The E.J. Ourso College of Business was ranked the 103rd best undergraduate business program in the country by Bloomberg Businessweek, moving up one spot from its 2010 ranking.
The business magazine considered 139 public and private universities, ranking 113 of them, according the publication’s website. Individual categories included student and recruiter surveys, academic quality and MBA feeder schools.
“When you move up in these rankings, even one spot, that is certainly good news,” College of Business Dean Eli Jones said in a news release.
Student rankings also earned the business program 103rd, but recruiters’ rankings were higher at 93rd. The program came in 89th for academic quality and earned 68th best MBA feeder school.
Businessweek gave the College of Business a C in teaching quality, a C in facility and services and a B in job placement.
The publication asked 80,000 graduating seniors to fill out a 50-question survey concerning their universities, the website said. More than 28,000 students responded.
The results from the 2011 survey accounted for 50 percent of the student ranking, and results from 2010 and 2009 represented the other half.
The same process was done with the 246 responding recruiters.
The overall ranking used a combination of student and recruiter scores, starting salaries, and the MBA feeder school and academic quality measures. Student surveys and academic quality held the most weight.
It’s difficult to gauge how accurate the ranking is, however, due to a low student response rate of 33 percent, said Tim Rodrigue, assistant director of Alumni and External Relations at the College of Business. He said the college has utilized online resources and social media to encourage more business students to participate in the survey.
Higher survey participation and the completion of the Business Education Complex (BEC) in 2012 could boost rankings in the future, Rodrigue said, and the program’s curriculum continues to focus on educating students with recruiters in mind.
“The BEC should bump our facility grade from a C to at least a B, possibly an A,” Rodrigue said.
He said rankings from Businessweek and other sources are important to the exposure of the College of Business. Winning the BCS National Championship in 2007 likely boosted LSU’s national recognition, he said.
Enrollment at the College of Business increased in 2007 when The Wall Street Journal ranked the LSU’s Flores MBA program seventh best in the country, Rodrigue said.
The University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business earned the No. 1 spot.
Other SEC schools made the list, including the University of Florida at 42, the University of Georgia at 57, the University of Alabama at No. 75, the University of Arkansas at 101, and the University of Kentucky at 112. Auburn University was considered but not ranked.
“We look up to other schools in the South,” Rodrigue said. He said the BEC has the potential to be a top state-of-the-art facility in the area.
 
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