May 1 , 2006 — In its first ranking of undergraduate business schools, BusinessWeek magazine placed the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce second among the nation's best undergraduate business programs.

The rankings cover criteria such as academic quality, student engagement and career placement.

“We achieved this ranking not because we focus on rankings, but because we really care about providing the best experience that we can for our students, both in and out of the classroom,” said Carl Zeithaml, McIntire’s dean and the F.S. Cornell Professor in Free Enterprise. “We pursue excellence, we innovate, we create new knowledge, and we provide amazing support for our students in every way. Through the efforts of our faculty and staff, the Comm School has done its best for our students for decades, and we simply now have external confirmation of these efforts.”

Only the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School placed ahead of McIntire. Other undergraduate business programs on the list included Notre Dame (Mendoza) in third place, MIT (Sloan) in fourth place, Emory (Goizueta) in fifth place and the University of Michigan (Ross) in sixth place, among others.

According to BusinessWeek, nine of the top 10 programs are located at universities that also offer highly ranked graduate business programs. U.Va.’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration has enjoyed top national rankings for a number of years as well.

BusinessWeek estimates that enrollment in undergraduate business programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business has grown by nearly 25 percent from 2000 to 2004, from 661,425 to 815,187. The number of AACSB-accredited undergraduate business programs has grown as well over that period, jumping by nearly 100 to 482, the magazine reported.

At McIntire, there are currently 660 full-time students in the two-year program, which accepts students beginning in their third year of college.

According to the BusinessWeek study, a typical business grad now earns $43,313, while the median starting salary of a McIntire grad is $50,000.

The BusinessWeek study showed rankings of A+ for McIntire in teacher quality, facilities and services, and job placement. The magazine noted that the “Workload [packed into two years of undergraduate study] is intense but students love the real-world core curriculum. Biggest strengths: finance and accounting.”

Top 15 Undergraduate Business Schools:

1. U. Penn. (Wharton)
2. U.Va. (McIntire)
3. Notre Dame (Mendoza)
4. MIT (Sloan)
5. Emory (Goizueta)
6. U. Mich. (Ross)
7. NYU (Stein)
8. Brigham Young (Marriott)
9. U. Texas-Austin (McCombs)
10. Indiana U. (Kelley)
11. UNC-Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
12. UC-Berkeley (Haas)
13. Georgetown (McDonough)
14. Cornell U.
15. Washington U. (Olin)