Newswise — The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Business Administration was recently ranked No.1 among Chicago-area schools and tied for 56 overall among accredited undergraduate business programs by U.S. News & World Report.

The ranking places UIC among the top 15 percent of the 467 programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business or AACSB, the primary accreditation organization for business schools.

"This increase in ranking reflects our efforts to refresh our curriculum to meet the changing dynamics of the evolving international business world," said Michael Mikhail, dean of the UIC College of Business Administration. "As a strong public university, we are proud to offer a research-based curriculum that gives our students a solid business education. We are glad to be recognized for these achievements in the rankings, but our greatest measure of achievement is the 30,000 successful alumni who can be found at top businesses across the globe."

Mikhail expects the college's ranking to rise further after the fall 2013 launch of the CBA Scholars program, a highly selective honors program for undergraduate business majors, designed to develop leadership excellence and professionalism through courses, workshopsand service opportunities.

The UIC College of Business Administration is a research-based institution located in the heart of Chicago that cultivates a spirit of entrepreneurship through real-world experience. The college is home to more than 2,000 undergraduates and more than 600 students in the Liautaud Graduate School of Business. The college is also home to prominent centers for learning that contribute to the education of students and success of the global business community. For more information, visit http://www.uic.edu/cba.

NOTE: Please refer to the institution as the University of Illinois atChicago on first reference and UIC on second reference."University of Illinois" and "U. of I." are often assumed to refer toour sister campus in Urbana-Champaign.