Kelley School program ranked 12th in the nation

The Wall Street Journal has ranked IU's Kelley School of Business's MBA program 12th in the nation. The ranking, released Wednesday, is part of the publication's annual survey rating business schools across the country. This year's announcement moves the program up from 14th place in 2002 and 23rd in 2001.\nTerrill Cosgray, director of the Kelley School's MBA program, attributes the school's ascent to the increased marketing of Kelley graduates to recruiters.\n"When recruiters fill out the survey they are ranking a variety of things, and one is the rate of return on the investment in an employee," he said. "Our graduates have increasing value in the workplace. We have been marketing that to recruiters to help them realize that and to tell them about the value of our program."\nBetween November 2002 and May 2003, more than 2,100 MBA recruiters helped determine rankings by evaluating schools based on 26 aspects of school and student success. Categories varied from analytical and problem-solving skills to personal ethics and integrity.\nBesides garnering 12th place overall, the Kelley School earned recognition in multiple categories. Kelley was 4th among the top 10 public schools and 8th among the top large schools. The MBA program's consumer products discipline was 2nd to another Big Ten school, the University of Michigan. Kelley's marketing program received a 3rd place acknowledgment for Recognition of Academic Excellence.\nThe school nabbed the 8th spot in an article related to a business survey titled, "Hidden Gems: A look at schools that recruiters say don't get enough respect."\nMBA student Bryan Campbell said he agrees with "Hidden Gems." He said during his time at IU, he has seen some of the programs in the Kelley school not getting enough praise for their level of success.\n"We're recognized heavily as a great consumer products and great marketing school, but I think some of the other disciplines are overlooked, such as my concentration of finance and investment management," he said. "Kelley gets high praise for our programs, but the public doesn't know much information about the quality of students."\nThe article praised Kelley by saying the MBA students are some of the strongest in marketing and accounting. Indiana graduates received high marks for their teamwork skills, personal ethics and integrity and fit with the corporate culture. \nCampbell said he is not surprised The Wall Street Journal gave strong marks for ethics in the program.\n"I think it says a lot about the culture of the school and students that we are so strong in personal ethics," he said. "Kelley students are very unique students. They are more collaborative and competitive."\nRecommendations for the MBA program included attracting more women and minorities, as well as increasing international perspective and entrepreneurial skills.\nCosgray said the school will continue their efforts to pursue a more diverse student body. \n"During the past couple of years, we've stepped up efforts to recruit women and minorities by hosting recruiting events especially for women and minorities, as well as our letter writing campaign," he said.\nKelley's MBA program is the only one Cosgray knows of where current students write personalized notes to prospective students, discussing their experience as women or minority students in the program, as well as any concerns the recruits might have.\nThe Kelley School's undergraduate program has also recently received national attention. In August, the US News and World Report rated the program 10th in the nation for all public and private business schools.\n-- Contact staff writer Julia Blanford at jblanfor@indiana.edu.