FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FROM: Andrew Krueger (206) 543-1806
krueger6@u.washington.edu

DATE: February 29, 2008

BusinessWeek magazine’s third annual ranking of the nation’s best undergraduate business school programs placed the University of Washington’s Michael G. Foster School of Business undergraduate business administration program 11th among public institutions, down two spots from last year.  The Foster School ranked 33rd among both public and private universities.

“There is an ebb and flow to rankings. While we placed slightly lower this year, I’m confident that we’ll rise significantly in the future. We've got all the assets of a great school:  excellent faculty, an exciting business and civic environment, a dean with vision, and significant recent investments from our community. Add a world-class new facility that will begin to take shape this fall and there is no doubt of future success,” said Steve Sefcik, associate dean for undergraduate programs and professor of accounting at the UW Business School. "And clearly, our students are partnering with us. Their increased participation in the BusinessWeek survey is a testament to our students’ investment in the future of the Foster School."

According to BusinessWeek, the Foster School’s undergraduate program ranked in the top five for return on student investment.  “That's an important metric because it's based entirely on objective data.  It shows students are getting a phenomenal education for their dollar at the Foster School of Business!" said Sefcik.

To select top programs, BusinessWeek used a methodology including nine measures of student satisfaction, post-graduation outcomes and academic quality. They surveyed nearly 80,000 business majors at top schools and polled over 600 corporate recruiters.

Complete rankings of the "Best Undergraduate Business Schools" are available in the March 10, 2008 issue of BusinessWeek. More information, including a slideshow, school profiles and online discussion, is currently available on BusinessWeek.com at: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/undergraduate.