MODERN HEALTHCARE RANKS AU’S COLLEGE OF BUSINESS IN TOP TEN BUSINESS GRAD SCHOOLS FOR PHYSICIAN-EXECUTIVES

AUBURN - Modern Healthcare ranked Auburn University’s Physicians Executive M.B.A. (PEMBA) program in the College of Business ninth in the nation among all degree programs for physician executives, according to the Journal’s May 2006 issue. Among M.B.A. programs tailored specifically for physicians, AU’s program is ranked second.

In other rankings, U.S. News and World Report in April ranked AU’s accredited M.B.A. program 69th overall, (39th among public institutions), and Forbes ranked the program 53rd (26th among public institution) in fall 2005.

“This is the fourth consecutive year that the PEMBA program has been included in this ranking,” says Dan Gropper, associate dean for M.B.A. programs. “This is a tribute to the quality of the faculty and the students in the program.”

The rankings included programs that award M.B.A.’s and Masters of Public Health, Health Administration, or Medical Management or similar degrees that serve physicians and other healthcare professionals.

Data was collected in March 2006 for the 2005-2006 year and programs were ranked on five factors: length of time to complete, cost of tuition, number of days students must spend on campus, age of each program and number of total graduates.

Other programs in Modern Healthcare’s top ten include the University of North Carolina, ranked first; Trinity University in San Antonio and Virginia Commonwealth University, tied for second; Tulane University, ranked third; Carnegie Mellon University, ranked fourth; and the University of Missouri, ranked fifth.

The AU College of Business started the 21-month Physicians Executive M.B.A. program in fall 1999. Kim Kuerten, director of the executive M.B.A. programs, said the PEMBA program was modeled after the successful Executive M.B.A. program begun in 1998 by the College of Business.

The professional distance education program is provided via an online format combined with six on-campus sessions. As a result, the program accommodates doctors who find it difficult to leave their practices for more than a couple of days a week.

The AU College of Business is accredited at the undergraduate and graduate levels by AACSB International, the highest standard of achievement for business schools. Institutions that earn accreditation confirm their commitment to quality and continuous improvement through a rigorous and comprehensive peer review. Less than one-third of U.S. business schools and only 15 percent of business schools worldwide meet the rigorous standards of AACSB International accreditation.

Auburn University is a preeminent land-grant and comprehensive research institution with more than 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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