Fordham University’s College of Business Administration (CBA) has climbed 14 places in BusinessWeek magazine’s annual ranking of undergraduate programs to No. 34 nationally.
“I’m thrilled and it’s a well deserved honor for many people throughout the University who have worked very hard,” said Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business Administration. “I think the rankings reflect the outstanding quality of our students, how strongly they feel about Fordham, how valued they feel as part of our community, and the high regard that corporate recruiters have for our students. But it’s only the beginning: We want to be in the top 10.”
BusinessWeek has released the rankings of the top 50 undergraduate business programs through its website, and coverage will appear in the March 19 issue. The rankings, which the magazine issued for the first time last year, are based in part on surveys of 80,000 business students and a poll of corporate recruiters. The magazine also looks at starting salaries, how many undergraduates find their way to the top MBA programs, and several measures of academic quality, including faculty-student ratios and average SAT scores.
Last year, the magazine gave CBA grades of Bs and Cs for teaching quality, facilities and services and job placement. This year, however, the program received A grades across the board, and only nine other schools had higher median starting salaries than Fordham’s $53,173.
Rapaccioli credited the improved showing to a number of projects that have strengthened the undergraduate experience, from bringing in a series of high-profile corporate executives to meet with students and placing a strong emphasis on the international dimensions of business to launching an undergraduate entrepreneurship program.
In addition to CBA, the Fordham Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA) has been highly rated over the years. GBA’s full-time MBA Program was ranked 14th in the Wall Street Journal regional rankings, and U.S. News & World Report rated the part-time MBA Program in the top 20 nationally.
