July 26, 2010 | 12:02 PM | By

Carlson biz undergrad program ranking slips

FILED UNDER: Learning, Schools, business school, Carlson School of Management, rankings, University of Minnesota

The U of M’s Carlson School of Management has slipped from from #55 last year to #67 this year in Bloomberg Businessweek’s ranking of undergraduate business schools.

The slippage caused the snarky local U blog, The Periodic Table, to crack the whip and say: The Morrill Hall Gang had better start taking care of business in the here and now. 

It added with displeasure that Carlson placed last among campuses it considers its “aspirational peers.” (That would be Berkeley, Michigan, Texas, Illinois, Penn State, University of Washington, Wisconsin, Florida, and Ohio State.)

I’ve got a call or two out to the Carlson folks. If this report is anything like the US News & World Report college rankings, school officials will slam it as as short-sighted, shallow and misleading. (And then they’ll work like the dickens to bring it back up — and tout any improvement they make in the future. It’s only natural.)

Interesting note: Teaching quality got a B, facilities and services only a C, but their job placement services got an A. Graduates’ comments on the rankings site seem to back that up. And Carlson’s MBA program is listed on the site as having the highest-paid MBA alumni. (And perhaps the jobs thing is what it’s all about in the end.)

Anyway, you can see what it used to rank the schools here.

  • wbgleason

    Snarky? Mois…

    Since you are new around town, Mr. Friedrich, you might want to note that my problem with rankings and the U has in general to do with their unrealistic expectations. That was the point of the post. We really should stop hiding behind behind the smoke screen of becoming one of the top three public research universities in the world and worry about what is important to Minnesotans. Certainly the Carlson school is one of these things and it is sad to see erosion of this type.

    And it is not just the Carlson school. Denial continues at Morrill Hall. The cherry-pick favorable ratings and diss or ignore the rest. See for example:

    http://ptable.blogspot.com/2010/03/university-o…

    Welcome to the higher ed reporting field. You join some excellent other reporters on the scene, e.g. Casey Selix and Jenna Ross. The more attention focused on higher ed in the immediate future, the better.

    Snarkily,

    Bill Gleason

  • wbgleason

    Somehow this seems hard to believe:

    “And Carlson’s MBA program is listed on the site as having the highest-paid MBA alumni.”

    Where, exactly did you find this number. Is it only publics? What is it and what is listed for Michigan.

  • wbgleason

    “And Carlson’s MBA program is listed on the site as having the highest-paid MBA alumni. (And perhaps the jobs thing is what it’s all about in the end.)”

    You've misinterpreted the data, Alex.

    You've stumbled on a list of financial data for the top 30 B-schools and 15 second tier schools, including Minnesota: “On average, graduates from top MBA programs—Bloomberg Businessweek's Top 30 U.S. full-time programs and 15 second-tier B-schools—on average earned about $2.6 million each over the past 20 years, or $128,267 a year. But as with most things in life, you get what you pay for. Graduates of the top 10 programs earned an average of $3.1 million apiece, or $157,397 a year, compared with $2.4 million, or $119,944 a year, for the remaining 35 schools—a pay premium of more than 30 percent.”

    You should probably consider correcting this post.

    Best,

    Bill

  • afriedrich

    Bill:

    Thanks for the catch.
    Still working out the kinks on this thing.
    I'd originally wanted to point out the inclusion of Carlson on the slideshow of Highest Paid MPB Alumni by saying they were AMONG the highest paid. Somehow I omitted that word.
    That said, I'd like to square its inclusion with the info below. I'll just cross it out for now and check later.

    Again, thanks for your patience.

    Alex