The Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University placed No. 25 in this year’s 2023 rankings – down four places from their No. 21 ranking in 2022.
Overall, of the ranking’s three main categories, Neeley placed best in the Academic Experience category – coming in at an impressive No. 8.
Neeley’s business program is one that embraces leadership development with plenty of opportunities to gain the necessary skills of business. This year, the Class of 2023 had an acceptance rate of 49.19% – slightly less selective than last year’s 48.78% rate. The average SAT score for the incoming class this year was 1292 – up ten points from last year’s 1282 average.
Neeley students have maintained strong employment outcomes, dropping ever so slightly from the already impressive 98.68% for last year’s Class of 2022 to 96.80% for the Class of 2023 securing full-time employment within three months of graduation. Average starting salary for graduating seniors was $71,151.
As for internships, 93.14% of the Class of 2023 had a business-related internship prior to graduation, dropping just a bit from 96.67% for last year’s class.
Much of that success can likely be attributed to Neeley’s quality education, which gives students the proper skill sets to embark into the real world as business leaders.
REAL-WORLD EDUCATION
Neeley is technically a two-year business program since students apply directly to the B-school during their second year. Once accepted into Neeley, business students can choose from the following majors: Accounting, Business Information Systems, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Finance, Finance with a Real Estate Concentration, Management, Marketing, and Supply and Value Chain Management.
A key characteristic of the Neeley program is its focus on both the soft and technical skills of business.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
The Neeley education is heavily focused on developing business students into leaders. One of the cornerstone leadership programs is Neeley Fellows, the undergraduate business honors program. Each year, 30 first-year students are selected for the rigorous, three-year experience that features enhanced business courses, professional development, networking opportunities, and study abroad trips. Neeley Fellows have gone on to work for big name companies such as Amazon, IBM, Google, Deloitte, and more.
Many B-schools have an honors program that features intensive coursework and networking opportunities. And while Neeley’s honors program does include an advanced curriculum, the program itself is heavily focused on leadership development. Alumni we surveyed in Neeley Fellows overwhelmingly spoke to the valuable leadership skills they gained through the experience.
Alumni say:
“As a senior, we were assigned a capstone project that allowed a real corporation to work with us and guide us as our goal was to bring in a new internal project management system so all parts of the technology department (documentation, emails, messages, data, etc.) could be housed in a single platform. This enabled us to take action on a current problem in the company and have a proposed solution ready and researched. Definitely helped me understand what the corporate world is like, and it was nice to see it in action.”
“The Next generation leadership program provided a close-knit cohort that challenged me to elevate myself academically as well as in my soft skills. Without the influence of that experience, I would not have stood out upon graduating, and would not have carried myself into my career with confidence and poise. I learned from fantastic professors, and my world view was challenged and broadened on our study abroad trip. The program was formative to my leadership style today, 13 yrs after graduation.”
“The NGLP trip to Scotland and England allowed for deep self reflection with an emphasis on goals and ambitions. It gave me clarity on what I wanted after graduation.”
“I participated in the 3-year Neeley Leadership Program where we visited corporations in London and a leadership institute in Scotland. This experience was a very unique opportunity to gain a global perspective with a group of 32 high achieving students.”
“We had several projects throughout various departments in Neeley where we had real life data. In a Design Thinking class, we were given a topic, had to go do our own research, and find ways to improve the process of the topic and present our findings and why we believed it was the best option. Great experience for projects I’m involved in for my current role.”