Jones School of Management Ranks among Top Business Schools

The Economist magazine recently named the finance program at Rice’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management No. 1 in the United States, while the Financial Times named the Jones School the best business school in Texas and in the region.

The Economist published the 13th edition of its guide to business schools around the world, “Which MBA?,” in January. Of the 116 business schools included in the guide, the Economist reported that there are “no best schools as such, but only business schools that are best for individuals.” Although there is no overall ranking, the Economist lists the top schools in various categories.

The rankings were based on surveys of current students and recent alumni. Not all of the 116 business schools participated in the survey. In a 2001 Jones School survey of deans of accredited business schools, 77.1 percent of deans considered alumni satisfaction one of the five most important criteria when assessing the quality of business schools. The other four were recruiter satisfaction, 72 percent; current student satisfaction, 50.8 percent; faculty research, 44.9 percent; and value for money, 41.5 percent.

The categories in which the Jones School was named among the top 10 in the United States are:

• Finance: No. 1
• Marketing: No. 2
• Economics: tied for second
• Faculty quality: tied for third
• Program content: tied for fifth
• Interpersonal skills: tied for sixth
• Statistics (quantitative methods): No. 7
• E-business: tied for eighth
• Production/operations management: No. 8
• Human resources: tied for 10th
• Information technology: tied for 10th

The Financial Times released its 2002 rankings of the world’s 100 best business schools January 21. The Jones School, the highest-ranked business school in Texas and in the region, is climbing in the rankings. The school’s overall ranking is 24th out of 56 schools in the United States, compared with a ranking of 35th out of 51 U.S. schools in 2001. The Jones School’s 2002 world ranking is 38, compared with 55 last year.

The Financial Times uses 22 categories to determine the rankings. The rank of a school is determined by its performance in three broad areas: the career progression accrued from the M.B.A.—particularly its purchasing power in the marketplace, 55 percent; diversity of experience, 20 percent; and the school’s research qualities, 25 percent.

Other Texas business schools and their overall rankings in the United States are the University of Texas at Austin, 26; Southern Methodist University, 31; and Texas A&M, 54. Regionally, other schools and their rankings are Washington University in St. Louis, 27; Arizona State, 34; Tulane, 40; Brigham Young, 44; and the University of Arizona, 48.

The Jones School’s finance program was cited among the top 10 programs in the world by Financial Times for the second year in a row. The school was ranked fourth in the United States for women faculty and women students.

Tables showing all the categories and the U.S. schools can be found at http://jonesgsm.rice.edu/jonesgsm/Rankings.asp.

—Debra Thomas

Rice Welcomes the Bull and the Bear

The Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management opened the doors of its new building at the beginning of the fall semester. We’ll bring you a closer look at this magnificent new facility in an upcoming issue, but in the meantime, meet two of the building’s more durable residents, the Bull and the Bear. Symbolizing stock market activity that can be monitored from the building’s own trading room, these figures were sculpted by Kent Bloomer of New Haven, Connecticut, and flank the main entrance, facing Jamail Plaza and James A. Baker III Hall.