BYU business school most family friendly; U. 6th
Brigham Young University's business school is ranked No. 1 for family friendliness for the third time in four years by the same company that has named BYU the nation's top stone-cold sober school for 11 straight years.
"The university absolutely deserves this ranking," said Summer Lord, mother of three and wife of BYU graduate student Bryson Lord. "I feel just as comfortable as he does walking into the school, and if something is going on, I can just go in and be part of it."
The University of Utah is No. 6 on the list of "most family-friendly" schools in the 2009 edition of The Princeton Review book "Best 296 Business Schools." Dartmouth is No. 2 after bumping BYU out of first place for one year.
BYU's Marriott School of Management also earned the top family ranking in the book's 2006 and 2007 editions. Family support can be a big help in a business school that also ranked fourth for "most competitive students."
The family-friendly ranking was based on student responses to questions about how happy married students are, how much the school does for spouses and how helpful it is to students with children, and how many students have children.
The organization also sponsors family outings and inexpensive baby-sitting, an annual for-spouses-only opening social dinner and teams in the university's intramural sports leagues. Committees organize baby-sitting co-ops, girls' nights out, plus play groups, field trips and park outings for children.
The Princeton Review also ranked business schools for best professors and other lofty academic components, but the family category isn't a frivolous one. Business schools require candidates for a Master's in Business Administration to have work experience before they enroll in the graduate program. Because they are older, MBA students often are married with children and value help with their family life.
The Lords returned to school six years after both earned undergraduate degrees at BYU, where 73 percent of MBA students are married. At the U., the number is about 47 percent. At Dartmouth, about one-third of students bring partners.
The Princeton Review rankings aren't scientific but are based on the experiences of students. The business-school rankings are generated from surveys of 19,000 business students who provided opinions about their own schools.
"I didn't know Dartmouth was ranked No. 1 last year," said Katie Rolio, wife of a Dartmouth student, "until friends who came here this year started telling me they saw that ranking last year and applied and came here because of that ranking."
Recent comments
I currently attend BYU's MBA program and I find its diverse, family…
Current student | Oct. 8, 2008 at 11:16 a.m.
Could it have something to do with being able to earn a wage that…
Only 5th and 6th? | Oct. 8, 2008 at 12:14 a.m.
Only one problem: Not enough Republicans.
Herb Gravy | Oct. 7, 2008 at 2:48 p.m.
