FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKS LMU'S PART-TIME MBA PROGRAM
AMONG TOP TEN PERCENT IN NATION

Loyola Marymount University’s part-time Master of Business Administration program ranks among the top ten percent of the country’s best part-time MBA programs, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual graduate school rankings, released April 2.  Nearly 300 master’s programs in business were evaluated; LMU ranked number twenty-seven overall.

"Our part-time MBA program is so highly regarded because it offers a high quality, practical program of study that meets the needs of working professionals,” said Dr. Rachelle Katz, director of LMU’s MBA program.  “Our faculty has a high level of academic success, as well as real-world experience to share with our students,” added Katz.

400 students participate in LMU’s MBA Program, offered through the College of Business Administration.  Eighty percent are part-time students and fully employed professionals from a wide variety of industries in southern California.  While some students enter the program directly after obtaining an undergraduate degree, most have work experience.  Women account for forty-four percent of the student body, twenty-five percent are members of minority groups, and seventeen percent are international students. The average student is twenty-eight years old.

LMU’s College of Business Administration also offers the Executive MBA, designed for mid-career executives with a bachelor’s degree and at least 6 years of professional, managerial, or entrepreneurial experience, and the Systems Engineering Leadership MBA, a dual-degree program in systems engineering and business also designed for working individuals.

U.S. News & World Report’s specialty graduate program rankings are based on ratings provided by educators at peer institutions.  Business school deans and program heads are asked to nominate up to 10 programs for excellence in each of the areas listed. The schools receiving the most nominations rank higher.  The rankings are published in the 2005 edition of the guidebook, America’s Best Graduate Schools, the April 12 edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine, and on the web at www.USNews.com.

###