Mendoza gets high marks

The Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame has been ranked among the top undergraduate business programs, according to BusinessWeek magazine.

The college was rated No. 3 in the magazine's third annual ranking of undergraduate business
programs. The article is available in the magazine's March 10 edition, which was on newsstands
Monday.

"Obviously, the rankings make us a visible commodity in the market," said Sam Gaglio, assistant dean in the Mendoza College of Business. "They have their value, and obviously we want the students who are here at this time to feel like they're getting a quality product."

Notre Dame jumped four spots from its No. 7 slot in 2007.

"We thought we should have been higher last year," Gaglio said, noting that the college had ranked No. 3 a year prior. "We kind of expected to be in this arena -- in the top five."

This year, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and the University of Virginia's
McIntire School of Commerce retained the top two spots.

In the article that accompanied the survey, BusinessWeek indicated improvements in the academic quality of Notre Dame's program and attributed the rise in rankings mainly to students' success in the job market, Mendoza said in a release.

Median annual starting salaries rose to $53,500, a nearly 10 percent increase from the year before, the college said. Mendoza also was rated No. 2 in the student survey ranking.

Students said Notre Dame's "die-hard alums and an emphasis on ethics separated Mendoza from the pack," the college noted.

Before this rating tool came on the scene, there really wasn't a focus on undergraduate business program rankings, Gaglio said, noting that it's hard to determine exactly why.

For its recent ranking, BusinessWeek used nine sources of data including surveys of some 80,000 business majors and more than 600 corporate recruiters, median starting salaries for graduates, the number of graduates admitted to top MBA programs and an academic quality gauge, Mendoza said.

This gauge incorporated the average SAT scores for business majors, faculty-student ratios, average class size, the percentage of students with internships and the number of hours students spend on class work each week, the college said.

The Mendoza College of Business currently enrolls 1,626 undergraduate students in four
departments: accountancy, finance, management and marketing. After finishing the university's First Year of Studies program, Notre Dame business majors enter the Mendoza College in their
sophomore year.

Mendoza also offers graduate degree programs, including a master of business administration,
executive master of business administration, master of science in accountancy and master of
nonprofit administration.

As good news remains on the horizon for undergraduate business education, Gaglio said Mendoza will continue to embark on many new initiatives and projects as it stays abreast of what's going on in the business world.

"You can't sit still in this business," he said. "You have to be continuing to improve."

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