Graduate international-business program in top 2 for 20 years running

The University of South Carolina’s graduate programs in international business, school-library media and social psychology have earned top rankings in U.S. News & World Report’s annual issue, “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”

The Moore School of Business is recognized as the nation’s top-ranked public-university MBA program for international business and No. 2 among all institutions in that specialty. This marks the 20th consecutive year that the Moore School’s International Master of Business Administration (IMBA) Program has been ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the publication. The school has recently developed two new innovative international programs -- for interdisciplinary graduate study and undergraduate study in Hong Kong -- and is awaiting accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

The university also was ranked No. 2 for its program in school-library media (School of Library and Information Science). And in social psychology (College of Arts and Sciences’ department of sociology), the university ranked No. 4, alongside Cornell University and ahead of Duke University, Emory University and the University of Michigan, among others. The rankings appear in the 2010 issue, available on newsstands April 28.

“These rankings are especially gratifying, in that they highlight our academic excellence,” said University President Harris Pastides. “This news reaffirms our commitment to providing our students a top-quality education, thereby ensuring that we are providing a well-educated workforce for South Carolina and our nation.”

Thunderbird School of Global Management (Garvin) of Arizona led the international-business rankings, followed by the Moore School. Rounding out the top 10 were the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Ross), Columbia University, Duke University (Fuqua) and New York University (tied for sixth), Harvard University, the University of Southern California (Marshall) and the University of California-Berkeley (Haas).

Moore School Dean Hildy Teegen said the 20-year milestone reflects a continued commitment by the school to prepare students to compete in the global marketplace.

“We are so honored to again receive recognition for our outstanding international-business programming at the Moore School,” said Teegen. “Our best-in-class faculty and professional staff continue a long tradition of cutting-edge, rigorous programming to challenge our students as they prepare to take leading roles in creating value for organizations and society around the world.”

To calculate the specialty rankings – such as international business – magazine researchers asked for expert opinions from deans of business schools and MBA program heads across the nation.

Each year, U.S. News releases rankings of the graduate schools. Some rankings are new, and others are from previous years.

Chelsea Render, an IMBA student from Tulsa, Okla., said the top ranking gives her added confidence as she enters the workforce. Render will begin a two-year marketing position with Bosch in late July.

“I am thrilled that the IMBA Program at the Moore School has been honored by U.S. News & World Report with this ranking,” Render said. “Over the past two years of my IMBA program, I have had the pleasure of working with students and faculty who are also passionate about international business, culture and travel, and it has contributed greatly to my overall MBA experience. I could not have chosen a better program with an international focus.”

Last month, the Moore School announced plans for two international programs for graduate and undergraduate students. The new Master of International Business (MIB) is a one-year interdisciplinary graduate program that is offered jointly with the College of Arts and Sciences (political science) and the School of Law. The International Business and Chinese Enterprise (IBCE) is a partnership program with the Chinese University of Hong Kong for undergraduates; it includes two years of study in Hong Kong and intensive language and cultural training.

The U.S. News & World ranking is the latest accolade for the Moore School. Last August, the Moore School was ranked No. 1 in undergraduate international business for the 12th consecutive year by U.S. News’ annual survey, “America’s Best Colleges Guide” for 2009. In January, the Moore School was ranked No. 2 among the world’s top 100 business schools in the category of “International Experience” and moved into the top 50 in scholarly research, according to the annual Financial Times of London rankings of business schools with full-time MBA programs.

The rankings were released to colleges and universities Tuesday, April 21. Additional rankings were expected to be posted at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, April 23, on the U.S. News & World Report Web site.