Undergraduate Program

In high demand by students and employers

Our undergraduate program continues to be in high demand. The program accepted approximately 59 percent of the applicants for fall 2008. The quality of students coming into the school is extremely high, reflected in the GPA of admitted students.

Our graduates are in high demand with employers, even with the downturn in the economy. The average starting salary for graduates was close to $50,000, and more than 475 companies recruited our students.

Over the past year, we worked hard to begin the transition of admitting students as sophomores rather than juniors. (Students will be admitted as sophomores as of fall 2009.) We are adjusting our admissions criteria and developing a more holistic admissions process to include more factors, including academics and extra-curricular involvement. We hired a director of undergraduate admissions and recruitment to help us attract and admit even better students in the years ahead.

Other highlights:

• More than 200 business undergraduates studied abroad this year.
• Progress in the move toward sophomore admission, as part of a major re-invention of the undergraduate experience.
• The school’s Accenture Leadership Center hosted its first Big Ten Case Competition.

Initiatives we launched over the past year to enhance the student experience included: development of a monthly e-mail for students, creation of an undergraduate student advisory board, and redesign of our program’s website.

In our career efforts, we increasingly partnered with the College of Letters and Science, School of Human Ecology, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and Economics Department to increase the number of qualified students available to recruiters.

Looking ahead, our major goals include smooth implementation of sophomore admissions, new programs to increase out students’ career readiness, and increasing the diversity of our student body.