The Palumbo-Donahue School of Business at Duquesne University leapt to No. 68 in our 2023 rankings – jumping an impressive 9 places from last year’s No. 77 place. Of the three methodological categories, Duquesne placed highest in Academic Experience, landing at No. 46.
Admissions-wise, the Pittsburgh-based B-school had a much more selective acceptance rate than last year – accepting only 83% of the most recent incoming class compared to 93.95% of last year’s incoming class. The average SAT score for incoming students was 1218 – down only one point from last year’s score of 1219.
Both positive internship rates and career stats contributed to the B-School’s upward jump in our rankings this year. Employment outcomes improved dramatically – from 75.02% for the Class of 2022 to an outstanding 91.25% for the Class of 2023 securing a full-time position within three months of graduation.
Internship-wise, Duquesne performed far better than last year’s 73% for the Class of 2022 as well, with a solid 90% of the Class of 2023 landing a business-focused internship before graduation.
Duquesne’s tight-knit community and highly relevant education ultimately make the B-school a strong contender for any student looking for a comprehensive undergraduate business degree.
SMALL COMMUNITY, BIG CITY
“Duquesne is a close-knit university and well known in the Pittsburgh area,” one alumni told us. “This gave me the opportunity to make a big city feel smaller. It allowed me to make amazing connections and gave me an amazing education which led me to where I am today.”
A tight-knit, community atmosphere at a B-school can have a number of valuable benefits — from building a strong network on-campus to connecting with alumni when it comes time to apply for internships and jobs. Surveyed alumni gave a strong 9.21 average rating in terms of the B-school faculty’s availability for informal discussions and mentoring outside of class.
HIGHLY RELEVANT EDUCATION
Duquesne business students have access to nine different undergraduate majors including Accounting, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Information Systems Management, International Business, Management, Marketing, and Supply Chain Management.
Each major offers a highly relevant curriculum with a capstone project that challenges students to apply their business knowledge to real-world scenarios and emphasizes valuable soft skills such as teamwork and communication. Nearly every Duquesne alum that we surveyed spoke highly about their capstone experience, with many saying that it provided them with skills that they use to this day in their career.
“My capstone project gave me the opportunity to create an e-commerce website and experience it from the seat of a consumer and developer,” reported another. “Understanding both aspects is key to my everyday job. In order to succeed, one must be able to see issues from many angles and conglomerate them to come up with a solution. This capstone project was one of many assignments and discussions that have allowed me to succeed in my career.”
Overall, Duquesne alumni gave strong remarks on their business education. Surveyed 2019 alumni rated the quality of teaching in business courses at a strong 8.71 average rating.
Alumni say:
“During my time at the School of Business, I was added into projects during my course work where we would work with real-life clients to help them solve business needs at an ISM level. Additionally, when given the opportunity, we would present our work to the client at the end of the semester as our final deliverable and would be judged on how closely our solution yielded a meaningful gain to the client. That was an invaluable experience for me because I got to witness project management skills and utilize them alongside my experience when it came to scope creep and gold plating during the completion of a course-long semester project.”
“My group came in first place for our senior capstone project. The project taught me how to solve real world business issues by helping a real company expand their reach in the market. I also learned how to present our solution and ideas to business executives.”
“Like many other business students at Duquesne, I had the opportunity to do several ‘signature experiences.’ Most memorable being the process improvements study where we went to an actual business in need of process improvements and presented our recommendations to senior leadership.”
“As part of my information systems management courses, our senior coursework included a capstone class in which we spent the semester building an inventory program in C#. Each student was presented the same case but was given the freedom to independently build the program based on the parameters of the case.”
“In undergrad, my professors provided access to different software that I still use today. We did many simulations with Tableau, SAP, and other logistics software that employers are happy to see I have experience with. In grad school, the capstone project allowed us to work with a real client on real business issues they were having. It allowed me to apply my knowledge to the real world, and work with a team to solve a complex business problem.”
