Magazine ranks business school 10th in nation

Shouts of joy erupted from Kelley School of Business students Friday morning as they celebrated the announcement of the school's undergraduate program top-10 ranking in the nation by Business Week.\nThe program was ranked fourth among public schools in the country and 10th overall, according to a news release. \nThe first-ever ranking of the top 50 undergraduate business programs by Business Week was released via a Web chat late Thursday night.\nKelley Dean Dan Smith said he was not surprised to see IU in the top 10 and is hoping to see improvement in future rankings.\n"We have known for a long time that the Kelley School provides an extraordinary learning experience for our students and we provide exceptional graduates for the companies that hire them," Smith said. "Yeah, we're happy. But we are by no means content. I look for continued improvement over the years."\nAudrey Morgan, director of undergraduate programs, was quick to agree that the school could improve in the rankings.\n"We think we're even better than that, but we'll take top 10," she said.\nJunior Kelley student Christine Cash said she felt the ranking makes her degree and the program more credible.\n"I think as far as job options it helps down the road knowing I came from a credible institution," Cash said. "My parents were really excited about the rankings. They know how hard I'm working here, and it's nice to be recognized from an outside source."\nSmith agreed with Cash's assessment of the school's credibility. \n"I think in many ways this validates a lot of our internal metrics of our performance," he said.\nPrevious rankings by Business Week placed Kelley's MBA program in the top 20 seven of the eight times the magazine ranked MBA programs since 1988. \nBusiness Week compiles its rankings in part from surveys from more than 100,000 business students and 2,000 corporate recruiters, according to the news release. Starting salaries, the number of undergraduates who find their way to the top MBA programs, as well as faculty-student ratios and average SAT scores also contributed to Business Week's ranking.\nSmith said the Kelley school's ranking is contingent on two things. \n"No. 1, we have one of the most innovative core curricula of any school in the nation," he said. "And second is that our career services office provides exceptional preparation for our students for their job interviews, and they are extraordinarily responsive to the needs of companies that recruit here."\n"We are very proud of our balanced curriculum of liberal arts," said Undergraduate Program Chair M.A. Venkataramanan. "Our students are really satisfied with what we do. We do a great job of taking great citizens and transforming them."\nOther business schools in Indiana were ranked in the top 50 as well. Among them were Notre Dame at No. 3 and Purdue, which came in at 45.\nMore coverage on the ranking can be found on Business Week's Web site and in the May 8 issue, which became available on newsstands April 28.