TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Culverhouse College of Commerce at The University of Alabama is among six public universities ranked 29th among public undergraduate business schools in the latest U.S. News and World Report college rankings. Culverhouse is ranked 48th when private universities are included. More than 1,700 institutions offer undergraduate degrees in business.
Last year, Culverhouse was listed at No. 38 among public universities. U.S. News places the Culverhouse School of Accountancy at No. 27.
“Rankings make interesting reading and certainly give some indication of how we fare on a national level, but we are much more pleased with the quality of students the Culverhouse College of Commerce is attracting and the quality of faculty who come here to teach those students,” said Dr. J. Barry Mason, dean of the business school.
The ranking information points out that business is the most popular major at UA, chosen by 27 percent of the student population.
“We are continuing to look at innovative ways to provide top quality instruction to our growing student enrollment, and thanks to commitments from our many friends and alumni, we are able to provide compensation that attracts nationally recognized professors and researchers,” Mason said.
The U.S. News Web site says the rankings are based on a survey of deans and senior faculty at undergraduate business programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Participants were asked to rate the quality of all programs they are familiar with on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). The survey had a response rate of 44 percent.
The excellence of the UA business school has been acknowledged on a national level through a number of avenues in addition to U.S. News. The graduate accounting program is ranked 15th and the undergraduate program 14th by Public Accounting Report.
The entrepreneurship program is ranked No. 20 nationally by Entrepreneur Magazine. A study published in the Journal of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association placed the UA real estate program No. 28 in real estate research, and the finance department was recently placed at No. 14 in a study ranking finance teaching.
In 2002, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance ranked UA among its top 100 Best Public Colleges in the nation based on quality education at an affordable cost.
The University ranks 8th in the nation in producing undergraduate alumni who are Fortune 500 CEO’s based on an April 24, 2004 Forbes magazine release.
Forbes magazine recently ranked The University of Alabama’s Manderson Graduate School of Business 40th among public M.B.A. programs nationwide. This ranking places the program in the top 10 percent nationally. The Princeton Review currently ranks the graduate school in the top 10 nationally in three of 11 categories: fourth for campus facilities, fifth for quality of professors and eighth for administration.
Contact
Bill Gerdes, UA Public Relations, 205/348-8318, bgerdes@cba.ua.edu