Category Archives: Ranking

Online Programs Ranked Among Top 10 in U.S.

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The University of Scranton ranked No. 3 in the nation for “Best Online MBA Programs for Military” in a 2020 list published online by College Consensus. In other national rankings, College Consensus placed the University’s Online Masters in Human Resource Management at No. 3; Online Accounting MBA at No. 4; Online Finance MBA at No. 6 and Online Healthcare MBA at No. 9.

For all of these rankings, College Consensus picked the nation’s best programs based on their analysis of the program’s affordability, reputation and convenience. For reputation, College Consensus calculated an “average rating score” for colleges based on national guidebook rankings, which include U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and others. The University of Scranton is ranked in all of these publications, in addition to numerous other national “best college” rankings. For convenience, the programs had to be able to be completed 100 percent online, among other factors.

In addition to the 2020 online program rankings, College Consensus ranked The University of Scranton at No. 10 among the “Best Catholic Colleges and Universities” in America in a 2019 ranking that included some of the most prestigious Catholic universities in the nation.

Learn more about the MBA programs.

Online Programs Ranked Among the Best!

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U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 “Best Online Graduate Programs” ranked The University of Scranton’s online master’s degree programs in business (excluding MBA) at No. 51 and its MBA program at No. 118 in the nation. U.S. News also ranked Scranton at No. 64 in the country for “Best Online MBA Programs for Veterans.”

This is the ninth consecutive year that U.S. News ranked the University’s online programs among the best in the nation. The methodology used by U.S. News to determine the ranking has changed several times throughout the years.

For the 2020 Best Online Programs ranking, which published in January, U.S. News reviewed statistical information submitted by schools. The ranking criteria differed by category. The criteria used by U.S. News to rank online business and MBA programs included student engagement (30 percent), which looked at graduation rates, class size, one-year retention rates, and best practices such as accreditation by AACSB International, among other factors. The ranking criteria also included peer reputation score (25 percent); faculty credentials and training (15 percent); admission selectivity (15 percent); and student services and technology (15 percent).

In addition to offering distance education programs that incorporate coursework that is predominantly online, colleges and universities making the “Best Online Program for Veterans” list must have ranked in top half of 2020 Best Online Program rankings; be regionally accredited; be certified for the GI Bill, which includes participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program; and enroll a “critical mass of veterans” as defined by U.S. News based on the size of the college.

Scranton offers online MBA degrees in general business, accounting, enterprise resource planning, finance, healthcare management, human resources, international business and operations management; master’s degrees in accountancy, finance, health administration, health informatics and human resources and a dual MBA/MHA degree, in addition to graduate certificates. For technology, recruitment and marketing support, the University partners with Wiley for the online programs.

In other rankings published by U.S. News & World Report, Scranton has been ranked among the top 10 “Best Regional Universities in the North” for 26 consecutive years. Scranton is ranked No. 6 in the 2020 edition of the guidebook. U.S. News also ranked Scranton No. 5 in its category in a ranking of the “Most Innovative Schools” and No. 12 in its category for “Best Undergraduate Teaching.” U.S. News also ranked Scranton’s programs in entrepreneurship at No. 33, finance at No. 43, and accounting at No. 52 in the country, among other rankings.

Nationally Recognized Accounting Programs and Faculty

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Two prestigious academic journals have ranked the Accounting Department of The University of Scranton in the top six in the nation for its scholarship in the areas of teaching/learning and applied practice. A 2019 edition of The Accounting Educators’ Journal and a 2019 online preprint (to be published in 2020) edition of Issues in Accounting Education published articles on the scholarship productivity of faculty in accounting programs across the nation.

The article in The Accounting Educators’ Journal titled, “Accounting Programs Ranked by Accounting-Education Publications: Controlling for Journal Quality, Authors’ Doctoral Time and the Number of Ph.D./DBA Faculty,” ranked accounting programs based on their faculty members’ publications in top accounting education journals. This article ranked Scranton’s Accounting Program No. 6 in the nation for article counts for 25 years standardized by each journal’s quality rating, the time since each author received their Ph.D. or D.B.A. and the number of accounting-education authors on faculty.

The article in Issues in Accounting Education titled, “The Intersection of Academia and Practice: Publishing in Leading U.S. Accounting Organizations’ Journals,” ranked accounting programs and faculty based on the number of publications in the leading five accounting practitioner journals. This article ranked Scranton No. 1 in the nation. The article, authored by faculty at Kennesaw State University and The University of Scranton, noted “two institutions (The University of Scranton, 25 articles; DePaul University, 20 articles) lead the group by a substantial margin.”

With respect to authorships of individual accounting faculty across the nation, four Scranton faculty members were recognized: Douglas Boyle, D.B.A., chair of the Accounting Department at Scranton, director of the University’s internationally recognized DBA program and the founder and director of the University’s Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program; James Boyle, D.B.A., assistant professor of accounting; Brian Carpenter, Ph.D., professor of accounting; and Daniel Mahoney, Ph.D., professor of accounting. The article noted, “Douglas Boyle at The University of Scranton is the overall leader with 19 articles, followed by Brian Carpenter, also at The University of Scranton with 13 articles. Other major contributors at the University of Scranton are Daniel Mahoney (11 articles) and James Boyle (seven articles). Overall, three of the top four authors are at The University of Scranton, and four of the top nine are University of Scranton faculty.” The article further identified Dr. Douglas Boyle and Dr. Carpenter as among only three authors in the nation for having a wide breath of publishing with articles in four of the five journals and among only seven authors in the nation for being ranked nationally for traditional all methods academic research, accounting education research, and practice research.

The University’s Kania School of Management, of which the Accounting Department is a part, is accredited by AACSB International, whose stated mission is “to foster engagement, accelerate innovation, and amplify impact in business education.” As part of its AACSB accreditation, the Kania School has identified teaching and learning scholarship and applied or integration/application scholarship (i.e., impact on practice) as high areas of emphasis for its AACSB accreditation Business Unit Research Activities, thus underscoring the significance of the two studies’ findings.

“Our accounting programs – bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral – have made incredible strides in recent years, and now both the quantity and quality of our scholarship are nationally recognized. I am proud to be part of this ever-growing landscape,” said Dr. Mahoney.

Articles by Drs. Douglas and James Boyle, Dr. Mahoney and Dr. Carpenter have received the Institute of Management Accountants’ Lybrand Medals for “outstanding papers.”

What Makes us one of the Best Business Schools?

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The Princeton Review listed The University of Scranton’s Kania School of Management among the nation’s “Best Business Schools” for 2020, marking the 15th consecutive year that Scranton has been included in the listing of just 248 of the most elite business colleges in the nation. Scranton was included among the list of “Best On-Campus MBA Programs,” which was published online in November.

“We commend these schools for their outstanding MBA programs, each of which has stellar academic offerings as well as on-campus and off-campus experiential components,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor in chief, in a news release announcing the 2020 “Best Business Schools” lists.

The listing of business programs is compiled from an analysis of institutional data and survey data from students attending the business schools. The data incorporates career outcomes, academic rigor, admissions selectivity and other factors.

The profile of Scranton on the “Best Business Schools” website noted its “Jesuit values add an element of social responsibility to the work students do at the Kania School of Management (KSOM).” The profile also said Scranton is “focused on what will be required of an MBA graduate in today’s marketplace” and described the school as an “excellent learning atmosphere,” where “everyone is friendly and willing to help.” The Princeton Review also noted Scranton’s professors were accessible and “provide critical insight.”

The University’s Kania School of Management is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which is widely considered the standard of excellence for business schools. Less than five percent of business colleges worldwide hold AACSB accreditation.

The Princeton Review also listed Scranton in its 2020 edition of the “Best 385 Colleges,” ranking Scranton among the nation’s “Best Science Labs” (No. 7), “Best Campus Food” (No. 10) and “Best Run Colleges” (No. 20). The Princeton Review also included Scranton in its 2019 “Guide to Green Colleges.”

In other national rankings, U.S. News and World Report included Scranton in a national ranking of the “Best Undergraduate Business Programs” (No. 224) and ranked Scranton’s entrepreneurship program at No. 33, its finance program at No. 43 and its accounting program at No. 52 in the country. In the overall ranking for colleges, U.S. News ranked Scranton No. 6 among the “Best Regional Universities in the North,” marking the 26th consecutive year that Scranton ranked in the top 10 of its category.

Learn more about the MBA program at The University of Scranton.

Sustaining our Efforts for Green Practices and Programs

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The Princeton Review recognized The University of Scranton, and just 412 other colleges in the world, for expressing “strong commitments to green practices and programs” by inclusion in the 2019 edition of “The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges.” Most of the schools selected for the guide, which was published online in October, are in the U.S., with just 16 schools from Canada, one from Egypt and one from Greece also listed. This is the third consecutive year that Scranton has made this list.

The Princeton Review analyzed more than 25 data points to determine the final selection of colleges for the guide based on information from surveys of nearly 700 schools. The criteria broadly covered the schools’ academic offerings and initiatives, campus policies and practices, and green-career preparation for students. The colleges making the list “are standouts for their exemplary commitments to sustainability,” according to Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief.

According to Franek, college applicants and their parents are increasingly concerned about the environment and sustainability issues. He cited a solid majority (64%) of the 11,900 teens and parents that The Princeton Review polled for its 2019 College Hopes and Worries Survey as saying that having information about a college’s commitment to the environment would affect their decision to apply to or attend the school

Scranton’s long-established sustainability efforts include academics, facilities and community education and outreach. Scranton has infused issues of sustainability in courses across the curriculum, ranging from theology, to business, to the natural sciences, to education, as well as other disciplines. Scranton uses numerous “green” procedures in building maintenance practices, as well as in building design and construction. Scranton currently has three Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings: Leahy Hall, the Loyola Science Center and the DeNaples Center, which became the city’s first LEED certified structure in 2008. The University also conducts multiple community educational programs organized through its Office of Sustainability, which include a community garden, an Earth Day Essay Contest, an Earth Day Fair and an Evening of Environmental Science program for area children and families.

In addition, the Sustainability Office began a Work Study Program that engages work-study students in service-learning opportunities to help them grow in knowledge practical applications of sustainability concepts taught in their classes.

In addition to its “Guide to Green Colleges,” The Princeton Review has listed Scranton in its “Best Colleges” guidebooks for 18 consecutive years, also ranking Scranton in its 2020 edition among the nation’s “Best Science Lab Facilities” (No. 7), “Best Campus Food” (No. 10), and “Best-Run Colleges” (No. 20).