Students’ reviews have landed the University of Dayton School of Business Administration among the top business schools in the nation.
The School of Business Administration is listed in the 2008 edition of Best 290 Business Schools, published by Random House and The Princeton Review. This is the second consecutive year the school made the list, which is compiled based on student surveys.
Noted by students as having “one of the best-kept secrets in the world of MBA programs,” the school made the list based on its reputation, its quality and flagship programs in entrepreneurship and finance.
Student surveys noted that the program has “exceptional integrated core curriculum,” “excellent faculty,” a “strong alumni base” and “a marvelous Marianist-centered campus life.” University of Dayton students also rave about the “guaranteed real-world consulting project experience” and enjoy that the program “allows for a great amount of flexibility, so you can complete it at your own pace.”
Many courses in the MBA program are team-taught, often combining a practitioner with a professor holding a Ph.D. The faculty includes six executives-in-residences who help teach courses including a mandatory two-semester capstone course that matches students with regional companies on consulting projects. The MBA program enrolls 460 students, many of whom are full-time professionals in the Dayton region. UD’s MBA students have finished among the top three winners in the Ohio Graduate Business Student Competition every year since 2000.
MBA program officials make it easy for students to earn an MBA on top of other degrees. Accounting students can earn an undergraduate accounting degree and an MBA in five years. Law students can earn a law degree and MBA at the same time. The School of Business Administration recently launched an “MBA Ready” program that allows engineering and other non-business students to achieve their bachelor’s degree and an MBA in five years.
“Students get real-world experience from the MBA program’s capstone project, which pairs students with companies in the region,” said Elizabeth Gustafson, interim dean. “The project allows students to interact with a company other than their employer, using what they’ve learned in the classroom and widening their business experience.”
The University of Dayton’s MBA program “has an integrated curriculum with an emphasis on strategic analysis and a dual focus on theory and practice,” said Janice Glynn, MBA program director. “And our program is flexible: Almost all of our students are working professionals who can earn their degrees while continuing their careers.”
The School of Business Administration is accredited by the AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), the premiere accrediting body for business school globally.
This is the second major national ranking for the School of Business Administration this fall. Earlier this month, Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review ranked UD’s entrepreneurship program fifth in the country.
