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March 1, 2008

Undergraduate Business Program Ranked 37th By BusinessWeek

The Wisconsin School of Business undergraduate program was ranked 37th overall, 11th among all public universities, and 4th for the second consecutive year in the Big Ten, according to BusinessWeek’s third annual ranking of the nation’s undergraduate business schools. Last year, the business school ranked 28th overall and 10th among public universities.

The value of Wisconsin’s undergraduate business program was again ranked among the best in the nation. Last year, Wisconsin’s undergraduate business program was ranked 7th among all schools for return on investment. This year, the program was ranked 9th among all schools for return on investment.

The Wisconsin School of Business is the only business school to have both its undergraduate and MBA programs ranked in BusinessWeek’s top 10 for return on investment.

BusinessWeek rankings of undergraduate business programs are based on five separate sets of data: a survey of graduating seniors on perceptions of internship opportunities, teaching quality, time spent studying, and more (30%); a survey of corporate recruiters about graduates (20%); starting salaries (10%); the number of graduates who end up at top-ranked MBA programs (10%); and, academic quality as measured by ACT/SAT test scores, student-teacher ratios, and class size, among other things (30%).

The main factors accounting for the change in Wisconsin’s ranking were a drop in scores for overall academic quality and students’ perceptions of teaching quality, and a rise in the number of private schools eligible to compete on the undergraduate level. This year, 15 additional schools were included in the BusinessWeek rankings – nine private schools and six public.

Based on internal measurements, the school has made progress on key fundamentals:

• Student quality as measured by average ACT and SAT scores for juniors admitted to the undergraduate program continues to increase. The average ACT score of students enrolled in the 2007-2008 academic year was 28, up from 27.6 in the 2006-2007 academic year. The average SAT score of students enrolled in 2007-2008 academic year was 1275, up from 1257 in the 2006-2007.
• The popularity of the school’s undergraduate program is seen in rising applicant numbers. A total of 1,376 college juniors applied to Wisconsin’s undergraduate business program for the 2007-2008 academic year, up from 1,024 applicants for the 2006-2007academic year.
• Career placement was at 80 percent for the class of 2007, up from 77 percent for 2006 graduates. The average salary increased to $48,000 from $45,000 over the same period.

“We are in the process of implementing a host of important changes to our program, many of which are being funded with the recently enacted undergraduate tuition differential,” said Dean Michael Knetter. “The impetus for these changes was the desire to strengthen certain areas of our undergraduate business program. Our goals are to increase the size and quality of the faculty, expand access to business courses, increase the career readiness and global understanding of our students, and increase the diversity of our student body. We remain steadfastly committed to improving the educational experience, career opportunities, and related aspects of our program that matter most to our students.”