Bloomberg Business has released its 2014 “Best Undergraduate Business Schools” rankings and Bentley University stands at #20 overall.
Bloomberg Businessweek also assigns grades in key areas based on student surveys. Bentley received:
• A in teaching quality
• A in facilities and services
• A+ in job placement
Bloomberg BusinessWeek uses nine measures of student satisfaction, an academic quality rating, employer surveys and post-graduation outcomes to rank the 132 eligible undergraduate business programs.
The business magazine calculates its academic quality rating for each program by combining average SAT scores, student-faculty ratios, class size, the percentage of students with business-related internships, and the number of hours students devote to class work.
This year more than 91,000 graduating seniors at participating schools were asked to complete a survey covering a range of areas from quality of teaching to recreational facilities. Overall, 28,842 students completed the survey; a response rate of 31.5 percent.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek combined the results of the 2014 student survey with the results of previous student surveys from 2012 and 2013. The 2014 survey supplies 50 percent of the score; the two previous surveys supply 25 percent each.
In addition to surveying students, Bloomberg BusinessWeek polled 922 corporate recruiters for companies that hire thousands of business majors each year. They were asked which programs turn out the best graduates. This year, 301 recruiters replied; a response rate of about 32 percent.
Just like the student survey, Bloomberg BusinessWeek combined the results of the 2014 employer survey with the results of two previous employer surveys from 2012 and 2013 to calculate an employer survey score for each school. The 2014 survey supplies 50 percent of the score; the two previous surveys supply 25 percent each.
The student survey and the academic quality measure each count for 30 percent of the final ranking, with the recruiter survey score contributing 20 percent. Starting salaries and the MBA feeder school measure contribute 10 percent each.
Bloomberg Businessweek’s ranking of “The Best Undergraduate Business Schools” is featured on businessweek.com and includes expanded content, the full ranking and methodology.