For those looking for a business education that is centered around business and technology with project-based work and opportunities for global study, look no further than The WPI Business School.
The Business School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute rose in this year’s 2023 rankings, landing at No. 42 – up 11 spots from last year’s 2022 ranking at No. 53. This year, WPI had a much more rigid acceptance rate of 41.45% for the Class of 2023 as compared to last year’s 72.58%. The school didn’t report their average SAT score this year, however last year’s score was 1356. Of the three methodological categories, WPI scored best in Admission, landing 44th yet they held a relatively similar score throughout all of the categories, landing 45th in Career Outcomes and 53rd in Academic Experience.
Some 75.50% of the Class of 2023 had a business-focused internship before graduation, down slightly from the 79% of the Class of 2021. This year, 90.50% of the Class of 2023 secured a full-time position within three months of graduation, holding nearly the same rate as the Class of 2021, of whom 89.33% secured employment.
CURRICULUM
Students at The WPI Business School can choose from four majors including Business, Industrial Engineering, Management Engineering, and Management Information Systems. Recent course additions such as “Business Applications of Machine Learning” and “Introduction to Prescriptive Analytics” highlight the business and technology-focused education at The Business School. Projects are the core of the WPI curriculum. Many courses require students to apply their knowledge from classes and labs to real-world situations.
“Project work helps students become better collaborators, critical thinkers, public speakers, and communicators — vital to success at WPI and the skills that distinguish WPI graduates throughout their careers,” Laurie Stokes, associate director of Business Programs at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, told us.
Additionally, surveyed alumni viewed their business courses quite positively. When asked to evaluate how well the The WPI Business School business program prepared them for the working world, 2019 alumni gave an 8.4 average rating. Alumni also rated faculty an 8.4 average rating for their availability for informal discussions about grades, class topics, and expectations outside of class.
MAJOR QUALIFYING PROJECT
The WPI Business School students all take part in the Major Qualifying Project, a team-based design or research project that culminates their undergraduate education. Student teams, representing all WPI academic departments, present their project results to faculty advisors and external sponsors in the spring.
The goal of the Major Qualifying Project is for students to apply the theories and concepts learned in their business courses to solve a specific problem in the real world. And because the project is required by all undergraduates, every student at The Business School graduates with experiential learning experience. Many alumni surveyed highlighted the Major Qualifying Project as a “signature experience” during their time at The Business School and credit the experience as beneficial to their careers today.
“Through my Major Qualifying Project, I was able to get hands-on experience working for MilliporeSigma that gave me invaluable skills,” one 2018 alumni told us. “With these skills I’ve been able to apply them to my current job in a different field.”
“I had the opportunity to work with Pacific Can in Beijing to improve their drying process,” another 2018 alumni said. “I was able to work side by side with their engineers, and present to the company’s leadership team. This real world business experience I believe helped distinguish myself from other candidates in interviews, and helped prepare me for the current analysis work I do at Grubhub.”
70% OF STUDENTS HAVE GLOBAL EXPERIENCE
While WPI is based in Massachusetts, The Business School students have a variety of opportunities to travel globally and immerse themselves in different cultures. Roughly 63% of The Business School students have a global experience, defined as at least four weeks of international study or at least three credits in an international setting, before they graduate.
Students can choose from more than 50 project centers across six different continents. To ensure equal opportunity, WPI offers a Global Scholarship up to $5,000 to study abroad at one of their international project centers.
While many universities have study abroad programs for their students, WPI’s dedication to ensuring equal opportunity for all of its students is certainly something that makes The WPI Business School stand out.
Alumni say:
“Worked on a group project for our business degree Major Qualifying Project. Our project was focused on data analytics since all our team members were majoring in information systems.”
“Worked at Millipore Sigma conducting a manufacturing optimization capstone project. Also traveled to Namibia to complete work in reducing crashes and late trains.”
“For my senior capstone project, I partnered with a medical center to develop a web application prototype to help prevent physician and staff burnout in hospital settings. This was important to me because I was able to experience going through all phases of the SDLC in a real-world setting, which is very similar to the work I do today.”
“I conducted a social science project in Korce, Albania that helped develop my soft skills in interviewing and working with people.”
WHERE THE CLASS OF 2020 WENT TO WORK:
Accenture
Bank of America
Boston Scientific
Lockheed Martin
National Grid
PepsiCo
Philips
Raytheon Company
Sensata Technologies
Velcro Companies
