Lehigh retains high Business Week ranking

	Business Week has ranked the College of Business and Economics among the nation's best for four consecutive years.

For the fourth consecutive year, the editors of BusinessWeek magazine have named Lehigh’s College of Business and Economics one of the nation’s best undergraduate business programs.
Highlighting the college’s academic quality, job placement rates, and the teaching quality of the faculty, Business Week ranked Lehigh as the 26th best program in the country. The rankings, which appear in the February 27 issue that hits newsstands today, are now available online.
“Perhaps now more than ever before, business education is crucial to our nation’s longterm success,” says Paul R. Brown, dean of the College of Business and Economics. “I am truly pleased that Lehigh has once again been recognized for our exceptional faculty and our ability to adapt to today’s changing business environment.”
Lehigh’s faculty are a hallmark of the undergraduate business experience, along with an academically rigorous curriculum that prepares students to thrive in the highly competitive and fast-changing business environment. The student survey lauded the caliber of the faculty, who are known for their level of dedication and vested interest in student success.
Both the economic and political landscapes have shifted dramatically since BusinessWeek released its last rankings in early 2008, marking a time of financial turmoil and global uncertainty that many economists argue rivals the era of the Great Depression.
The College of Business and Economics moved quickly to address the changing marketplace. A slate of new courses was added to the college’s program, each designed to incorporate ethics and social responsibility into the core curriculum. All first-year students are required to take a one-credit course that addresses the foundations of business integrity.
The nation’s economic downturn has also been the cause of some initial anxiety among students planning their careers. In response, the college, in partnership with Lehigh’s Office of Career Services, aggressively courted corporate recruiters and its legion of committed alumni who have helped graduating seniors remain optimistic about job opportunities.
Preparing students for success after graduation is more than just an obligation, says Brown. Students’ ability to succeed is top of mind in every facet of the educational process and in every relationship that Lehigh faculty build with students, he says.
“The nation’s top business programs stake their reputations on their students,” Brown says. “That’s certainly the case here at Lehigh. The greatest assets of our program are our students, and I think that BusinessWeek recognizes that.”
Lehigh’s MBA program also earned national accolades from the magazine after the editors ranked Lehigh as the nation’s 5th best part-time program in 2007. BusinessWeek’s part-time MBA ranking occurs once every two years.
--Tom Yencho