The Mason Undergraduate Business Program achieved a rating of 29th in BusinessWeek’s 2007 annual survey of the 50 best programs in the country, after not being ranked in 2006.
The Mason School ranked 11th among public universities in the “return on investments” category. Combined with its 29th place, the school makes the top 10 of public university business programs overall.
p. The survey looked at starting salaries for graduates and how many students each undergraduate program sent to top MBA programs.
p. Also, the magazine developed an academic quality score, as well as a survey of nearly 80,000 business majors and numerous undergraduate recruiters. The final rankings were based on an “index number,” which represents the sum of all five ranking measures. The Mason Program achieved an academic quality rank of 16th. BusinessWeek also developed letter grades for teaching quality, facilities and services and job placement.
p. The Mason Undergraduate School achieved letter grades of “A” for both teaching quality and facilities and services. However, the job placement was given a grade of “B,” although the recruiter survey rank of the program was 82nd in the school.
p. “We do not like to see ‘B’ grades on our scorecard, and it is also clear that not enough corporate recruiters around the country know what we know about the extraordinary quality of our graduates,” Dean of the Mason School of Business Lawrence B. Pulley ’74 said.
p. Although some deem rankings such as these trivial, the administration feels otherwise.
p. “Many of our stakeholders such as alumni, current and prospective students, faculty and recruiters watch these rankings,” Pulley said.
p. But for Pulley the grade is a good start.
p. “We believe we can do better, and there is useful guidance in the data for how we might do so in ways that are consistent with our main goal of creating an exceptional educational experience for our students,” he said.
p. The program, which enrolls about one-sixth of the student body, and typically admits students at the beginning of their third or fourth semester of undergraduate study.
p. The business program also places an emphasis on leadership and experience through study abroad, live cases and faculty and executive mentoring programs.
p. “The Undergraduate Business Program exemplifies the core strengths of the great tradition of the William and Mary education. Our individualized program of study empowers students in designing an educational experience that will provide a strong foundation for a personalized, comprehensive path toward fulfilling their aspirations,” Pulley told Mason School of Business News.