The College's MBA program is reaping the benefits of its recent accreditation by AACSB – the International Association for Management Education, according to its director, Susan Lehrman.
“We have seen a significant increase in a number of vital indicators – overall incoming class size, full-time student enrollment, and foreign student yield, ” she said. “While AACSB is not the sole reason for the increases, it is a very significant factor. ”
The accreditation has also served the MBA program well in the important area of establishing networks with firms in the region. “Many more businesses and organizations are in the fold, from offering graduates jobs to establishing professional internships and co-ops. This is directly a result of the accreditation; AACSB is an accurate, objective assessment of the program 's quality, which is very important for business buy-in. ”
The program welcomes a full-time starting class for the 2001-02 academic year of 50 students, a 35 percent increase over the average for the last five years; 38 students comprised the 2000-2001 class.
Accreditation is particularly valued among foreign students, according to Lehrman. “We are recruiting overseas with impressive results, ” she said. “Fifteen full-time foreign students are starting this fall, compared to an average of seven over the past five years. ”