Business school at Y. rates high

PROVO — The MBA program at Brigham Young University is No. 5 on the Wall Street Journal's ranking of U.S. "regional" business schools, the financial newspaper announced Wednesday.

The rankings are based on the reports from corporate recruiters who hire MBA grads. The recruiters also rated BYU second behind Yale University for graduates with high ethical standards.

The Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive Business School Survey ranked the University of Utah's program 30th out of the 44 top "regional" schools, which it described as smaller and more likely to draw local recruiters.

The Journal listed two other categories — one for the 19 "national" schools with the largest programs and most recruiters and one for 21 "international" schools.

"These high rankings are a reflection of the constant stream of exceptional students and faculty coming through our door," said Ned C. Hill, dean of BYU's Marriott School of Management. "We're thrilled that we continue to be known as a place to hire graduates with high ethical standards."

Recruiters praised BYU graduates for their global perspective, work ethic, ethics and maturity. Among complaints were a lack of racial and gender diversity, a lack of previous work experience and a perception that students want to stay in Utah and are too religious.

BYU MBAs tend not to socialize outside work, Dell Inc. marketing manager Marshall Hammond told the Journal.

"This tendency is a function of a lifestyle that does not include alcohol and does include high family, church and community priorities," he said. "Not necessarily a weakness, but in some work environments, a lack of social focus in the office can create challenges."

Still, recruiters said BYU was a great place to hire "stars" and find graduates strong in teamwork.

The newspaper said regional schools are different, not inferior to those listed as national schools.

"The regional schools on average received more positive ratings from recruiters on nearly all measures," reporter Ronald Alsop wrote in Wednesday's edition of the Journal. "Recruiters classify many of the regional schools as collegial and team-focused and give their students high scores for personal ethics and integrity and for being down-to-earth and well-rounded."

The national schools mainly drew recruiters from companies in the eastern United States.