Elon MBA program earns #1 national ranking

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) program of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business at Elon University has been named the best administered business program in the nation by The Princeton Review. Details...

The #1 ranking in the “best administered” category is included in the 2006 edition of “The Best 237 Business Schools.” This is Elon’s first appearance in The Princeton Review’s guide, which is based on a survey of business school students across the nation.

Elon MBA students commended the school’s flexible scheduling, engaged learning and affordable cost along with its “focus on leadership and soft-skill development.” They said Elon offers solid preparation in teamwork, communication/interpersonal skills and presentation skills.

The Princeton Review says that “MBAs here (at Elon) praise the ‘alternative teaching styles and small class sizes.’” The guide also says that “professors here ‘are very accessible and actively engage students to improve both the learning experience and the program overall.’”

The Princeton Review notes that “Elon is as much concerned with producing ethical, trustworthy, and successful leaders as it is with developing students’ academic performance.” The guide also mentions the school’s future home, the Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center, which is currently under construction and scheduled to open in fall 2006.

The Princeton Review compiles its business school rankings based on data provided by schools and surveys of 16,000 students, who are asked questions about themselves, their career plans, and their schools’ academics, student body and campus life. Elon students who were surveyed cited happy and friendly students, cutting edge classes and smart classrooms as assets of the program.

According to Robert Franek, vice president for publishing at Princeton Review, “Every school we profile in this book offers a terrific MBA education, yet each one is distinctive in its academic programs, school offerings and campus culture.”

The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business received accreditation from AACSB International, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, in 2004. This accreditation is the highest possible in business education and capped a five-year initiative at Elon to make major investments and improvements in the quality of the business programs. Only 508 colleges and universities in the nation have achieved the AACSB hallmark of excellence. Elon, Duke University and Wake Forest University are the only independent universities in North Carolina with AACSB accreditation.

Here is the full Princeton Review “best administered” ranking:

  1. Elon University
  2. Colorado State University
  3. Washington University in St. Louis
  4. Seattle Pacific University
  5. Texas A&M University—College Station
  6. West Virginia University
  7. Villanova University
  8. University of Alabama—Tuscaloosa
  9. Valparaiso University
  10. Emory University