May 2007
Volume 2, Issue 4
There are over 3,000 undergraduate business programs in the United States. In an effort to narrow the field, BusinessWeek initially screened 1,400 U.S. colleges and universities with business programs to find those 450 accredited by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Three criteria were applied (test scores - ACT/SAT, student selectivity – ratio of accepted to applied, number of students from top 10% of their H.S. class) to obtain 90 schools meeting these benchmarks – 84 agreed to participate in the ranking process – 23 were eliminated for poor response rates on the student and recruiter surveys, leaving 61 that were ranked.
In 2007 BusinessWeek invited additional schools to apply for participation in the ranking process. These schools were evaluated to determine if they were comparable to those ranked in 2006. Thirty-two schools were identified and added for 2007, including the College of Business at Illinois State University. Of the 123 eligible programs in 2007, 30 were eliminated for poor response rates on the student and employer surveys, leaving 93 that were ranked. A guidebook is also being published that will feature the ranked schools.
Methodology
The main rankings are weighted and based on the criteria noted below.
Student Survey 30%
Academic Quality 30%
Recruiter Survey 20%
Grads into Top MBA 10%
Starting Salaries 10%
The academic quality ranking is based on five equally weighted measures:
Average ACT/SAT scores
Ratio of full-time faculty to students
Average class size of required business courses
Percentage of business majors with internships
Number of hours students spend every week on school work.
2007 Results
ISU’s College of Business ranked 75th (41st among public universities)
Employers ranked ISU 44th
Students ranked ISU 62nd
ISU’s ranking of Grads into Top MBA Programs was 85
ISU’s median starting salary ranking was 88
ISU’s academic quality ranking was 79
Schools were also assigned letter grades on three criteria based on student surveys: teaching quality, facilities and services, and job placement. Schools scoring higher than ISU received C’s in some of these categories.
ISU Teaching Quality B
ISU Facilities and Services B
ISU Job Placement B
Analysis
Porter has carefully analyzed the ranking process and has learned many things that infludenced the results. Several of the questions asked by BusinessWeek to determine key stats used in the rankings were vague or “subject to interpretation” by participating schools. This means that responses could vary from school to school so that one school could be at a disadvantage. Key areas to review and compare to other schools’ data include:
Tuition/Fees – intent was to report tuition & fees………some schools just reported tuition
Average class size in required business courses – the BIG question is how “required” was interpreted by schools
Median starting salary – we gather our data in ranges, some schools use actual salary figures, thus our median figure was conservative.
Four of our Peer, Competitive and Aspirational School Group participated in the ranking process. Here is a comparison of these schools on three areas:
University of Illinois 22 overall 44 student ranking 3 employer ranking
Miami University 35 49 16
Ohio University 62 64 64
Northern Illinois 65 36 70
Illinois State 75 62 44
A more detailed analysis/comparison on all ranking categories will be completed this summer. Our student ranking, and some of the comments reported, indicates that the COB needs to adopt a more integrated approach to educating students on the importance of responding to ranking surveys with a broader viewpoint. Larger schools, that have a long history of placing higher in MBA rankings, have a systematic approach to coaching students on the effect that rankings can have on the value of a degree from their institutions.
Schools placing seven above and below our ranking includes: (above us) Binghamton New York, Alabama, Oregon, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Howard, Iowa, Tulane (below us) St. Joseph’s, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Florida International, Texas – Dallas, and Louisiana State. Others we were ahead of includes: Texas Tech, Missouri, Auburn, Kentucky, and Iowa State.
Summary
Initial analysis indicates that we should be able to improve our position in the rankings in comparison to some of our competitors. The competition of the schools in this ranking project was substantial. The “best of the best” were included in the BusinessWeek ranking process.
A 75th ranking is good for an institution of our size and financial resources. A goal should be to surpass Northern Illinois in the rankings. Bright spots include our employer ranking, which placed us above Northern Illinois and several other notable schools such as Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota, LSU, North Carolina, Auburn, Georgetown and Missouri. The employer ranking represents those schools with the best graduates, most innovative curriculum and most effective career services (ease of recruiting on campus).
Positive ISU student comments obtained from the survey includes:
Illinois State has an excellent college of business. I definitely made the right college choice and feel well prepared to enter my career. The faculty and staff are second to none and I feel that I got a valuable education here.
The business program at Illinois State University is excellent mostly because the faculty work as a team to provide an excellent education.
Without exception, my coursework at ISU to date has been delivered by professional, dedicated, and highly talented professors who not only personally teach/share their knowledge, but who also make themselves available to students in a variety of levels. Often a vision does not match the experience. However, Dr. Dixie Mills' vision for the College of Business at ISU that permeates the Web site is truly the experience I am having in my interaction with faculty and staff.
I have a strong network of friends and professionals and a deeper insight into what lies before me in the real world because of the organizations that the College of Business at Illinois State University has helped to nurture and support.
The classrooms are ideal for question and answer discussions, every room has technology, and our computer lab is an amazing resource to have. My overall experience in the COB has been very satisfying and rewarding. The professors have been very informative, and have prepared me to handle any task I may face as I set out in the real world.
The new college of business building is outstanding. Class sizes are small. The use of technology is available in every class room. For the most part, my core teachers have been available with office hours at useful times.
Illinois State has an excellent college of business. I definitely made the right college choice and feel well prepared to enter my career. The faculty and staff are second to none and I feel that I got a valuable education here.
Great Business Program, great new business building, all the resources and great teachers available. The support and motivation that I received from the faculty and administration to participate in Registered Student Organizations such as Student Accounting Society, Business Information Systems, and Toastmasters has made my college experience so valuable. I have a strong network of friends and professionals and a deeper insight into what lies before me in the real world because of the organizations that the College of Business at Illinois State University has helped to nurture and support.
I was lucky to start taking my business classes in our brand new College of Business building. The classrooms are ideal for question and answer discussions, every room has technology, and our computer lab is an amazing resource to have. My overall experience in the COB has been very satisfying and rewarding. The professors have been very informative, and have prepared me to handle any task I may face as I set out in the real world.
Without exception, my coursework at ISU to date has been delivered by professional, dedicated, and highly talented professors who not only personally teach/share their knowledge, but who also make themselves available to students in a variety of levels.
Illinois State University provided me the best value of an education that could ever be imagined. I'm so pleased with my decision to come to this school!
I feel very strongly that this school's accounting program is outstanding. Talking to friends from other schools that are majoring in accounting, none of them are challenged as much as I am. I feel that because of that I will be extremely prepared for my first job.
Negative ISU student comments obtained from the survey includes:
The companies that recruited for our school were sub-par.
The College of Business is a good college to attend. However, many of the professors do not care about the performance of students. This is disheartening. Professors should be willing to help students and enrich their knowledge. Most professors at ISU are only concerned with their reputation and advancing their own careers.
Some of the business professors are absolutely excellent and some don't seem to take it seriously. I'm not sure that I feel totally prepared for the working world, but I do think that the ISU business school has many programs and activities to get involved in.
There should be greater variety of internships available. There should be a series of classes specifically for preparation for job interviews, résumés, leadership, dress code, and a job role-playing classes where the student learns how to behave in a job atmosphere and be prepared for the competition for job after graduation. Right now, many employers say that ISU graduates look good on GPA but in fact don't know how to practically behave and show their skills in a real situation. .