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Poole College undergraduate programs ranked in the top 50 by Bloomberg

Bloomberg Businessweek has placed the NC State University Poole College of Management’s undergraduate programs No. 47 in its 2016 rankings of AACSB accredited undergraduate business schools in the U.S. That’s up 39 spots from its place in Bloomberg’s last ranking of undergraduate business programs in 2014.

Bloomberg, which has been ranking undergraduate business school programs since 2006, updated their process for this year’s ranking, placing a greater emphasis on career-focused outcomes and removing data that does not relate directly to career preparation.

“Our placement in this year’s ranking reflects on our commitment to our students: to provide them the knowledge and experiences they need to effectively launch their careers and bring value to their employers,” said Ira Weiss, Poole College dean and Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Chair.

“We are continually assessing and improving our curriculum and extracurricular opportunities that support leadership development and provide perspective so that our students are well prepared for today’s dynamic global business environment,” he said.

“Most meaningful to me from this ranking process is that, when graduating students were asked (in the survey) about their experiences at Poole over their four years, their responses alone would have ranked us 27th in the country,” Weiss said.

“These survey results are a testament to our dedicated faculty and staff who are providing a meaningful, career-focused academic experience,” he said. “They also affirm that our engagement model of classroom and experiential learning is providing our graduates tremendous competitive advantage in the marketplace. We are so proud that a young college like Poole can been seen and ranked as one of the 50 best undergraduate programs in the U.S.,” he said, noting that Poole College was established at NC State University in 1992.

For this ranking cycle, Bloomberg surveyed students from the 2016 graduating class at 114 ranked schools and recruiters who hire undergraduate business majors. The survey was conducted via email December 2015 through February 2016. The schools were scored on the following four main metrics. (View the full rankings methodology.)

  • Responses from employers on how well schools prepared students for jobs at their companies (40 percent of total score)
  • Responses from students on how they rate their campus, career services department, faculty and administration (35 percent)
  • Starting salaries of students who had jobs lined up (15 percent)
  • Percent of students who had at least one internship at any time during their college years (10 percent)

Poole College’s spring 2015 undergraduates reported an average base salary of $49,721, said Brian Newton, director of undergraduate career development at the college. Also, 74 percent of the May 2015 graduates reported having had at least one internship or co-op experience during their college years, he said.

Newton is part of the college’s professional advising and career coaching team that helps students stay on track academically and prepares them for internship and career recruitment opportunities.

In addition to internships and co-ops, Poole students gain real world experience through research or practicum projects available as part of the college’s curriculum and are encouraged to participate in professional student organizations, conferences, competitions and other experiences that enable them to build on their classroom learning.

“Students have reported that talking about these experiences help them to stand out when meeting with recruiters,” Weiss said.