September 22, 2004
Wall Street Journal ranks Krannert a No. 1 MBA school
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Wall Street Journal named Purdue University's Krannert School of Management a No. 1 MBA school in a special section published today (Wednesday, Sept. 22).
The Journal's survey of corporate recruiters concluded that the Krannert School is the No. 1 program in the nation that serves recruiters from a regional base. Based on its priority of serving recruiters from the American Midwest, Krannert was ranked No. 1.
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Unlike other MBA rankings that use a variety of measures, the Journal uses only surveys and interviews with corporate recruiters. The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business ranked first among schools that focus on serving a national and multinational base of corporate recruiters, and Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development (IMD) ranked No. 1 internationally.
"The Wall Street Journal is the gold standard of business publications, so a No. 1 ranking not only means we're doing things right but also that people all over the country are going to take notice of us," said Richard A. Cosier, dean of the Krannert School. "At the Krannert School, we also are proud that it is recruiters who rank us the best – for MBA students, that's extremely important."
Krannert ranked first among the 44 regional business schools. The school came in second in rankings by industry recruiters in energy/utilities and eighth in consumer products.
Recruiters also recognized Krannert for two areas of operational excellence: third for operations management and eighth for information technology.
The survey included 2,849 corporate recruiters who were contacted between Dec. 2 and March 31. Recruiters' perceptions of schools were measured in 20 key areas, including graduates' leadership potential, teamwork skills and interpersonal qualities. Also considered were the number of recruiters schools attracted and "supportive behavior," which the Journal defined as measuring recruiters' intention of returning to the school to recruit and the likelihood of extending job offers to graduates in the next two years.
The Journal survey defined 19 national programs as those attracting recruiters from national and multinational companies. Those programs tended to be large and attracted a large number of recruiters. The 44 ranked regional MBA programs tended to be smaller and attracted a larger number of recruiters from their local regions. International schools – 13 North American and eight from other countries – are those that attracted a global mix of recruiters from many countries.
An article on Krannert, "Nose to the Grindstone," that accompanied the rankings credited an environment of high-tech entrepreneurship, interdisciplinary focus in the life sciences and the building of the university's Discovery Park, the hospitality of the career services office, and the school's new facility Rawls Hall and its "light-drenched atrium."
The Journal, in its secondary headline, described the Krannert School with the words, "The secrets to Purdue success: Work hard, work right, work together." Chuck Johnson, Krannert's director of professional master's degree programs, said the description fits in with what employers have said about the program for years.
"Though we've been as high as sixth in the Journal's rankings of all schools, this year's No. 1 ranking among regionals is especially gratifying," Johnson said. "Employers tell us they like our graduates because they have a great work ethic and are quantitatively oriented, but it's nice that the Journal's ranking recognized the long-term character and values at Krannert."
The Wall Street Journal ranked Indiana University's Kelley School of Business No. 13 and the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza School of Business No. 27, both in the regional category.
Writer: Mike Lillich, (765) 494-2077, mlillich@purdue.edu
Sources: Richard A. Cosier, (765) 494-4366, rcosier@krannert.purdue.edu
Chuck Johnson, (765) 496-3668, cjohnson@krannert.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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