Athens, Ga. — The University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business is ranked a Top 5 “value for the money” among U.S. business schools by the Financial Times of London, which released its 2008 Global M.B.A. ranking on Monday.
Overall, the full-time Terry M.B.A. program moved up in the Financial Times ranking and is again ranked a top 50 U.S. business school. The Terry College is ranked the 46th best U.S. business school, up from 50th last year, and 80th in the world, up from 83rd.
“I’m confident our vision for national prominence will improve the strength of our academic programs, and we’ll see that reflected in our rankings within the next several years,” said Terry College Dean Robert T. Sumichrast. “As a college, we’ll be working very hard this year to construct a new strategic plan and operational plan that leverages our strengths and elevates the reputation of the college as a whole.”
The Terry MBA was judged by the Financial Times to have the third best “value for the money” of any U.S. business school. The Times measured value by calculating the salary earned by alumni three years after graduation and comparing it against the overall cost to enroll, including tuition and fees and the “opportunity cost” of not working for the duration of the full-time program.
“The Terry College and the University of Georgia always measure very well for the quality of education we deliver for the cost. This ranking reaffirms that,” Sumichrast said.
The Terry College also was judged to be in the top 20 nationally for its “doctoral rank,” which the Times measured as the number of doctoral graduates produced by a business school in the past three years, with additional weight given to Ph.D. graduates who are hired into faculty positions at another top 50 business school.
The annual Financial Times ranking was first published in 1999 and is based on three sets of criteria to measure M.B.A. program performance: the career progression of alumni from the school (e.g., salary increases, placement success); the diversity and international reach of the school (e.g., percentage of international and female faculty and students); and the research capabilities of the school (e.g., number of doctoral students graduated, research productivity).
The Times reported that this year’s top 100 ranking includes 57 U.S. business schools, 28 European schools, six Canadian, three from China and two from Australia. India, Singapore, South Africa and Mexico are also represented.
