Providence College’s School of Business ranked 37th in this year’s 2023 rankings, and has been trending upwards from last year’s No. 40 and 2021’s No. 47.
Providence had a slightly more selective acceptance rate this year, accepting 52.51% of the Class of 2023 as compared to last year’s rate of 58.34%. Another upward trend year after year is the SAT scores – with an average of 1318 for the Class of 2023, 1295 for the Class of 2022, and 1268 for the Class of 2021.
2023 employment rates held strong and improved, with 95.35% of the Class of 2023 securing a full-time position within three months of graduation – way up from the already high rate of 94.59% for the Class of 2021.
The Academic Experience category was Providence’s strongest methodological category, as it finished 33rd. The B-School finished 37th in the career outcomes category and 48th in admissions standards.
Providence College’s business education strongly emphasizes liberal arts and ethics with an abundance of opportunities to apply their knowledge and obtain relevant, real-world experience.
EMPHASIS ON LIBERAL ARTS AND ETHICS
Liberal arts serve as the foundation for business education at Providence with a strong focus on liberal arts. The curriculum features core focus and competency requirements in addition to linked major and minor course content. Undergraduate business majors at Providence include Accountancy, Finance, Management, and Marketing.
Additionally, all Providence undergraduates are required to take two years of seminar courses for the Development of Western Civilization Program, where they explore human history through many perspectives — from literature to philosophy to theology to art, and more.
First-year business students attend diversity and inclusion workshops focused on unconscious bias and working across differences. The workshops are designed to help students learn how to navigate collaborating with people from a variety of backgrounds in the workplace.
Students can also compete in the college’s Michael Smith Regional Ethics Case Competition, where student teams analyze a business ethics case and present their solutions to a panel of judges. The winning team wins a $2,400 prize.
Ethics and an understanding of how to work across differences are more important now than ever before as employers seek out not only skilled and capable workers, but individuals who have a strong grasp on soft-skills and collaboration. At Providence, business undergraduates are taught these skills early on so that they can graduate into the real world as compassionate, collaborative, and well-rounded business leaders. Providence alumni also rate the B-school’s ability to offer opportunities to nurture and improve students’ soft skills relatively high at an 8.9 average rating.
REAL-WORLD PROJECTS
Providence students have a number of opportunities to apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios whether through projects or case competitions. 2018 alumni that we surveyed spoke highly about their experience in marketing elective courses, where they were able to develop relevant work skills.
“The required senior marketing elective I took prepared me for the fast-paced, results-oriented environment of a modern business setting, and one of the assigned projects turned into a longer collaborative effort outside of class with a classmate and two professors to edit and tailor the project into a published academic article, which was then submitted and accepted for publication in a marketing journal,” one 2018 alumni told us.
Marketing students can also participate in the annual American Marketing Association (AMA) Collegiate Case Competition, an event that brings together marketing students to solve and present a case study. Last year’s competition asked students to develop a comprehensive marketing plan targeting Generation Z in an effort to increase membership and relevance among American college students.
“Participating in the AMA Challenge was a prominent part of my senior year and helped me prepare for project management in my career,” another 2018 alumni said.
But these types of opportunities span well beyond fields such as marketing. Students interested in finance can participate in the Student Managed Portfolio, where they invest real money from the Providence College endowment. Unlike many student-managed funds, the PCSB Student Managed Portfolio extends to three different classes of assets: equity, fixed income, and alternatives.
“[The] student-managed investment fund provided me with real-world investment experience, actively managing ~30000 tech sector portfolio as part of a larger investment fund,” said another 2018 alumni.
“The student-managed investment fund at Providence College was a life-changing experience and opened my eyes to the world of Investments,” another 2018 alumni told us. “Naturally I find myself currently studying for the CFA while also working in my desired industry. My hope is to break into the insurance investment industry which I see as a perfect fit for my skill set.”
If you’re looking for a business education that includes an emphasis on in-demand soft-skills with plenty of opportunities to gain real-world experience, look no further than Providence College’s School of Business.
Alumni say:
“My goal was to end up working in the nonprofit sector after graduation. Both the undergrad and MBA programs allowed me to execute course projects that benefited the nonprofits I worked for at the time. Having a real-world application helped drive home the key concepts in each class and made it all the more memorable. I frequently recall experiences that included; fundraising, serving as the “director” of a philanthropic committee, developing marketing plans, designing business strategies, carrying out event planning, and conducting data analysis. These experiences contributed to my overall skills development, provided something unique to talk about on interviews, and are all utilized in my daily work. Not only did these projects benefit my learning, but they also benefited the learning of local nonprofits in the community surrounding Providence College.”
“My capstone class had a project where we created a business from scratch, made a business plan, and wrote a whole report about the things we would do to run the business.”
“I completed projects and simulations that helped me gain real world experience. One example was a acting as an audit firm that helped a client throughout the semester with a variety of questions they had. It involved research, preparation, and mock meetings that felt like real world situations. The professor provided helpful feedback at the end.”
“At Providence College, I was a double major in Management and Marketing with a minor in German. My management and marketing capstones really helped as I developed skills that were easily transferable in my first job as we spent a substantial amount of time doing competitive analyses and scoping out the market opportunity. Furthermore, we presented more in my last year at Providence College which was essential as I transitioned into a sales role out of college.”
“I was involved with the Student Managed Investment Fund course offered at Providence College, which was instrumental in providing real world, applicable skills that are needed in the finance industry. The professor was a practitioner in finance and urged everyone to treat the class like a job, as opposed to a typical collegiate course. It was one of the most useful courses I’ve taken that provided me with the tools and experience needed to demonstrate my knowledge of the financial markets in interviews, in my internships and on the job today.”
WHERE THE CLASS OF 2020 WENT TO WORK
- PwC (9)
- Fidelity Investments (8)
- Bank of America (7)
- EY (7)
- KPMG (5)
- RSM US, LLP (5)
- FactSet (4)
- The TJX Companies, Inc. (4)
- Citizens Bank (3)
- Liberty Mutual Insurance (3)
- Tech Target (3)
