Walton College Rises in U.S. News Rankings

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 2008 America’s Best Colleges.

In addition, the Walton College is tied for 41^st place among both public and private U.S. undergraduate business schools.

“Since the 2005 ranking, the Walton College has consistently stayed in the top 25 public business schools, as well as in the top 42 public and private schools” said Walton College Dean Dan Worrell. “The U.S. News ranking is a verification that the college is continuing on a path toward national recognition.”

In the U.S. News & World Report 2005 America’s Best Colleges, the Walton College moved three places from a tie for 28^th place to a tie for 25^th place among public undergraduate business schools. In the 2006 ranking, the Walton College moved to 24^th place, and in the 2007 ranking, the Walton College came in at 25^th place.

“We attribute this ranking to the increased quality of our faculty, students, staff and educational and research programs,” added Worrell. “We also thank our alumni, donors and friends, our advisory boards, and all of the community and business partners that have helped us accomplish so much.

“There is a strong competition among business schools for good faculty and students. What the ranking means for our students is that it helps us attract top faculty. It also helps us recruit academically talented students, and it increases the value of the degree.”

The Walton College was tied for 41^st place among both public and private business schools in the 2005 and 2006 U.S. News rankings. It was in a tie for 42^nd place in last year’s ranking.

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 City College of New York-Baruch College (Zicklin); University of Colorado at Boulder; University of South Carolina at Columbia (Moore); and Virginia Tech University (Pamplin). The college also tied for 41^st place among all business colleges with these private institutions: George Washington University and Syracuse University (Whitman).

In the Southeastern Conference, the Walton College is tied for third place with the University of South Carolina, behind University of Florida (Warrington) and University of Georgia (Terry).

The top five public business schools in this year’s U.S. News ranking included University of California at Berkeley (Haas), University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler), University of Texas at Austin (McCombs), and University of Virginia (McIntire).

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 several multiple centers, greatly enhanced its technology, and built a new graduate school building. The 77,000-square-foot Willard J. Walker Hall, with a lead gift of $8 million from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, opened this summer. The college has also added research facilities in the newly completed J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. Center for Academic Excellence.