The college has achieved continuous AACSB accreditation since 1969 -- just eight years after the school's founding -- and is among the top schools of business accredited for Business and Accounting.
Northern Illinois University's College of Business ranked 65th nationally out of 93 business schools, according to BusinessWeek's 2007 online ranking of best undergraduate business programs in the country. Of the 540 AACSB-accredited business colleges worldwide, 125 - NIU among them - were invited to participate in the BusinessWeek ranking survey. Based upon the publication's ranking criteria -- which include meeting the threshold for student response rate - NIU's College of Business was ranked 65th on BusinessWeek's final list of the 93 programs designated as The Best Undergrad B-Schools. NIU's ranking puts the college in the company of nationally-known schools such as the University of Iowa, Arizona State, SUNY, Purdue, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, which were ranked within 7 places (above or below) of NIU.
Click here to visit the BusinessWeek Web site. Choose "B-Schools" from the links across the top of the Web page and then choose "2007 Rankings" from the left navigation choices to locate this article. Northern Illinois University is listed under the "Midwest" category.
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For more than a decade, U.S.News & World Report has ranked The Northern Illinois University College of Business as among the best business colleges in the country. In 2007, the NIU College of Business continued to be ranked as among the nation's best by making the listing of "America's Best Colleges and Programs" (2008), as recently published by U.S.News & World Report.
NIU's MBA Program: Ranks in the top seven for best MBA programs in Chicago. Feedback from students, alumni, and corporate recruiters placed The Northern Illinois University College of Business MBA Program among the best in Chicago, as reported by Crain's Chicago Business in its first survey (2006) of top MBA Programs. Of the schools whose alumni responded to the survey, NIU alumni rated their satisfaction with the overall NIU academic experience higher than other alumni did at their alma mater. Additionally, NIU alumni ranked the overall teaching effectiveness in their academic programs higher than other alumni did at their institution. Recruiter and alumni comments on NIU's MBA Program:
The college's undergraduate Accountancy program was ranked 23rd best in the country by U.S.News & World Report in its ranking of best undergraduate programs (2008).
Accountancy: The college's undergraduate Accountancy program ranked in the top 20 nationally for each of the last 19 years by Public Accounting Report, a major trade publication for the accounting industry. In its 2006 annual survey of accounting programs and for the second year in a row, Public Accounting Report ranks the NIU undergraduate Accountancy program 11th in the nation and its graduate Accountancy program 10th in the nation.
Professional Sales program: The first collegiate program ever accredited by the Professional Society for Sales and Marketing Training, this program was also named one of 15 "Incubators for Greatness" by Selling Power Magazine .
CPA Review: Ranked among the best in the nation in successful pass rate for two decades along with the university of Wisconsin-Madison, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, respectively. Year 2004 rankings: ranked 9th best passing rate overall; 5th best for the auditing section. NIU was the only Illinois university whose CPA Review program placed in the top 10.
Finance Department: Ranked by The Financial Management Journal as among the 100 most prolific in published research 1990-2001. Since 2004, NIU Finance professors' research expertise has been sought and featured by financial/business journalists reporting out of Chicago-area and national media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Forbes Magazine, CFO Magazine, Dow Jones Radio, Smart Money Magazine, Bloomberg TV, among many others.
NIU Business Faculty In the News: The expertise of NIU business faculty is regularly sought by Chicago-area and nationally-based journalists, and featured in various major media outlets, including print, web-based, television, and radio.
Experiential learning opportunities: real world business projects implemented by student teams through the college's Entrepreneurship & Innovation course, and the Experiential Learning Center, among others.
Unique, nationally known undergraduate curriculum: a graduate-school model, integrating the principles of finance, management, marketing, and operations into a cross-functional format.
The Executive MBA: a well-respected program of more than 20 years, with students representing approximately 500 of the leading Chicago-area businesses.
NIU College of Business alumni organizations: The Executive Club, The Rockford Alumni Club, and The Young Professionals Network.