HUNTINGTON, W.V. – For the third year in a row, Marshall University’s Lewis College of Business, home of the Brad D. Smith Schools of Business, has been named among the nation’s most outstanding business schools, according to The Princeton Review®. The education services company, headquartered in New York City, profiled Marshall as one of 244 outstanding on-campus M.B.A. programs for its “Best Business Schools for 2021” list.
The Princeton Review posted the list at https://www.princetonreview.com/business-school-rankings?rankings=best-business-schools.
The recognition “is the result of a shared vision and the commitment to the academic excellence of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni,” said Dr. Avi Mukherjee, dean of Marshall’s Lewis College of Business. “This acknowledgment is a validation of the great work happening at Marshall University to develop strong global business leaders and entrepreneurs. The ranking reinforces the fact that our M.B.A. program and its faculty are delivering the highest quality professional education to our students. Our graduate programs sharpen the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are necessary for our students to succeed in the competitive global economy.”
Marshall ranks in the top 1.5% of global business schools that are accredited by AACSB International in both business and accounting.
“We recommend Marshall University’s Lewis College of Business as an excellent choice for an aspiring M.B.A.,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief. He noted that the company chose the schools for its 2021 list based on data from the company’s surveys of administrators at business schools during the 2019-20 academic year. The administrator survey, which numbered more than 200 questions, covered topics from academic offerings and admission requirements to data about currently enrolled students as well as graduates’ employment.
“What makes our Best Business Schools list unique is that we factor in data from our surveys of students attending the schools about their campus and classroom experiences,” Franek added. “For our 2021 list, we tallied surveys of more than 17,800 students at 244 business schools.”
The Princeton Review’s 80-question student survey asked students about their school’s academics, student body and campus life as well as about themselves and their career plans. The student surveys were conducted during the 2019-20, 2018–19, and 2017–18 academic years.
The Princeton Review’s business school profiles have sections on academics, student life, admissions information and graduates’ employment data. In the profile on Marshall, the Princeton Review editors describe the Lewis College of Business as one, where “first-class, innovative teaching enhances the critical thinking skills of our students, provides discipline and knowledge through theoretical and applied learning, and develops the competencies necessary for success in the marketplace.”
Some specific comments from students attending the Brad D. Smith Graduate School of Business included:
- “The college emphasizes bringing business theory into real-world applications so students can adapt to the ever-changing needs of the global market.”
- “Professors have an open door policy and will usually get back with you quickly even if it is a weekend to answer questions, and will even try to meet with you if you can’t make it to office hours or even help after class.”
- “This is a military-friendly school so some students are coming in off of service, and there is a large international quotient, all of which lends itself to a freedom to share views on any topic without ridicule. All thoughts and ideas are welcome.”
- “Many also have families and work full time, but the faculty is understanding and make sure that outside work is something that you can do in a timely matter.”
- “The town is small but there are clubs and organizations to keep people occupied (as well as an excellent Rec Center), and there are city buses that run even outside of town to get around if you don’t have a vehicle.”
The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep and college admission services company. Every year, it helps millions of college and graduate school-bound students achieve their education and career goals through online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors, online resources and its more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House. Its business school profiles are widely regarded as one of the most authentic and widely used quality indicators in the marketplace.
