Eight colleges and universities from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia ranked in BusinessWeek magazine’s top 100 business undergraduate programs, although several slipped this year.
Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, James Madison University’s College of Business, and Howard University’s School of Business dropped in the rankings from 2007 although they remained in the top 100.
Officials from some of the schools said other colleges are paying more attention to undergraduate business education, increasing the competition.
“Over the last five to eight years, there has been a real emphasis on undergrad programs,” said Barron Harvey, dean of Howard University’s School of Business. “Opportunities in corporate America are demanding a better-quality” student, said Harvey, and “students themselves are demanding more of a high-quality education.”
Howard is trying to improve career placement with a new program that allows teams of freshmen to be “adopted” by Fortune 500 companies.
“The quality of undergrads has risen in the last few years … expectations today are similar to those of MBA graduates 10 to 20 years ago,” said Jorge Haddock, dean and professor of management for the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business, which moved up three spots to No. 20. The Robins School is undergoing an expansion of roughly 40 percent, he said.
James Madison, which dropped over from 51st to 54th, was “pleased” with its ranking of 23 in the student survey category but could improve on recruiter relations and perceptions, said College of Business Dean Robert Reid.
Georgetown, which fell from 11th to 19th, attributed the decline partly to its old facilities. The program is scheduled to move into a new building in 2009, said Janet Richert, associate dean for McDonough’s undergraduate program.
The University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce held at second place behind the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. The Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business, Cornell University’s Department of Applied Economics and Management, and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School rounded out the top five.
