COB Named One of Best 282 Business Schools

Date: 8/21/06
Contact: Eric Jome

Illinois State University's College of Business is one of the nation's best choices for earning an MBA, according to the 2007 edition of Best 282 Business Schools, published by Princeton Review. Illinois State is one of 45 universities and colleges that have been added to the annual guide to business schools, available in bookstores in October.

Inclusion in Best 282 Business Schools highlights the quality of Illinois State's MBA program, which is one of 492 MBA programs in the U.S. accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). In total, there are approximately 1,450 institutions across the U.S. offering MBA programs.

Best 282 Business Schools includes two-page profiles of the schools with overviews of their academics, student life and admissions processes, plus ratings for their academics, selectivity and career placement services. The guide also contains 11 ranking lists of the top 10 business schools in various categories from "Toughest to Get Into" to "Best Career Prospects." Princeton Review does not name a best business school overall or rank the schools in the book from one to 282. All schools reviewed by the guide are accredited by the AACSB and offer Master of Business Administration degrees.

The narrative sections and rankings are based on data provided by each school and on surveys of more than 18,000 students attending the schools profiled in the book. The surveys asked students about themselves and their career plans, as well as the academics and student life of the schools they attend.

Illinois State MBA students cited that they appreciate the "big university resources with a small classroom focus" that they find in the College of Business. Students surveyed also cited the personalized attention by faculty, strong networking with local and regional corporations, career placement services and the new, state-of-the-art College of Business Building as being major selling points for the MBA program.

Illinois State's MBA program averages around 190 students, approximately three-fourths of whom are employed full-time and are taking evening classes to complete their degree. Although most of the students are drawn from around Central Illinois, about 15 percent of the students in the program are international.

"Illinois State's MBA program attracts a diverse and highly motivated group of students that bring a wealth of work, life and cultural experience into their education," said Lee Graf, director of Illinois State's MBA program. "The individualized attention by faculty members, business networking and career services we strive to provide our students contribute to a wonderful learning environment within our MBA program. We are excited to see that Princeton Review has recognized our hard work and is featuring our program in its upcoming book."

"We are pleased that the quality of our MBA program is considered among the top 282 in the United States," said Dixie Mills, dean of Illinois State's College of Business. "It is significant that this results from the positive opinions our students have expressed about the program, our faculty and the new College of Business Building."

"We select schools for this book based on several criteria covering three areas: our regard for their academic programs and other offerings, institutional data we collect about them and opinions of students attending the schools," said Robert Franek, vice president and publisher of Princeton Review. "We are very pleased to feature Illinois State University's College of Business in our book. We highly commend it to readers of the book and users of our website as one of the best institutions they could attend to earn an MBA."

Best 282 Business Schools is one of more than 200 Princeton Review books published by Random House. The line includes guides to the best colleges, law schools, medical schools and guides to college and graduate school admission exams. For more information visit www.princetonreview.com