default article image
News

Leon Hess Business School Ranked in Nation’s Top 50

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited the University’s Leon Hess Business School as one of the best business schools in the nation.

According to the AACSB, “the Accreditation Standards are used as the basis to evaluate a business school’s mission, operations, faculty qualifications and contributions, programs, and other critical areas.”

“Only 15 percent of the business schools are accredited by AACSB, about 300 schools, and we’re one of those schools. And we’re pleased and honored to have that mark of approval,” said Dr. Donald Moliver, Dean of the school.

In order to get accredited, the school’s deans and faculty were surveyed during spring 2011. The school had to be a member of AACSB International, offer business management and then be carefully reviewed by the AACSB.

The AACSB states, “Once it is determined that a school has the potential to be accredited, it works with mentors, committees, and AACSB staff to develop a Standards Alignment Plan. Once a school follows through with its alignment plan and meets the AACSB standards, review committees and the AACSB Board of Directors decide whether or not a school should be accredited. In its entirety, the AACSB accreditation process is rigorous and requires a significant amount of work to achieve.”

Students and faculty are excited about the achievement and provided positive feedback about the accreditation.

Raichel Kerr, a sophomore business major, said “Our degrees are worth more in the eyes of business people. I feel that this gives me the edge over someone else.”

Faculty members in the school did not seem surprised by the recognition.

Professor Roy Nersesian has taught at the University for 25 years and noted that the quality of faculty has improved unbelievably.

“Now students want to come here, and now it’s their first choice,” he said.

Professor Paul Savoth, another senior faculty member said, “Having been a part of the school for many years, I’ve seen the curriculum improve to continue to address the changes in the world.”

Savoth also commented on the accounting concentration for business majors improving to the point that graduates are now passing their CPA exams on the first try.

Assistant Dean Dr. Noah Hart expressed how the accreditation advertises the University to prospective students.

“When a student applies, the first thing they see is that we are accredited and the parents want to see it, and future employers want to see it,” he said.

The school provides bachelor’s degrees in business administration with concentrations in economics, finance, accounting, international business, marketing, management, and real estate.

Furthermore, U.S. News & World Report surveyed the school, naming it one of the best business schools in the country.

U.S. News & World Report ranked the University number 41 on the list of best regional universities in the North. The rankings include regional universities that include both master’s programs, undergraduate programs and doctoral programs within the Northeast region of the United States.

Some of the key factors that U.S. News & World Report look at when ranking colleges are the average freshman retention, avoidance of large scale classes, student faculty ratio and acceptance rate. All of these categories at the University scored medium to low in regards to being problematic.

The Leon Hess Business School was renamed in 2009. It has been around since the University became a four year college in 1956, when it began offering bachelor’s degrees of business administration.