KNOXVILLE — The undergraduate business program at the University of Tennessee has been ranked as one of the nation’s best by BusinessWeek magazine. The program ranked 50th among top-tier public universities and 93rd overall.
The rankings issue hit newsstands this week. The story is also on the magazine’s Web site, http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/.
BusinessWeek praised UT’s undergraduate business program, saying: “Emphasis on group work and projects, and high-quality upper-level classes make program shine.”
To rank the schools, BusinessWeek polled graduating seniors on topics ranging from teaching quality to recreational facilities. Corporate recruiters were asked which programs graduate the best students, as well as which schools have the most innovative curricula and most effective career placement services.
Each school was asked to provide the median starting salary for its most recent graduates, as well as information about average SAT scores, the ratio of full-time faculty to students, and average class size. The magazine also looked at the percentage of business majors with internships, the hours students spend weekly on school work and which schools send the most grads to the top-ranked MBA programs.
Last year, UT’s undergraduate business program wasn’t ranked by BusinessWeek.
“We are honored to be recognized by BusinessWeek as having one the finest business programs in the country and to be acknowledged for our team-based, applied learning curricula — a hallmark of the college,” said Jan Williams, dean of UT’s College of Business Administration. “The college continues to break new ground and set new standards. Our new, technologically advanced business building complex will open later this year and the state’s HOPE scholarship is attracting students with increasingly higher academic standings.
“Our programs in accounting and supply chain management/logistics are top-ranked, and our executive and full-time MBA programs are internationally acclaimed for entrepreneurship, academic excellence, international course experience and work experience of participants,” said Williams. “We expect that all of these factors will raise our rankings in the coming years.”
The College of Business Administration expects to move into its new more-than-$40 million, 174,000-square-foot building at the corner of Andy Holt Avenue and Volunteer Boulevard in the fall semester 2008.
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Contacts:
Cindy Raines, (865) 974-4359, craines1@utk.edu
Amy Blakely, (865) 974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu