The part-time Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) program at DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business has moved up two notches to fifth best in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's 1999 ranking of graduate business school programs released by the magazine March 19.

For the first time, three Chicago-area part-time MBA programs are ranked among the top five in the magazine’s national annual ranking. The University of Chicago’s program was rated second and Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Business program was in third place. DePaul’s ranking has steadily improved from seventh place last year and eighth the year before.

The U.S. News rankings are based on an extensive annual survey of business school deans and MBA program directors. A variety of criteria is used, including reputation ratings on academic quality submitted by school representatives and corporate recruiters, student test scores, job placement success and salary information on graduates. DePaul admission surveys indicate that the rankings greatly influence enrollment decisions of potential students.

"It’s extremely gratifying to receive this kind of recognition from one’s peers," said Kellstadt Dean Ronald J. Patten. "Our faculty has worked very hard to build a high quality part-time MBA program that meets the needs of the business community and working professionals in a rapidly changing business world."

Kellstadt is the fifth largest graduate business school in the nation by enrollment. Approximately 2,100 of the school’s 2,500 students are enrolled in the part-time MBA program, one of seven master’s degrees offered by the school. DePaul’s MBA program was launched 50 years ago.

One of Kellstadt’s strengths is its focus on international business practices and issues. "This focus is in keeping with the demands and challenges faced by today's managers," Patten said. "As a result of this focus, the faculty has gained valuable international experience, much of which is brought to bear on courses taught right here in the Chicagoland area."

DePaul's Richard H. Driehaus Center for International Business coordinates a variety international business seminars for students. This school year seminars were arranged in Mexico, Thailand, Poland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Australia and Brazil.

Kellstadt is also known for its entrepreneurship education program. DePaul began offering entrepreneurship courses in 1982 and currently maintains the largest number of graduate entrepreneurship classes in the country. The entrepreneurship program has been chosen as one of the top 25 business school programs for entrepreneurs in the country by SUCCESS Magazine for five consecutive years, including a #2 ranking in the most recent magazine ranking.

Patten said he is proud that the school’s faculty has garnered awards for innovative teaching from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business-The International Association for Management Education for the last five years in a row. "We’re the only business school in the Midwest that can say that, and there are some very good business schools in the Midwest. That’s a real testimony to our extremely talented faculty."

The part-time business school rankings will be available on-line March 19 at the web address www.usnews.com and in the U.S. News "America’s Best Graduate Schools" guidebook April 6.

Selected rankings also will appear in the magazine’s March 22 issue.

The following is U.S. News & World Report’s 1999 top 10 ranking of part-time graduate business programs:

1. New York University (Stern)

2. University of Chicago

3. Northwestern University (Kellogg)

4. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

5. DEPAUL UNIVERSITY (KELLSTADT)

6. Georgia State University

6. University of California-Los Angeles (Anderson)

(tied)

8. University of California-Berkeley (Haas)

9. Babson College

10. University of Southern California (Marshall)