Michigan Tech's Business School Gains Top Accreditation
Michigan Technological University's School
of Business and Economics (SBE) has joined the elite group of institutions
accredited by AACSB--The International
Association for Management Education.
"We are now the only AACSB-accredited business program in northern Michigan
and northern Wisconsin," Dean Eugene Klippel said. "In a sense, this gives
a Good Housekeeping seal of approval to a business degree from Michigan
Tech. It assures students, parents, and employers that our graduates are
getting an excellent education. It will add value to every diploma we
issue."
Of the 1,200 schools of business throughout the United States, only about
one-third are accredited by the AACSB, the nation's premier business-school
accrediting agency. Its founding members include Harvard, Yale, and the
University of California at Berkeley. Only about thirty of the accredited
institutions, including Michigan Tech, offer undergraduate programs only.
During the accreditation process, which began in 1994, the school developed
and refined four concentrations for students seeking a BS in Business
Administration: accounting, finance, industrial marketing/management,
and management information systems (MIS).
Benefits are already evident. On average, graduates who took the Major
Field Test in Business Administration last year scored in the 86th percentile
nationwide. "We had some students in the 99th percentile, and the finance
students as a group averaged above 90," Klippel said. "All of our students
who graduated in spring 2000 are employed, with starting salaries averaging
$35,000 and ranging up to $55,000."
MIS graduates are in such high demand (with starting salaries of $50,000
and higher not uncommon) that MIS program enrollment has skyrocketed from
fewer than 20 to more than 100 students in recent years.
"It's phenomenal growth, and it's because the graduates do so well,"
Klippel said.
And Michigan Tech's business graduates value their experience. For the
past several years, Student Satisfaction Surveys conducted by Educational
Benchmarking Inc. for the AACSB give the school high marks in advising,
teaching, computing facilities, and employer recruitment of graduates.
"I'm extremely impressed with the quality program the SBE has developed
over the past six years," Michigan Tech President Curt Tompkins said.
"Accreditation by AACSB shows that students from the Upper Peninsula and
northern Wisconsin who are looking for a superior business education can
find it in their own back yard, at Michigan Tech."
For more information, contact Dr. Eugene Klippel at 906-487-2669, reklippe@mtu.edu;
or Dr. Terry Monson, associate dean, at 906-487-3174, tmonson@mtu.edu.
The Web site for AACSB-The International Association for Management Education
is http://www.aacsb.edu/; see http://www.sbea.mtu.edu/school/index.html
for more information on the MTU School of Business and Economics.
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