The Wall Street Journal ranked Brigham Young University’s Master of Business Administration program first among regional schools in the paper’s 2007 report of top business programs, up from third in 2006 and sixth in 2005. The Marriott School was also ranked number two among the best schools for hiring graduates with strong ethical standards behind Dartmouth College.
“This is a tremendous honor to be at the top of such a distinguished list of schools,” said Ned C. Hill dean of BYU’s Marriott School of Management. “We are grateful to the companies that return again and again to recruit our students. We’re very proud of our graduates and the high professional and ethical standards they have become known for throughout the world.”
The journal categorized national and regional schools based on the type of recruiters they attract. Regional schools tended to attract more recruiters from a particular region while national schools attract recruiters from a broader geographic area.
This year’s top regional schools are 1) BYU, 2) Wake Forest University, 3) Ohio State University, 4) University of Rochester and 5) Indiana University. The top national schools are 1) Dartmouth College, 2) University of California-Berkeley, 3) Columbia University, 4) Massachusetts Institute of Technology and 5) Carnegie Mellon University.
In addition to the top regional honor and a strong showing in ethics, BYU placed fourth in the paper’s “accounting honor roll" and ranked ninth in “corporate social responsibility.”
“Year in and year out, recruiters rave about [BYU] graduates’ maturity, competitive drive, integrity and international experience, especially from their missionary work for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” the paper reported. “Academically, the Marriott School receives high marks in the Journal survey for its accounting program. Some recruiters are also finding that more Brigham Young MBAs make a good fit for investment banking.”
BYU MBA Program Director James Engebretsen said, “Our focus on investment banking is fairly new and still relatively small. But we’re finding it to be a good fit for an increasing number of our students. It’s rewarding to see Wall Street valuing our students in this area as well as recognizing their strong work ethic, integrity and the great professional training provided by our faculty.”
This is the seventh year The Wall Street Journal has evaluated MBA programs around the world. More than 4,400 recruiters who hire full-time business school graduates participated in the 2007 survey.
Recruiters evaluated schools on three components. Equal weight was given to perceptions of the school and its students, the likelihood of recruiting and hiring at the school in the future and mass appeal — the total number of participating recruiters who recruit at the school. Perceptions of the school and its students were based on 21 attributes such as analytical and problem-solving skills, communication and interpersonal skills, faculty expertise, curriculum content, leadership potential and career services at the school.
The list of schools eligible for the rankings came from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and discussions with experts in the field of MBA recruiting. Only 265 schools met the Journal’s rating requirements. Of those, 86 schools were ranked.
The Marriott School’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the school’s graduate and undergraduate programs.
Writer: Chad Little
