“We are ecstatic to be ranked at No. 55, our highest-ever ranking from Bloomberg.” – Dr. William Spangler, Associate Dean for undergraduate programs and academic affairs

Our undergraduate business program has soared in the Bloomberg Businessweek 2016 Best Undergraduate Business Schools rankings. After surveying nearly 30,000 students and recruiters at nearly 600 companies, Bloomberg Businessweek advanced the A.J. Palumbo School of Business to No. 55 in the nation—up from its previous year’s ranking within the top 110. “We are ecstatic to be ranked at No. 55, our highest-ever ranking from Bloomberg,” said Dr. William Spangler, Associate Dean for undergraduate programs and academic affairs.

Just in Pennsylvania alone, there are over two dozen AACSB-accredited business schools and dozens more that aren’t. But this latest ranking puts us in the top five statewide. Dr. Dean McFarlin noted, “This ranking puts us in some great company among the nation’s elite undergraduate business schools. We believe this is a testament to our students, programs and faculty as well as to the fact that the school is on the move and gaining momentum.”

The Bloomberg rankings emphasize the outcome most students want from a business school—the brightest possible career path. In calculating this ranking, Bloomberg considered most heavily the employer survey, based upon feedback from recruiters about graduates’ skills and job readiness. Recruiter feedback alone accounted for 40% of the survey results, with students’ own ratings of campus, career services, faculty and administration accounting for 35%. Starting salaries, which were adjusted by region and sector, and the percentage of graduates with at least one internship also figured into Bloomberg’s equation.