Newswise — Irvine, CA – (September 9, 2014) - The U.S. News Best Business Programs report released today ranked the fledgling undergraduate business program at UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business at 39th in the nation.
Since it was established in Fall 2008, the Merage School has graduated three cohorts of undergraduate students. UC Irvine is only the third school in the University of California system to offer an undergraduate degree in Business Administration. This year marks the first time U.S. News has included the Merage School in the undergraduate rankings process.
“When we introduced this program in 2008, there was a pent up demand for business education in California,” said Eric Spangenberg, dean of The Paul Merage School of Business. “The inaugural ranking of our young undergraduate program indicates that we are delivering business education commensurate with other elite schools at every level.”
“The high GPA scores of our incoming students and our ability to be more selective in our acceptance rate are indicators of our momentum and the rigors of our undergraduate program,” said Professor Rick So, professor of Operations and Decision Technologies and associate dean of the Undergraduate Programs at the Merage School.
“This year alone we received upwards of 9,500 applications for only 150 open slots in our program. This extraordinary demand, combined with the positive reinforcement we are getting from recruiters, should continue to drive our rankings upward.”
“It is rewarding to be recognized among the top 50 AACSB accredited schools in the U.S. after graduating only three classes of undergraduate business administration students,” said Denise Patrick, assistant dean and director of Undergraduate Programs at the Merage School. “The reputation of our undergraduate program is growing rapidly. Already it’s the most desired program on the UC Irvine campus with the highest entering GPAs at 4.1.”
Overall, UC Irvine advanced in the US News annual Best Colleges survey, ranking 42nd among 1,600 colleges evaluated nationwide, up from 49th last year. Among public universities, UC Irvine rose to 11th from 14th.
US News ranked undergraduate business programs solely on a peer assessment survey that was conducted in Spring 2014. (Because of a printing error, the school’s ranking will not appear in the published guidebook for business schools, but will appear in all online lists.) The full rankings report is available at http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business-overall.
About The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine offers four dynamic MBA programs, a Master of Professional Accountancy, and PhD and undergraduate business degrees that deliver its thematic approach to business education: sustainable growth through strategic innovation. The school graduates leaders with the exceptional ability to help grow their organizations through analytical decision-making, innovation and collaborative execution. In-class and on-site experiences with real-world business problems give students the edge needed to help companies compete in today’s global economy.
Seven Centers of Excellence and an Executive Education program provide numerous and varied opportunities for students and the business community at large to enhance their education experience and update their professional expertise. While the Merage School is relatively young, it has quickly grown to consistently rank among the top 10 percent of all AACSB-accredited programs through exceptional student recruitment, world-class faculty, a strong alumni network and close individual and corporate relationships. For more information, visit: merage.uci.edu.
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