The School of Business at Marian University (Indianapolis) finished No. 76 on P&Q’s 2025 ranking of the Best Undergraduate Business Programs in the U.S. In our three methodological categories, it finished No. 103 in Admission Standards, No. 39 in Career Outcomes, and No. 46 in Academic Experience (based solely on our alumni survey).
The B-school’s acceptance rate for the fall 2024 incoming class was 95.5%, and the class also reported an average SAT score of 1003. Its six-year graduation rate is 67%.
In career data, 100% of Class of 2023 and 2024 graduates completed at least one business-specific internship before graduation. Some 98.2% of 2024 grads found jobs within three months, compared to 98% of 2023 grads.
Average salary for the most recent graduates was $61,968, with 18.5% of them reporting an average signing bonus of $4,375. The top employers included Fastenal, Orr Fellowship, Eli Lilly, Blue and Co, Primerica, Indiana University Health, PwC, Spot, Roche, and Cummins.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN THE MIDWEST
In a crowded Midwestern business education market, Marian provides an intriguing opportunity for potential students. It’s smaller than other Indiana-based schools in our rankings like Indiana University, Notre Dame, and Purdue. Despite the smaller size, Marian is a solid choice for students looking to make sure they get a job in the Midwest immediately after graduation.
The School of Business offers majors in accounting, business analytics, finance, logistics and supply chain management, management, and marketing as well as minors in accounting, business, and finance.
Experiential learning is the cornerstone of Marian’s undergraduate business curriculum. Two signature nine-credit core courses form the foundation of this experiential model. BUS109-Business Plan Competition integrates courses in business, economics, and accounting, challenging students to develop and pitch business plans to professionals who award funding to winning teams. Later, BUS309-Comprehensive Analysis of Business guides students through mergers and acquisitions projects for major corporations like Eli Lilly, Cummins, and Elanco, with student teams delivering strategic recommendations directly to company executives.
Beyond the classroom, experiential learning is embedded throughout the curriculum. Students are required to complete at least one internship before graduation, participate in business competitions, and engage in consulting projects. The A-Team consulting program allows students to work with real clients, including Fortune 100 companies, nonprofits, and government agencies, tackling business problems that have a lasting impact on the organizations they serve.
ACADEMIC INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY RECOGNITION
Marian continuously evolves its programs to meet industry demands. Recent innovations include the launch of a Logistics & Supply Chain Management major, which allows students to complete two internships and earn a Six Sigma Green Belt certification. A new Professional Selling specialization integrates cutting-edge technology, including a dedicated digital sales lab, while Introduction to Business Analytics was added to the business core to reflect the growing need for data-driven decision-making.
The school also launched BUS 100 Moral Capitalism, a unique course that explores the intersection of business, ethics, and faith. Recognized by Poets&Quants for Undergrads, the course features a Moral Leadership Lab where students engage with thought leaders, business executives, and faith-based professionals on ethical decision-making.
Marian’s faculty and student organizations have earned national recognition. The business school has been named a Top University for Professional Sales Education every year since 2019, while its American Marketing Association chapter won Top Small Chapter of the Year in 2024. The school’s sales students also took home the 2023 National Team Selling Championship, besting competitors from Indiana University, Villanova, and Baylor.
CAREER READINESS AND INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS
Marian graduates enter the workforce with a strong foundation in both technical and professional skills. The school integrates nationally recognized certifications, offering students credentials in Salesforce Inclusive Marketing Practices, Google Analytics, and HubSpot CRM, preparing them for success in a competitive job market. Students also benefit from Marian’s robust career development office, The Exchange, which was recognized as a Career Development College of Distinction in 2023 for its focus on career coaching, employer relations, and internship placements.
ALUMNI SAY
“I had multiple courses that required real-world applications of material studied including a consulting project for a local Indianapolis corporation focused on talent retention and recruitment, a simulated experience where we were running the a company for 5 years – competing to get profits and other metrics higher than other teams in school and around the country, an entrepreneurial course similar to a shark tank that allowed us the opportunity to present and possibly run an on-campus small business, and a mergers and acquisition project focused on a real-world problem given to us by a Fortune 500 company (Cummins my semester) where we had to find an acquisition for their new technology focused arm of the corporation. All of these required cultivating hard and soft skills centered around research, data analysis, dictation of timelines, content creation, and presentation, all of which are useful in my current position.”
“I believe that the school offered a multitude of opportunities that prepared me for the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are necessary to in the real world. In particular, BUS 309 offered real world scenarios where students are able to make well-informed, fact-based decisions and recommendations to fortune 500 companies.”
“After graduating and entering the real world, I have notice how exceptional the School of Business was. My bosses were always very impressed with my work ethic and how quickly I was able to catch on. I truly believe Marian taught me all of these great qualities. The project based classes truly put me ahead of other employees I have worked with.”
“Marian has a very good approach to experiential learning which allows the growth of soft skills. Many employers today point out that soft skills are where graduates are lacking in many ways. The business school at Marian University focuses hard on bridging that gap between the which I believe helps our graduates stand out among the rest.”
“Marian University has provided me the opportunity to grow both as a person and an early career professional. I’m proud to call myself a graduate of the School of Business and I’m confident that, more than any other school examined, Marian has done an exceptional job of preparing their students for the next phase of their lives & careers.”
