UO Lundquist College of Business makes The Princeton Review’s top schools list

EUGENE, Ore. -- (March 27, 2009) -- The University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business is named one of the top 15 business schools for graduate students with an interest in marketing, based on the latest annual research conducted by The Princeton Review. The student opinion results appear in the April 2009 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine.

The ranking, which does not list schools in order of preference, applies broadly to all graduate programs at the Lundquist College. Students surveyed singled out the college's James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center as "one of the best sports business programs nationally."

"This ranking is very much a reflection of how the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center has elevated our national prominence and reflects our commitment to providing our students with the tools they need to succeed in an increasingly competitive business world," said Dean Dennis Howard.

Howard pointed to the uniqueness of the MBA program at the Lundquist College and the fact that it offers focused curriculum tracks around four niche areas rather than traditional academic disciplines. These specialty areas correspond to the college's four centers of excellence: the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, the Center for Sustainable Business Practices and the Securities Analysis Center.

The Princeton Review compiled the "Student Opinion Honors for Business Schools" list using data from its national survey of 19,000 current business school students attending 296 business schools profiled in its book, "Best 296 Business Schools: 2009 Edition." It was the first time the ranking appeared in Entrepreneur Magazine.

Here are some of the things students said about Lundquist College of Business in their comments:

• The teaching staff is "bright and accessible" and professors, "don't let you just sit back and take in the class to float through. They expect you to participate, make presentations and contribute."
• "A collaborative environment is fostered to breed the entrepreneurial spirit."
• "We encourage competition in the classroom and (in) the field, but collaborative learning continues right up until exam time."
• "If you want to learn about something, you can find a resource to learn it."

Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Center, said the student opinion poll is further evidence of how an education can be applied across industries complementary to sport.

"Many of the marketing principles and practices that are a fundamental part of the education we deliver at the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center can be applied to other areas," said Swangard. "We've had graduates go on to work for ‘American Idol,' Coca Cola, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, and Visa, as well as for Nike, ESPN and the NBA."

The Princeton Review ranking is the latest in a string of accolades for the Lundquist College of Business. Last September, another joint ranking by Entrepreneur Magazine and The Princeton Review rated the college 23rd for graduate education in entrepreneurship. A study in The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked the college's marketing department eighth in the nation for research productivity. SportsBusiness Journal called the Warsaw Center "the premier sports marketing think tank."

Previous editions of The Princeton Review's "Best Business Schools" have highlighted the Lundquist College of Business as having one of the top six business school facilities in the country.

To see The Princeton Review's complete "Student Opinion Honors for Business Schools" ranking in Entrepreneur Magazine, go to http://www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges.

About the Lundquist College of Business
Founded in 1914, the Lundquist College of Business is one of the oldest and most respected business education programs in the Pacific Northwest. The Lundquist College includes the innovative James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, the Center for Sustainable Business Practices, and the Securities Analysis Center, as well as nationally recognized undergraduate and M.B.A. programs.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of the 62 leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Contacts: Julie Brown, University of Oregon, 541-346-3185, julbrown@uoregon.edu; Pat Walsh, The Ulum Group, 541-434-7021, pwalsh@ulum.com
Link: Lundquist College of Business, http://lcb.uoregon.edu/

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