Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business impressively landed at No. 31 in this year’s 2023 rankings, up 11 places from last year’s No. 42. Freeman had hovered right around the low 40’s for the previous few years — ranking No. 38th in 2020 and No. 44 in 2019.
The B-school increase their admissions selectivity slightly, now with the even more selective acceptance rate of 12.86% compared to last year’s 13.56%. The average SAT score this year was 1430 – higher than last year’s 1416. Admissions standards was Tulane’s most competitive methodological category where it placed 18th overall. The B-School placed No. 59 in Academic Experience and No. 72 in Career Outcomes.
Employment wise, Freeman graduates did quite well this year, with 89.22% of the Class of 2023 securing full-time employment within three months of graduation – up from 82.02% for the class of 2021. Internship outcomes rose, with 36.10% of the Class of 2023 landing a business-focused internship before graduating compared to 30.30% of the Class of 2022.
Despite Freeman ranking lower this year, the B-school still offers a quality education that heavily emphasizes interdisciplinary thinking and real-world application.
FLEXIBLE INTERDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION
One of the key characteristics of the Freeman education is the academic freedom and flexibility it offers students. Tsetsa Dankova Rosensteel, the Assistant Dean of Administration and Finance at Freeman, describes it best: “One College. Five Schools. No Boundaries.”
Each student can choose to attend any of the five schools (Liberal Arts, Science and Engineering, Freeman School of Business, Public Health, and Architecture) that serve undergraduates.
The B-School offers joint programs, the most popular being the Bachelor of Science in Management (BSM) and the Master of Accounting Program (MACCT) which they can complete in five years, with the option in spring of the senior year to complete a “busy season internship.”
This flexible, interdisciplinary approach is the core of the Freeman education. Many other B-Schools have barriers with admissions or prerequisite requirements that make it difficult for students to cross academic boundaries but at Freeman, students are given more freedom and flexibility.
NUMEROUS REAL-WORLD OPPORTUNITIES
There isn’t just one cornerstone experience at Freeman. Alumni we surveyed reported a variety of hands-on, real-world opportunities that they say were key to their business education. Roughly 80% of surveyed 2019 alumni reported that their first career after graduating was in their desired industry.
One example is the Burkenroad Reports program where each year, 200 Freeman students are divided up into teams to follow companies. Teams meet with top management, visit company sites, design financial models, and publish in-depth, unbiased investment research reports. The companies researched are “stocks under rocks” – companies. In the spring, top management of participating companies present the outlook for their companies and industries to an audience of nearly 800 individual and institutional investors.
“Burkenroad gave me the opportunity to understand equity research on a real-world analyst level, including meeting with C-level executives of the companies we were tasked with researching,” one 2018 alumni told us.
But the Burkenroad Reports program is just one of many real-world opportunities at Freeman. Alumni we surveyed highlighted the plethora of opportunities they had to apply their studies to the real world.
“The service-learning component through the business school injected you straight into the life of New Orleans,” one 2018 alumni told us. “I was in a legal studies service learning which allowed me the opportunity to observe courtroom proceedings in New Orleans. This gave me a real understanding of the system miles beyond what a classroom education could’ve taught me.”
“I had a real-world consulting client for my management consulting class senior year (a local restaurant) and was able to make changes to a real business and see the impacts instead of simply reading case studies,” another 2018 alumni told us.
At Freeman, students are given an open runway to go out and explore their passions and interests. If a student is interested in chemical engineering and business, he or she can pursue that. If a student wants to start taking business classes in the first year, the student can do so freely. With a flexible, interdisciplinary-focused education and plenty of opportunities to learn in the real world, Freeman students can truly explore and pursue everything and anything.
Alumni say:
“We got to embrace ourselves in the athletic departments world. We were figuring out ways to increase audience and engagement with Tulane athletics. We were able to meet with marketing directors at the Saints and Pelicans to learn what was successful for them and helped implement traditions that are still used today.”
“Capstone included simulation requiring you to become the management team for a company of the teachers choosing. My team was then forced to develop a growth plan for the business, address any hurdles, and present a pitch to the class in a competition to determine the best business plan.”
“The professors at Tulane for the most part really want to help their students and will take the extra time to meet with students to go over either work or personal/career matters.”
Where The Class of 2018 Went To Work:
Ernst & Young LLP – 15
PricewaterhouseCoopers – 10
JP Morgan – 7
Credit Suisse – 6
KPMG – 6
IBM – 4
Deloitte – 4
Wells Fargo – 3
