Last modified: Wednesday, March 20, 2013
IU Kelley School of Business continues move up in Bloomberg Businessweek rankings
School ranked No. 1 by companies that recruit its graduates
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 20, 2013
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University's Kelley School of Business continued its surge upward in new rankings of undergraduate programs by Bloomberg Businessweek, moving up three positions to 13th overall.
Companies that recruit its graduates ranked the school No. 1, up from fourth a year ago and eighth two years ago. Kelley's job placement activities also received an "A-plus" grade, and the school received "A" grades for teaching quality and for facilities and services.
While Kelley's undergraduate program has always been ranked in the Top 20 throughout the eight-year history of the survey, it has risen by seven positions in just the past three years.
The magazine announced the rankings through a webcast earlier today. Kelley remains second among all Big Ten schools and was sixth among such programs at public universities.
"These rankings reflect the exceptional undergraduate education and career services offered by the Kelley School of Business, which is training the next generation of business leaders who will drive our nation's economy in the future," said IU President Michael A. McRobbie. "They also signal the success of the school's innovative, forward-looking approach to experiential learning and ensuring its students are fully engaged with companies in their communities and around the world."
Among the factors contributing to the Kelley School's success were revisions to the program's curriculum, particularly Kelley Compass. Taking a page from the corporate world, the school launched the intensive "student talent management system" for personal and professional development, while also enriching its academic program to deepen students' facility with global business, ethics and critical thinking -- elements essential to future success.
"Kelley's integration of curriculum and career prep has been so successful that we are now using it as a model for student-centered advising throughout the campus," said IU Bloomington Provost Lauren Robel. "We are particularly proud that a business school of such size and scope continues to provide its students with highly individualized attention, an ongoing emphasis on diversity and an incredible return on investment given its superior affordability relative to other top-ranked undergraduate business programs."
Placement also has been phenomenal during tough economic times. Ninety-three percent of students reported full-time job or graduate school acceptance within three months, earning a median starting salary of $55,000. The median for all schools in Bloomberg Businessweek's survey was $50,650.
With an enrollment just over 4,700, the Kelley School has the largest undergraduate enrollment in Bloomberg Businessweek's Top 15. With annual resident tuition of $8,750, the cost of an IU Kelley degree is about one-fourth of most of the schools ranked in Bloomberg Businessweek's top 15.
Recruiters also have told the school that it values the progress Kelley has made in improving diversity in student enrollment in the past five years.
"This positive move follows a trend in all of our degree programs. Our Kelley Direct online MBA was recently ranked No. 3 in the country, our part-time evening MBA at Kelley's Indianapolis campus was ranked No. 9, and our full-time MBA program has advanced to No. 15," said Idalene Kesner, interim dean of the Kelley School and Frank P. Popoff Chair of Strategic Management. "Having rankings in the Top 15 across multiple programs proves that we do it all, and we do it all very well."
Kesner said it's even more exciting when you consider ongoing innovative curriculum changes and construction of state-of-the-art classrooms as part of the transformation of Kelley's Hodge Hall Undergraduate Center in Bloomington.
"It's really a testament to the strong history of the Kelley School, the great vision of our former deans and an incredibly supportive faculty and staff who have worked hard to maintain our momentum. It's also a great testament to the continued collaboration and support of our alumni and donors and the active participation of our corporate partners and recruiters. We just keep getting better."
Overall, 27,561 college seniors at 124 schools participated in the survey, in addition to 218 employers.
To rank the programs, Bloomberg Businessweek used nine measures, including surveys of both senior business majors and employers, median starting salaries for graduates and the number of alumni each program sends to top MBA programs. A calculation of academic quality is also included in the methodology, combining average SAT scores, student-faculty ratios, class size in core business courses, the percentage of students with internships, and the number of hours devoted to class work.
Three other schools in Indiana were ranked: the University of Notre Dame was No. 1, Butler University was 47th and Purdue University was 58th.
More information about the rankings is available online at Bloomberg Businessweek's website.
