By TRENT WELLS
In just one year, BYU’s MBA program will have improved its national ranking. Starting salaries have increased, recruiters coming to the Y have increased and the placement percentage has increased, said William J. Brady, director of Graduate Career Services in 470 TNRB.
“In less than three months after graduation, 80 percent of all graduates have been placed,” Brady said. This is several percentage points above last year.
According to the May 1997 issue of U.S. News and World Report, which gives rankings for last year, BYU was ranked 46th nationally. This year they are expecting to be ranked higher than that, Brady said.
Carla A. Nielsen, recruiting coordinator for Graduate Career Services, says the new rankings won’t be posted until next year, but knows BYU has improved in all areas.
Nielsen also said BYU continues to improve nationally, despite several obstacles.
Most of the higher ranked schools are on the east and west coasts, while BYU is in the middle of nowhere, Nielsen said. “Geographically we are in a bad location, it’s easier for recruiters to go to other schools,” Nielsen said.
Despite BYU’s location, about 241 recruiters came to see BYU’s 131 MBA graduates this year, Nielsen said.
Recruiters play an important role in determining national rankings. According to the U.S. News and World Report, national rankings are determined by four categories: student selectivity, placement success and two measures of reputation.
Student selectivity is based on the type of students accepted into MBA programs. Students are measured by the average scores on the Graduate Management Admission Test, undergraduate grade point average and the proportion of applicants accepted.
Placement success is based on four indicators: the proportion of students employed at graduation, the proportion employed three months after graduation, their median starting base salaries and the ratio of the number of on-campus MBA recruiters to the number of graduates.
The two measurements of reputation are determined by U.S. News surveys. For one survey, business school deans and MBA program directors ranked, by quartile, the reputation of each program. For the second survey, corporate recruiters were surveyed.
Y grads are ranking higher in every category so far this year. For example, the average salary for 1997 is $53,000, while it was only $50,000 last year, Brady said.
One reason why BYU is doing better this year, Brady said, is a new program instituted last year. “Student officers select a group of three or four students to present to companies reasons why they should be recruiting at BYU,” Brady said.
“The program comes from my belief that if you want to market a product you have to show it; the students are the product,” Brady said.
“The students are selected by their peers; the peers also present financial backing for the trips; it’s the student body investing in itself,” Brady said.
So far this program has created interest and visibility for BYU’s MBA program. “Not all the companies have responded, but many of them will post job openings or call, things they haven’t done in the past,” Brady said.
Contacts have been made with such companies as Microsoft and Nike, both of which are very hard to get into, Brady said.
