9/6/05 Contact: David M. Granger, 334/844-9999 (grangdm@auburn.edu)
Dina Kanellos, 334/844-2203 (kaneldi@auburn.edu)

AUBURN MBA PROGRAM RANKED 26th AMONG PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS BY FORBES

AUBURN – The Auburn University MBA Program has been ranked 26th among the nation’s public institutions and 53rd overall, according to a recent Forbes.com special report.

The biennial ranking measures best “return on investment” for MBA graduates of the Class of 2000.

For this year’s survey, Forbes sent 25,000 questionnaires to graduates of the top 111 MBA programs around the world. To determine the five-year MBA gain, Forbes asked for pre-MBA salaries as well as for compensation figures for three of the first five years out of school. The survey then compared post-MBA compensation with both costs of attending (in tuition and foregone salary) and estimates of what the same students would have made in their old jobs.

According to the survey results, Auburn grads experienced an 89 percent cumulative return, the seventh highest percentage return among all schools, for a gain of $54,000 in the five years since they began their MBA program. It took them just three years to recover the cost of their graduate education.

The number-one school in the ranking was Dartmouth, whose graduates experienced a five-year gain of $134,000 over tuition and foregone salary. The top public MBA program on Forbes’ list was University of Virginia, which was ranked eighth overall.

Auburn ranked just behind Florida, Tulane and Arizona State, and just ahead of the University of Washington, Oregon and Pepperdine. The University of Alabama, which was ranked No. 46 in 2003, did not appear in the 2005 ranking.

“Today, MBA students are like any other thoughtful consumers. They are looking for and measuring value,” says AU College of Business Dean Paul Bobrowski. “Such recognition by Forbes confirms what we already know - that the Auburn MBA is an exceptional value.”

“Our emphasis is on providing Auburn’s MBA students with solid skills that prepare them to be practical and productive business leaders,” added Dan Gropper, assistant dean and executive director of Auburn's MBA programs.

With approximately 4,000 students, the College of Business is AU’s second largest academic college.

Auburn University is a preeminent land-grant and comprehensive research institution with nearly 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn is Alabama’s largest educational institution, offering more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

(Contributed by Dina Kanellos.)

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