The Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond landed in the 18th spot in this year’s rankings, the same spot it achieved last year. That was up 5 places from 2021’s 23rd place. Robins has consistently climbed upward the past few years, having placed 26th in the 2020 rankings.
The B-school has been more selective over the years as well, with a slightly more selective acceptance rate this year of of 24.65% which climbed from 28.14% for the Class of 2022 and up from 2021’s 31.20% acceptance rate. The average SAT score was 1392 compared to 1366 the previous year.
Overall, in the three ranking categories for the 2023 best undergraduate business school ranking, Robins was 14th in Career Outcomes, 23rd in Admissions, and 21st in Academic Experience.
After scoring a perfect 100% employability three months after graduation for the Class of 2022, the employment rate fell slightly to 98.8% for 2022 graduates. Graduates reported an average starting salary of $78,403, up more than $12,000 from the $66,293 reported by the previous class. Robins grads also reported an average signing bonus of $8,958 with 31% of grads getting a bonus.
Meanwhile, 94% of the Class of 2022 had secured a business-related internship prior to graduation, up 2% over the Class of 2021.
Numbers-wise, Robins proves to be a stellar undergraduate business program. And much of that success can be attributed to the B-school’s focus on small class sizes with high professor engagement and experiential learning-focused education.
SMALL CLASS SIZES WITH QUALITY PROFESSOR ENGAGEMENT
The University of Richmond is a private liberal arts university. As a part of a liberal arts institution, the Robins School offers a business curriculum that’s rooted in liberal arts. Robins students have access to three business majors including Accounting, Economics, and Business Administration. Students can choose from concentrations such as Finance, Marketing, International Business, Business Analytics, Entrepreneurship and Management Consulting.
One of the main benefits of a Robins education is the attention that each student receives. With an average class size of roughly 20 students, professors can offer greater attention to every student’s needs and goals.
Many other B-schools can boast the expansive opportunities that are available to their students, but the fact that Robins places heavy emphasis on its small class size and attentive faculty speaks volumes about the individual care they put into each and every student’s development.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING-FOCUSED EDUCATION
Much of the coursework and out-of-the-classroom opportunities at Robins emphasizes experiential learning. By having an experiential learning-focused education that emphasizes teamwork and an application of their studies, students can develop important soft skills such as communication skills, adaptability, delegation, and time management.
Overall, the combination of small class sizes and opportunities for students to apply their learnings in the real-world makes the Robins education one that will continuously impress both students and employers.
2021 Alumni say:
“The consulting practicum course was exceptional. It was a hands on, guided approach to consulting and allowed for real insight into the daily life, workload and responsibilities of a consultant. It helped with the soft skills of client interaction, operating within scope, managing scope creep, as well as networking. Additionally, this course provided real resume experience that could be discussed with future full-time employers during the interview process.”
“I was engaged in several ‘signature experiences’ that included making complete projects and proposals, some of our own making and some for classwork. It was unique because they were entirely student driven. The professors were there to mentor and bounce ideas off of, but they encouraged us to take the projects from beginning to end.”
“For my senior capstone class, we completed case studies on companies like Disney and Ryanair and recommended real-world strategic initiatives based on the company’s current positioning in the market.”
“I received money as part of the spider internship funds for my proposal to build out a smartphone application to help better serve students who are studying abroad. Without this opportunity, I would not have had the money or time to pursue the idea and bring the app to life.”
“We did a semester-long case study on a business as part of Strategic Management, the business administration capstone course. It was a great way to experience strategy consulting type work in a low pressure academic setting.”
