman Sachs, PwC, JPMorgan, Vanguard, Deloitte, or Johnson & Johnson.
The Freeman education is one that goes beyond business. Its curriculum incorporates the liberal arts. The experiential learning opportunities emphasize the value in giving back. And its alumni network is one that is supportive through thick and thin. For those interested in learning more than just the profit of business, the Freeman College of Management is a good place to start.
Alumni say:
“I was a part of the Institute of Leadership in Technology and Management. This was crucial to my education because it taught me a lot about what the working world would be like. It was a 6-week program learning about leadership while completing a consulting deliverable all while working with an inter-disciplinary team. This taught me soft-skills that would become crucial in the working world, including communication, presenting and professional etiquette. It was extremely crucial for me in learning about the business world and learning how to be a confident leader.”
“My senior year I participated in a small consulting project for Keurig. There were 6 students all from different disciplines working on exciting and real issues for the company. We reported our findings directly to the CEO And other senior employees at the company.”
“Our global immersion trip was to Poland. It was crucial for my education because it allowed to further my cultural awareness and more specifically learn about the different ways the business world manifests itself in different cultures. It was truly a great way to learn about business travel and an immersive way to learn about the interconnectedness of culture and business.”
“The Bucknell Management 101 experience is unlike any other class I’ve ever heard of- essentially, your class becomes a company, and is responsible for bringing a product to market from start-finish while using all proceeds to fund a service project in the community. It’s an unbelievable way to get some great, on-the-job experience.”
WHERE THE CLASS OF 2020 WENT TO WORK:
- PwC – 10
- Deloitte – 7
- KPMG – 4
- AlphaSights – 4
- RSM – 4
- Nielsen – 3
- ExxonMobil – 2
- BlackRock – 2
- Oracle – 1
- Johnson & Johnson – 1
