The University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics landed at No. 60 in this year’s ranking, dropping from last year’s ranking of No. 53.
The Lerner College had an acceptance rate of 62.30%, slightly higher than last year’s 53.61%, and an average SAT score of 1246, ever so slightly down from last year’s average score of 1248. Employment wise, the B-school saw a significant rise, with 89.13% of the Class of 2021 landing full-time employment within three months of graduation, roughly 10% higher than last year’s 79.07% for the Class of 2020. Internship outcomes saw a small increase, with 93% of the Class of 2021 landing a business-focused internship before graduating, up two percent from last year’s 91% of the Class of 2020. This trend could suggest that the school may be building back after the COVID-19 downturn.
While Lerner fell behind a few ranks this year, the B-school still offers a strong undergraduate business program with its prestigious hospitality programs and hands-on immersion internship opportunities.
QUALITY HOSPITALITY PROGRAM
Lerner undergraduates can choose from 16 different majors including Accounting, Business Analytics, Economics, Economics Education, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Financial Planning and Wealth Management, Global Enterprise Management, Hospitality Business Management, Hospitality Industry Management, International Business Studies, Management, Management Information Systems, Marketing, Operations Management, and Sport Management. The B-school makes it easy for students to study more than one major with over 33% of graduates double majoring in the college.
The 2018 alumni that we surveyed spoke highly about Lerner’s well-ranking hospitality programs. The B-school offers two hospitality majors. The Hospitality Business Management (HOSP) major offers a curriculum on business management, specific to the hospitality industry. The Hospitality Industry Management (HSIM) major focuses on the analytical skills for careers in hospitality consulting and in the corporate office and students can choose a focus area such as revenue management, resort real estate development, hospitality e-commerce, or tourism sustainability.
“As a hospitality major in the Lerner College of Business, I was given first-hand experience in my industry which prepared me for everything I would be facing in my career,” one 2018 alumni told us.
“A lot of colleagues of mine who studied the same major at different universities did not have the same experience.”
The B-school also houses a hands-on learning laboratory, Vita Nova, which serves as a student-run restaurant environment.
“The skills learned in Vita Nova are taken far beyond graduation,” the 2018 alumni told us. “I credit that to the professors of Vita. Not only do we have on-campus immersive experiences, but we must also complete 800 hours of work experience before graduation. Having this requirement seems daunting as a Freshman, however, these internships helped teach the types of jobs I would and wouldn’t want to have as well as helps land me my first job post-college. Many of the graduates from HBM go to work in both hotels and restaurants in front of house and back of house, though there is an increasing number of us who are joining the Private Club ranks. That is also due in part to the clubs on campus and available though Lerner.”
Hospitality majors aren’t commonplace at every B-school. And when they are, they typically don’t have the level of specialization and quality of resources that Lerner has. With the B-school’s immersive learning laboratory, work experience requirements, and specialized majors, hospitality is definitely a strong offering at Lerner.
GLOBAL ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM
While Lerner’s hospitality programs are the star of the show, the B-school also offers quality, hands-on learning experiences for other majors.
One of the prime examples of hands-on learning at Lerner is the Global Enterprise Technology (GET) Immersion Internship experience. Through extended six-month internships, GET interns use global enterprise systems or create new technology in a global environment. Students work as paid interns directly with corporate system engineers, IT personnel, product planners, and consultants.
“I was accepted into the GET (Global Enterprise Technology) Program which is an internship that starts in the summer and continues into the fall semester,” one 2018 alumni told us. “I worked part-time in the fall while also working on a work-related school project for class credits. This program is how I got my current job at JPMorgan Chase in a technical position I never would’ve applied to if it were outside of this program.”
“[The] Global Enterprise Technology Program allowed me to work full time at Deloitte for 6 months while earning college credits for 300-400 level MIS courses at UD,” another 2018 alumni said. “Best experience of my college career, got me my current job, allowed me to really experience work-life rather than a 3 month in and out internship.”
The GET Program essentially offers students an opportunity to intern directly with big-name companies such as JP Morgan Chase, Deloitte, and PwC. And students from other universities intern with these companies over the summer for a short three months, Lerner students can be truly immersed in the company for a solid six months – giving them twice the amount of work experience. Since 2010, according to Lerner, the GET program has had a job placement record of 100%.
Overall, Lerner is an obvious choice for anyone set on pursuing a career in hospitality. But the B-school offers a quality education with strong internship opportunities for those studying any other business degree.
Alumni say:
“The Hospitality Business Management program at Lerner is truly unmatched. Unlike many college classes of sitting in a classroom learning from a professor, HBM is heavily based on being practical. We spent a semester in the on-campus hotel learning the ins and outs of how to run and operate a hotel and then moved through the practical side of learning and doing each and every job from Front Desk to Housekeeping.”
“The MIS capstone project provided real-world consulting experience as well as the opportunity to demonstrate technical capabilities.”
“We got to work with global companies, helping them build a potential new market entry plan with other students from around the world in the X-Culture Program. It really helped me see just how organized you need to be in order to work in a global world pre-COVID, let alone now.”
“I participated in a capstone project which provided a hands-on learning experience when working with clients. This experience allowed myself to take skills that I had learned in my various courses and adapt them to real world situations/scenarios. I still carry many of the skills and knowledge learned from this capstone project to this day in my current job role. This experience was unique to me because it was an ‘initial stepping stone’ for what was to come in my career after graduation.”
WHERE THE CLASS OF 2020 WENT TO WORK:
- JP Morgan Chase – 14
- KPMG – 8
- EY – 4
- PwC – 2
- Vanguard – 2
- TEKSystems – 2
- EisnerAmper – 2
- Citi – 2
- Amazon – 2
- Bloomberg – 2
