FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas has once again placed in a tie for 24^th among the nation’s top public undergraduate business schools, according to the U.S. News & World Report 2009 America’s Best Colleges.

 “Since the 2005 ranking, the Walton College has consistently stayed in the top 25 public business schools, as well as in the top 45 public and private schools,” said Walton College Dean Dan Worrell. “The U.S. News ranking is a verification that the college is deserving of high national recognition as a leading business school.”

In the U.S. News & World Report 2006 America’s Best Colleges, the Walton College moved to 24^th place. In the 2007 ranking, the Walton College came in at 25^th place and returned to 24^th place in the 2008 ranking.

“We attribute this ranking to our top quality educational and research programs that our faculty and staff provide our students,” added Worrell. “We also appreciate the partnerships we’ve created with other university units on campus, our alumni, donors and friends, advisory boards, and community and business people — who have all helped us achieve this recognition through their significant investments of time and resources.

“The sustained high rankings help us attract academically talented students as well as increase the value of their degrees. A favorable ranking opens doors for our students because employers frequently use rankings to decide where they will recruit new employees. It also helps us recruit and retain top faculty — an area where there is tremendous competition among leading business schools.”

The U.S. News rankings are determined through a survey, which each year asks business school deans and senior faculty to rate the 457 U.S. public and private undergraduate business programs accredited by the AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

The Walton College is tied for 24^th place among public undergraduate schools along with the business schools of the College of William and Mary; University of Pittsburgh; University of South Carolina; University of Tennessee; and Virginia Tech University. The college also tied for 43^rd place among all public and private business colleges with these private institutions: Bentley College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Tulane University.

In the Southeastern Conference, the Walton College trails only the University of Florida and the University of Georgia.

The top five public business schools in this year’s U.S. News ranking included University of California at Berkeley, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Texas and University of Virginia.

The Walton College received $50 million from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation in 1998. Since that time, the college has created new graduate and undergraduate programs, established multiple centers, greatly enhanced its technology and built a new state-of-the-art graduate school building. The 77,000-square-foot Willard J. Walker Hall, constructed with a lead gift of $8 million from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, opened last fall. The college has also added research facilities in the J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. Center for Academic Excellence.