Aug. 18, 2006

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- For the fifth straight year, U.S. News and World Report magazine is citing two Indiana University campuses for offering "academic programs that are believed to lead to student success."

The news magazine also recognizes several undergraduate major fields of study at IU's Kelley School of Business and continues to rank the school as the 11th best in the nation overall.

Under the heading "Programs to Look For," U.S. News recognized IU Bloomington and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis for the quality of their educational experiences for first-year students. The campuses were noted for building into their curricula seminars and programs that bring together small groups of students with faculty.

IU Bloomington and IUPUI also were again cited for their success in promoting learning communities that build connections among fellow students and between students and professors. IUPUI was again cited for its efforts to promote service learning -- the use of volunteering in the community as an educational strategy.

"We're certainly very pleased that these programs have been recognized for the fifth consecutive year by U.S. News," said Charlie Nelms, IU vice president for institutional development and student affairs.

"We have a lot of faculty and staff involved in working with students to ensure that they have a high-quality learning experience. We know that a major part of that high-quality learning experience is engagement, helping students feel that they are a part of the institution, as opposed to being guests," Nelms said. "There are a range of activities on the Bloomington and IUPUI campuses that reflect this commitment by our faculty and staff."

Nelms noted that the magazine has recognized programs at IU which help students stay engaged from the moment they step onto campus to when they graduate.

For example, IU Bloomington's Freshmen Interest Groups program helps first-year students make the transition to college by allowing them to meet in small groups of students who share academic and career interests. Many other programs at IU and IUPUI continue to engage students as they move through their academic careers, thus helping them to stay enrolled and graduate. These programs also have helped IU attract more high-achieving students.

This fall, IUPUI projects a 30 percent increase in the amount of money being expended for freshmen honors scholarship recipients. At IU Bloomington, there has been a 10 percent increase in enrollment in the Hutton Honors College and a 9 percent increase in enrollment in the Hudson-Holland Scholars Program.

The Kelley School is unique among Big Ten business schools in that both its undergraduate and graduate programs consistently are considered among the nation's best. Business Week earlier this year cited Kelley's undergraduate program as 10th best in the nation overall and No. 4 among public schools.

In the U.S. News rankings, the Kelley School was second only to the University of Michigan among undergraduate business programs in the Big Ten and sixth nationally among public universities. Kelley's entrepreneurship program was ranked third, and its management program was fifth.

"Our overall No. 11 ranking places us among the elite 2 percent of nationally accredited programs," said Daniel C. Smith, dean of the Kelley School. "The U.S. News ranking is consistent with other metrics we track related to our national reputation. We received a record number of applications this year and a record number of companies have registered to interview Kelley students.

"At the specific major level, I am pleased to see that our recent program innovations and research activity by our management and entrepreneurship faculty have helped us move up to fifth and third respectively in these areas," Smith added. "While we are happy with these results, in the end, our primary interest is the quality of the educational experience our students receive. We are never content."

"Based on previous results and our current overall ranking, I believe the school will be cited in several other specialty categories when expanded information is released on Friday. Last year, the magazine cited the school in 10 specialties."

M.A. Venkataramanan, the Lawrence D. Glaubinger professor of business administration and chairperson of undergraduate programs, added, "We are proud of the role that the Kelley School plays in transforming the young men and women of the state of Indiana into polished professionals and in helping them realize their career dreams.

"Our internal assessment of the undergraduate program has been outstanding and places Kelley School in the elite top echelon of business schools," he continued. "This assessment measures our current position and the improvements we make each year with respect to quality of students, accomplishments of faculty, rankings by employers, placement performance and services provided by our staff. Rankings like these are consistent with our internal measures and we are gratified by the acknowledgment they provide."

IU Northwest again was one of the most racially diverse master's level universities in the Midwest, and was cited for having a 22 percent black enrollment.

Overall, U.S. News ranked IU Bloomington 30th among public national research universities.