Rankings released Tuesday show that the ASU master of business full-time program ranks 52nd in the world, down from 51st last year and 43rd in 2000.
The London-based newspaper Financial Times conducted the survey by sampling 149 leading graduate programs from around the world.
College of Business Dean Larry Penley said it was an honor to be ranked with some of the best schools internationally.
"Obviously we are pleased to be considered among the leading international schools of business," Penley said. "This is something that students and alumni should be proud of."
Penley attributed the ASU MBA's drop in ranking to the fact that each year different schools are compared with one another.
Qualifications for being ranked globally included a heavy emphasis on international factors, which are the percentage of international students, programs and faculty in the program.
At ASU, approximately 100 international students in a class of 161 are enrolled in the fall 2001 MBA class.
ASU MBA Associate Dean Dennis Hoffman said the ranking reflects faculty commitment to teaching and the community, something he said the administration and the College of Business strive toward.
"The key to success for any MBA program is working on fundamentals such as making the curriculum better, the facilities better and the faculty better," Hoffman said.
The Thunderbird American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale was the only other Arizona school ranked. Thunderbird was placed at 57th.
Hoffman added that he takes the Financial Times rankings as a better measurement of MBA programs than rankings done by other magazines because of the "across the board" criteria.
The survey also placed heavy emphasis on faculty research.
The ranking showed that faculty research productivity in the ASU MBA program is ranked at 28th globally, 24th among U.S. schools, and ninth among U.S. public schools.
In relation to placement success, which was measured by the Financial Times as employment within three months of graduation, ASU was placed 22nd in the world, 13th in U.S. programs, and seventh among all U.S. public programs.
The University of Pennsylvania is currently ranked as the top business school.
Top 5 MBA programs in the world
2002 Rank School
1 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
2 Harvard Business School
3 Columbia University Graduate
School of Business
3 Stanford University Graduate School
of Business
3 University of Chicago Graduate
{3 way tie School of Business
52 Arizona State University
*Source: Financial Times
Reach the reporter at tony.ku@asu.edu.
