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Facts and Stats

Accreditation

Excellence

  • Illinois State placed 75th in the 2007 BusinessWeek magazine rankings of the best undergraduate business schools in the nation. Illinois State was 41st among public universities.
  • Illinois State University 's College of Business is one of the nation's best choices for earning an MBA, according to the 2008 edition of Best 290 Business Schools, published by Princeton Review.

Academic Programs

  • Over 29,000 graduates of the College of Business have put their skills to work in the fields of accounting, business information systems, finance, insurance, law, marketing, management, international business, and education.
  • A special integrated Bachelor of Science/Master of Professional Accountancy program enables students to prepare for careers in professional accounting to meet the formal requirements needed to sit for the CPA exam.
  • The college offers the following master's degree programs: MBA, Corporate MBA, Master of Science in Accountancy.

Enrollment

  • Recent College of Business enrollment has averaged just over 3,000 undergraduates and 200 graduate students. During the last seven years the College of Business average ACT score for new freshmen has increased by 2.5 points. The average ACT score for new freshmen in the College of Business for fall 2007 was 24.03.
  • Percentage by major: 3.0 percent Business Teacher Education, 1 percent Business Information Systems, 1.6 percent Insurance, 4.0 percent International Business, 9.2 percent Management, 14 percent Finance, 18.7 percent Accountancy, 20 percent Marketing, 28.4 percent Business Administration.
    • 60 percent males; 40 percent females
    • 35.3 percent top quarter of high school class
    • 83 percent top half of high school class
    • 10.7 percent minority representation
    • 96.7 percent of undergrads are from Illinois
    • 1 percent of undergrads are international students
  • Last fall 58 percent of all business classes had 30 or fewer students and 86 percent had 50 or fewer. Seventy-nine percent of upper level major courses had 30 or fewer students.

Quality of Students

  • Seventeen to 20 percent of the Honors students on campus and 23 percent of the Bone Scholars since 1990 have been business majors.
  • For the last several years it has taken at least a 3.75/4.0 GPA to get on the Dean's List and the average undergraduate GPA has been over 2.8/4.0.
  • In fall 2007 new transfer students had an average transfer GPA of 3.2/4.0

Faculty

  • The College of Business has a diverse and distinguished faculty with experience in all segments of business. All regular faculty hold doctoral degrees and/or professional certification in their areas of expertise and engage in research and professional service that enhance students' learning opportunities.
  • Faculty prepare students for successful professional and managerial careers while maintaining a close relationship with the business community, relying on a balance between quality teaching and applied theoretical academic research.
  • The first focus of our faculty is excellence in classroom instruction; the second focus is to be innovative scholars through research.
  • In 2007, business faculty participated as co-authors on 380 intellectual contributions, resulting in 155 separate outcomes. Of these co-authorships, 109 were on refereed journal articles, 43 proceedings papers, 77 conference presentations, 5 books, and 16 chapters/articles in books.
  • Survey results indicate that students feel a major strength of the College of Business is the quality of its faculty and their willingness to help students, both in and outside of the classroom.
  • The College of Business is unique in that the majority of classes are taught by full-time faculty or industry professionals. No courses are taught by teaching assistants.

Satisfied Alumni

  • The College has built its reputation on its ability to prepare students who can hit the ground running when they graduate. Traditionally, 96 percent of business alumni are positive or strongly positive about their experiences as business students at Illinois State University.
  • COB alumni hold executive positions in many different types of companies and industries, including government, law, and the non-profit sectors. Several have also become successful entrepreneurs and small business owners.
  • Alumni salaries and time from degree to employment are competitive with national averages. Ninety-two percent of alumni surveyed indicate that their jobs are related or closely related to their undergraduate business majors.
  • Salary ranges for new College of Business alumni surveyed in May 2007 showed 71 percent with salaries between $30,000 and $50,000; 37.3 percent between $40,000 and $50,000; and 21.4 percent over $50,000.
  • In 2006 the College of Business conferred undergraduate degrees to 748 individuals.
  • More than 75 percent of our over 29,000 living alumni work in the Midwest, but are represented in all 50 states and abroad.
  • Alumni rate the following skills as most important to their success in business: communication, use of technology, teamwork, problem solving, and critical thinking.
  • The Career Center at Illinois State University assists students and alumni in exploring satisfying career opportunities that fit their talents, interests, and goals. The Center also assists employers in finding candidates for career positions.

High Tech Learning Environment

The College of Business Building embraces the best features of the nation's most prominent business schools, while retaining the spirit of personalized, student-centered education that is the hallmark of Illinois State University. The facility is one of the best in the country and was built with student interaction, faculty, and technology as priorities. This facility is large, professional, and technologically sophisticated. This $28 million facility opened for classes in January of 2005 and is helping the College of Business expand and improve upon its student-centered mission.