BusinessWeek ranks Notre Dame undergraduate business program third

Author: Carol Elliott

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The Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame was rated No. 3 by BusinessWeek magazine in its third annual ranking of undergraduate business programs, announced February 28.The article is available in the magazines March 10 edition on newsstands March 3.

Notre Dame jumped four spots from its No. 7 slot in 2007.The University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School and the University of Virginias McIntire School of Commerce retained the top two spots.

In the article accompanying the survey, BusinessWeek noted improvements in the academic quality of Notre Dames program, and attributed the rise in rankings primarily to the studentssuccess in the job market. Median annual starting salaries rose to $53,500, a nearly 10 percent increase from the previous year. Mendoza also was rated No. 2 in the student survey ranking. Students said Notre Damesdie-hard alums and an emphasis on ethics separated Mendoza from the pack.

Educating young people to become effective and compassionate leaders is a tremendous privilege and responsibility,said Carolyn Y. Woo, Martin J. Gillen Dean of Business, noting that the recognition is the achievement of the entire Notre Dame community.I want us to give our best to be worthy of our students and for them to be worthy of their blessings.If we do this, we will give life to the mission of Notre Dame.

BusinessWeek used nine sources of data for the ranking, including surveys of some 80,000 business majors and more than 600 corporate recruiters; median starting salaries for graduates; the number of graduates admitted to topMBA programs; and an academic quality gauge, which incorporated the average SAT scores for business majors, faculty-student ratios, average class size, the percentage of students with internships, and the number of hours students spend on class work each week.

The magazine noted good news on many fronts for undergraduate business education – the number of high school seniors who say they intend to earn a business degree increasing and those entering programs in 2007 have higher standardized test scores than 2006 freshmen. Graduates are also leaving with higher salaries.

The Mendoza College of Business currently enrolls 1,626 undergraduate students in four departments: accountancy, finance, management and marketing. After completing the Universitys First Year of Studies program, Notre Dame business majors enter the Mendoza College in their sophomore year. Mendoza also offers graduate degree programs, including a master of business administration, executive master of businessadministration, master of science in accountancy and master of nonprofit administration.

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