Financial Times Ranks Smeal College Among World's Top 50 Business Schools
In the Financial Times ’ global rankings of the best MBA programs for 2003, Penn State’s Smeal College of Business is positioned in the top 50 in the world, and has advanced in several key categories including salaries for Smeal graduates, placement success, and research ranking.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - In the Financial Times ’ global rankings of the best MBA programs for 2003, Penn State’s Smeal College of Business is positioned in the top 50 in the world, and has advanced in several key categories including salaries for Smeal graduates, placement success, and research ranking.
The Smeal MBA Program is 6th in the US in the category of value for the money (26th globally) and 18th in the US for placement success (19th globally). Smeal faculty research is ranked 28th in the US (31st globally) based on published articles by Smeal faculty in 40 international academic and practitioner journals. Overall, the Smeal College MBA Program ranks 48th in the world and 32nd among all MBA programs in the US, up from last year’s global ranking of 55th and domestic ranking of 37th, and well above the 2001 global ranking of 77th. The Smeal College also ranks 13th among public universities in the US.
“Each year, rankings such as those in the Financial Times offer some insights into progress made at business schools around the world,” says Judy Olian, dean of the Smeal College. “The rankings do not serve as the roadmap, but as helpful markers along the way. The Financial Times rankings provide an indication that our graduates are valued in the marketplace and benefit from an academic program that has one of the highest returns on investment in the country. Importantly, our faculty continue their prominence in producing high-quality research.”
High-quality research with market impact is a hallmark of the faculty and centers of the Smeal College. Faculty publish in the most influential academic and practitioner journals, and the Smeal College’s market-facing research centers use this research to shape business practices. The centers provide corporate members with a bridge between the latest findings and best business practices in areas such as supply chain management, business-to-business marketing, e-business, corporate innovation and entrepreneurship, and global business.
The Financial Times bases its rankings on responses from two questionnaires—one from alumni who graduated three years ago and the other from business schools reflecting objective indicators of performance—and an independent assessment of research in key academic and business journals. According to the Financial Times , its goal is to measure the relative strengths in three key areas: purchasing power in the marketplace, diversity of experience, and research quality.
“We’ve structured our MBA program to provide students with hands-on knowledge and innovative learning experiences that prepare them to be business leaders in the shifting dynamics of global markets,” said Robert Wheeler, assistant dean and director of the Smeal College MBA Program. “Our initiatives in these areas are recognized by the marketplace, and I think our future efforts will continue to pay dividends.”
Future progress of the Smeal College will be accelerated with the construction of a state-of-the-art 210,000 square-foot business building at University Park. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern dean of the Yale School of Architecture and among the world's most eminent architectsthe building will be among the largest and most advanced business school facilities in the country. Groundbreaking is scheduled for November 2003.
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