UA Finance Department Ranked 14th in Recent Study

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The finance department at The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce ranks 14th and 35th nationally, according to a study done by two professors at Western Kentucky University.

The study was done by Dr. Kam C. Chan and Dr. Samanta B. Thapa, both finance professors at WKU.

The study, titled “A Ranking of Teaching Quality in Finance Departments Based on Contributions in Financial Education Literature,” presented two rankings: one in which co-authors receive full weighting for an article, a second in which co-authors receive proportionate weighting.

UA’s finance department was ranked 14th out of 396 programs (top 4 percent) using unweighted numbers (i.e. co-authors get full weight), and 35th out of 396 programs (top 10 percent) using weighted numbers (co-authors get proportionate, not full weight).

The two researchers identified the top institutions in terms of financial education research that were published in Financial Practice and Education, Journal of Applied Finance, Journal of Financial Education, and Advances in Financial Education between 1991 and 2003.

“By identifying and ranking contributors in financial education research, we serve several purposes,” the two professors write in the research report. “First, we provide college-bound students with information on the quality of teaching in finance programs. A finance department’s published financial education research can reveal its faculty’s interest in teaching efforts.

“Second, job applicants seeking balanced teaching and research requirements will have some information on the finance departments that value financial education research…”

“Third, by identifying a number of active researchers in financial education, we also gain some idea of evolving financial education research.”

“We have some very prolific researchers who are regularly published in the leading journals,” said Dr. Billy Helms, head of the department of economics, finance and legal studies.

“Teaching quality is difficult to measure, but contributions to financial education research by faculty is a unique way to objectively assess the quality of the program’s teaching. This ranking underscores the quality of our faculty and their commitment to our students.”