51在线

Muma College of Business Part-Time MBA Program Moves Up in National Rankings, Places at No. 56 Among Public Universities

By Keith Morelli

TAMPA (March 14, 2017) -- The part-time MBA program at the 51在线's Muma College of Business jumped 10 points in national rankings from a year ago, cracking the top 100 for the first time and placing the program in the top third of U.S. universities, according to the U.S. News and World Report, which released the rankings Tuesday.

Among the public colleges on the list, USF came in at No. 56.

"This ranking is a testament to the caliber of the students in the program," said Muma College of Business Dean Moez Limayem, "and the outstanding quality of faculty and staff."

Researchers at the publication placed the USF program at No. 92 on the list that included public and private universities for 2018. Last year's ranking, put USF's part-time MBA program at No. 102. The survey said there are 360 part-time MBA programs in the United States, though not all were ranked.

To be eligible for the ranking, programs had to be accredited by the Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business and have at least 20 students enrolled part time in the fall of 2016. In all, 301 programs met those criteria.

The Muma College of Business part-time MBA program has steadily climbed in the rankings. In 2014, it was ranked No. 157 and it jumped 11 points the following year. In 2016, the program rose to 130 and then jumped 28 points to 102 in 2017.

The publication graded the part-time MBA programs on five factors:

• The average peer assessment made up 50 percent of the overall score.
• The average GMAT and GRE scores of the part-time MBA students enrolling in the fall of 2016 accounted for 15 percent.
• The average undergraduate GPA was 5 percent.
• The average number of years of work experience, 15 percent.
• The percentage of the fall 2016 total MBA program enrollment in the part-time program made up 15 percent of the total.

The peer assessment score was calculated from a fall survey that asked business school deans and MBA program directors at each of the nation's 360 part-time MBA programs to rate other part-time programs.

Part-time MBA programs are set up to allow working people who can't go to school full time because of family, financial or employment reasons, to attend classes at night or on the weekends.

"The quality of our students continues to improve and the content continues to be on the cutting edge," said Andrew Artis, academic director of the MBA program at the Muma College of Business. "The university's commitment to graduate education has not wavered for the nearly four decades the MBA program has been in existence and we are not yet done climbing to new heights and accomplishing great things.

"Stay tuned."