U.S. News & World Report recently released its 2017 Best Online MBA Program rankings, and the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business’s Flores MBA program improved 58 spots from last year’s rankings.
The report placed the online Flores program 38th among public MBA programs, and 47th among programs overall — an improvement of 37 and 58 spots, respectively — among 239 ranked programs.
The rankings are based on five categories: student engagement (28 percent), admissions selectivity (25 percent), peer reputation (25 percent), faculty credentials and training (11 percent) and student services and technology (11 percent). The Flores program improved between 26 and 52 spots in most categories, slipping only in faculty credentials.
Dana Hart, the director of the Flores MBA program at the University, said this across-the-board improvement isn’t the result of ranking-specific changes but rather a product of the program’s continued dedication to excellence for its students.
“It’s not doing anything different, and it’s certainly not appealing to the rankings. We’re doing what we normally do,” Hart said. “We’re focused on student services and engagement. We want to deliver a rigorous, high quality program experience.”
The most important category in compiling the online MBA program rankings is student engagement. As described by U.S. News, student engagement is a measure of student satisfaction and instructor responsiveness. Hart described both of these as core principles for building an excellent program.
“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into engaging our students,” she said. “Rachel Pierson manages online admission and student engagement, and we’ve really been focused on having a sound outreach, making sure students have what they need while they’re in the program, and that they have answers to their questions in a quick turnaround.”
The program’s focus on engagement seems to be working. U.S. News & World Report shows one-year new student retention rates for students in the program jumped from 27 percent in 2013-14 to 85 percent in 2015-16.
Admissions selectivity is the next most important category in the rankings. As a part of the program’s focus on student engagement, outreach was emphasized over the past year, especially via social media. Despite a higher number of applicants, Hart felt it was important not to dilute the program’s talent. The admissions selectivity of the program jumped 26 spots between last year’s rankings and this year’s.
“We’re continually focused on selecting high achieving students who are doing great things in their careers,” she said.
Despite many of the principles of the program aligning with those of the rankings — student engagement, student services, etc. — Hart says they have nothing to do with appealing to the rankings specifically. Rather, the rankings follow those tenants because they are important in building a solid MBA program.
“We’re not dictated by the rankings. We do what we do, we continue to focus on doing great things and the ranking will follow,” Hart said. “We’re proud of our brand and our program, and clearly the latest ranking is a testament to that.”
The jump in the rankings is a sign that the program is on the right path. Because of that, Hart said he doesn’t foresee any retrograde changes and that the program should stay committed to its current goals.
“We’re excited about it, but it doesn’t change what we do,” Hart said. “We’re committed to student success.”