Janet Murray, the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Developing Women Leaders and Entrepreneurs in International Business, is just one of the outstanding faculty members who’ve helped UMSL’s international business program to a top 25 ranking from U.S. News & World Report for the past 17 years. (Photo by August Jennewein)
The University of Missouri–St. Louis has built one of the premier international business programs in the country.
That fact was affirmed again Monday with the release of the annual U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” rankings, which placed UMSL No. 21 for undergraduate international business, marking 17 consecutive years in the top 25.
“I think to get this kind of sustained national recognition, you first have to have a really good program, and I think our study abroad, our international partnerships, our curriculum and our faculty are all world class,” said Joe Rottman, the associate dean for graduate and international programs in the College of Business Administration.
He noted that UMSL also maintains high visibility as the secretariat for the Consortium for Undergraduate International Business Education, an entity connecting about 40 schools with international business programs.
The College of Business Administration has made international business a focus since launching an undergraduate international business program in 1999 and the International Business Institute a year later. Gerald Gao recently took over as the institute’s director.
“It would be hard to imagine any area of business that isn’t global,” Rottman said. “Our students need to understand the global forces that are affecting international supply chains, labor shortages and security risks. Our curriculum addresses those concerns..”
He said UMSL’s international business advisory board is currently in the middle of a top-to-bottom review of all areas – including accounting, marketing, finance, supply chain and analytics, management and information systems – to ensure that there is a global thread running through the curriculum.
Over the past 17 years, UMSL has awarded more than 1,000 international business degrees and has sponsored more than 500 study abroad trips. UMSL faculty also have ranked eighth in North America in research contributions to the Journal of International Business Studies since 2010.
UMSL top school in St. Louis region for social mobility
UMSL also received high marks in U.S. News’ first-ever list of Top Performers on Social Mobility with the top ranking in the St. Louis region. It was one of only two schools in Missouri to rank in the top 100.
The new ranking highlights how well universities have graduated students who receive federal Pell Grants and fits well with UMSL’s mission to transform lives. Students who receive Pell Grants typically come from households whose family incomes are less than $50,000 annually, though most Pell Grant money goes to students with a total family income below $20,000.
The rankings were computed after factoring the Pell Grant graduation rate and Pell Grant graduation rate performance, which compares graduation rates among Pell- and non-Pell students for each university.
Overall, UMSL remained in the top tier of the U.S. News rankings and was tied for 140th among all public universities.
The university also ranked No. 75 on the list of best undergraduate engineering programs among schools where a doctorate is not offered.
