For the second consecutive year, DePaul University’s part-time Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) program has been ranked fourth in the nation in U.S.News & World Report’s annual ranking of graduate business school programs, released April 5.

Chicago-area business schools once again dominated the top five rankings of part-time MBA programs, with Northwestern University ranking second and University of Chicago placing third in the category.

Universities across the country closely watch the annual academic rankings issued by U.S. News and other magazines because prospective students often cite them as important factors in deciding where to apply and enroll.

This is the fourth consecutive year that the part-time MBA program at DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business has placed in the top five and the eighth year it earned a spot among the best 10.

“The Kellstadt Graduate School of Business is pleased to be consistently recognized by U.S.News and World Report for offering one of the best part-time MBA programs in the nation,” said Arthur Kraft, dean of the school. “This recognition validates the quality of the school’s academic programs and affirms the accomplishments of our faculty and students.”

Enrolling approximately 2,200 students, DePaul’s part-time MBA program is among the largest accredited programs of its kind in the nation. Targeted to working professionals who seek to advance their careers through MBA education, the program offers 15 concentrations, with an emphasis on technology and international business study. The business school offers MBA classes on five campuses and will open a weekend MBA degree program on the Rolling Meadows Campus in the fall. The school also offers eight master’s degrees, including a master’s in human resources.

Internationally, Kellstadt offers part-time MBA programs taught by its faculty in Hong Kong, Bahrain, and the Czech Republic. The programs expand access to a DePaul MBA education abroad while providing faculty with firsthand insights into foreign business practices that they incorporate into their Chicago classes. The business school also offers an innovative full-time MBA in International Marketing and Finance that provides students with 10-week internships at multinational companies all over the world, as well as 15 annual short-term international business seminars for students and faculty through Kellstadt’s Driehaus Center for International Business.

Seventy-two percent of DePaul’s more than 14,000 living MBA graduates live or work in the Chicago-area, making the university a dominant supplier of MBA-trained professionals for Chicago’s economy. Prominent alumni of DePaul’s College of Commerce and other schools include Jack Greenberg, chairman and CEO of McDonald’s Corp.; Richard Driehaus, CEO of Driehaus Capital Management; Patrick Moore, CEO of Smurfit Stone Container Corp., and Robert Herdman, chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DePaul’s College of Law also earned a place in the U.S. News rankings for one of its specialty programs. The school’s health law program placed tenth among the best health care law programs in the nation. The program is affiliated with DePaul’s Health Law Institute, which expanded its focus this year to explore the legal aspects of urban health issues such as the disparities in health care access and funding, health care for women, children, poor people and people of color, and prescription drugs.

U.S.News & World Report’s specialty program rankings are based on a national survey of university deans and administrators. Rankings appear in the magazine’s April 15 issue, U.S. News’ annual “Best Graduate Schools” guidebook, which is available April 8, and on the Web site: www.usnews.com.

Editors Note: The top-ten ranked part-time MBA programs were: 1. New York University (Stern); 2. Northwestern University (Kellogg); 3. University of Chicago; 4. DePaul University (Kellstadt) 5.A tie between Georgia State University (Robinson) and University of California-Los Angeles (Anderson); 7. A tie between University of California-Berkeley (Haas) and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; 9. University of Southern California (Marshall); 10. Pace University (Lubin).