The undergraduate business program of the Neeley School of Business jumped 19 places in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 rankings and is now tied at No. 69 in the nation, according to a press release.
The U.S. News & World Report ranks 633 universities accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
Bill Moncrief, senior associate dean for undergraduate programs, said the U.S. News & World Report list is based more on name recognition than programs.
“We’re excited that we finally got ranked in U.S. News, but we will never do very well in that one,” Moncrief said.
Moncrief said deans and associate deans from around the country rank universities on a one to five scale for the U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Moncrief flipped through the packet of universities he filled out for the 2012 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
“We’re just simply lost,” Moncrief said. “By the time you get to Texas, you’re tired of filling this out.”
Moncrief said he preferred the rankings of the Bloomberg Businessweek that interviews seniors and recruiters, then analyzes the data submitted from universities to determine rankings.
TCU was ranked No. 29 in the 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek rankings. The rankings for 2012 will come out in late February or early March.
However, undergraduate business students reacted positively to the U.S. News & World Report ranking.
Senior marketing and finance major Tricia Angelo said she thought professors made the difference.
“I used to go to a different university, and the classes there were completely different,” Angelo said. “Most of the time at other schools you talk to the teaching assistants, but here you can actually talk to the professors.”
However, she said the university could step up its finance program to achieve a higher ranking in the future.
“In terms of finance [degrees], they could offer more classes and change it up,” she said. “At UT, they have way more classes than we have for a finance degree.”
Sophomore pre-business major Brooke Kviz said she liked the class structure in the Neeley School. Business professors teach classes so the average grade should be between a 2.35 and a 2.85 GPA.
“People are excelling past that because they know that the class is supposed to be harder,” Kviz said. “It’s motivating to students.”
Kviz said she thinks the U.S. News & World Report rankings could get better if the business school continues providing extra help to students.
Moncrief said Neeley’s faculty can help boost rankings in the future.
“The quality of the faculty that we have helps us break through the clutter,” Moncrief said. “We show up well in everything but U.S. News.”
