Freeman jumps in latest U.S. News & World Report ranking

In its latest survey of America’s best business schools, U.S. News & World Report has ranked the Freeman School 40th on its list of the best graduate schools of business.

The ranking, which was published March 15 on usnews.com, represents a jump of 13 spots over the Freeman School’s previous ranking—the second-biggest increase of any school on this year’s list—and is Freeman’s highest ranking in U.S. News & World Report since 2002.

This latest rating comes on the heels of several other strong showings in recent surveys. For the first time in history, the Freeman School’s MBA program and undergraduate program are both ranked in the top 50 by the two leading ranking organizations, U.S. News & World Report and Businessweek.

“While we still have much to accomplish, I’m thrilled to see the hard work of our students, faculty and staff reflected in this latest ranking,” said Angelo DeNisi, dean of the Freeman School. “With our recent showings in Entrepreneur, Businessweek and now U.S. News & World Report, I feel confident in saying the Freeman School is currently ranked higher in more national surveys than at any time in its history.”

U.S. News & World Report bases its rankings in part on assessments of quality from business school deans and corporate recruiters and several measures of student selectivity, but Freeman’s jump in this year’s ranking was driven in large part by exceptionally strong placement statistics. Of the top 50 schools on the list, Freeman ranked seventh for percentage of MBA graduates employed at graduation (75 percent) and fourth for percentage of graduates employed three months after graduation (93.3 percent).

“It is especially gratifying to see that our improvement is based to a great extent on placement numbers,” added DeNisi. “The fact that employers are hiring our students at a faster rate than students from better known, more highly ranked business schools is the best evidence I can think of to show we’re moving in the right direction.”

In addition to being published on usnews.com, the ranking will also appear in the 2012 edition of U.S. News Media Group’s Best Graduate Schools. The book includes rankings in five of the largest professional school disciplines—business, law, education, engineering and medicine—as well as detailed statistical information on more than 1,200 programs nationwide.

For more information about Best Graduate Schools, visit www.usnews.com/grad. To learn more about the methodology and data research, visit www.usnews.com/gradmeth.