VSB ranked number one

Caroline Foley

Number one in The Associated Press men’s college basketball polls for the first time. National champions of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament for the second time. And now, Villanova accepts its third number one ranking to add to its collection from 2016 so far.

On April 19, Bloomberg Businessweek listed Villanova at the top of their list of “Best Undergraduate Business Schools 2016.”

Students expressed mixed reactions to the email and ranking. “It’s pretty impressive,” junior Eric Bellomo said. “It will be interesting to see how this affects the school as they make the jump to the national level.”

Junior Caroline Manion echoed Bellomo’s excitement. “This is such an exciting time to be a Villanovan and this ranking just reinforces that,” Manion said. “VSB has made some incredible strides in my time here that have allowed me to experience areas of study and career opportunities that I wasn’t even aware of previously, and I know that a development like this will allow VSB to continue to grow and provide even more opportunities for future students. The student-centered mentality of Villanova in general, and the business school in particular is something that I have always loved, and I think the time that Villanova puts into its students has really shown through this ranking.”

Other students noted a correlation between funding and accolades for certain departments on campus, claiming other colleges should be recognized for their merit, too.

“Tolentine is further hindering our success and option of other schools,” an anonymous junior explained. Students have suggested improved infrastructure of certain majors might lead to more national recognition.

The source based their rankings on four main metrics: Employer survey, student survey, starting salary and internship experience during time. Out of these four metrics, Villanova ranked the highest in employer survey rank out of the 114 undergraduate business programs studied.

Bloomberg Businessweek, along with Cambria Consulting of Boston, surveyed company recruiters that hired undergraduate business majors and asked them to identify up to ten schools they recall positive recruiting experiences in the past five years. These results make up forty percent of the score.

Out of the 144 business programs ranked, Villanova was 29th on the list, while Pennsylvania (Wharton) ranked first in the category. Because starting salaries are uniformly collected as data, Bloomberg depended upon the student surveys for this information.

The University ranked 10th in the student survey metric and 15th in the internship category.

In a “Self-Starter” section of Bloomberg’s publication, it was reported that 2.6 percent of new graduates went on to a start-up after school, whereas only 0.9 percent of new graduates started a business as a primary job.

Faculty, students and staff received a congratulatory email from Rev. Peter M. Donohue, O.S.A., Ph.D on Tuesday morning. “As a University community, we take great pride in preparing our students for success in whatever path they choose,” Donohue said. “This ranking affirms that commitment and demonstrates the enormous value of a Villanova degree.”