Best Business Schools in the South
When you’re choosing the best business school, you should be looking at a few key traits of each program: prestige, quality of teaching, if the format fits your schedule, success of the program’s alumni, and return on investment.
When you’re looking at who has the top business school in the South, UL Lafayette stands out. We have an accredited and incredibly affordable MBA program with options to pursue a concentration in health care administration or the accelerated Executive MBA track.
So let’s look at how UL Lafayette stacks up against the other business schools in Louisiana and the South.
Prestige
UL Lafayette’s MBA program has been ranked one of the top 295 programs by the Princeton Review, and has been every year since 2008, making it “one of the best institutions” for earning your MBA, according to the publisher.
That means B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration ranks alongside the LSU Ourso College of Business, Emory University, and UT-Austin.
Specialization & Customization
UL Lafayette’s MBA program is the only one in Louisiana to offer a concentration in health care administration. The health care administration concentration is 15 hours of core business courses, 18 hours of specialized health care administration courses, and two internships. With our country’s increasingly complex health care system, earning an MBA in health care administration will help you forge a path to administrative positions in hospital systems.
In our MBA program, the core curriculum includes courses in accounting, management information systems, economics, finance, international business, management, and marketing. Beyond those core courses, you can choose 6 hours of electives to focus on the areas or disciplines you are most interested in.
Fit to Your Schedule
You can also customize your course schedule. Our program is designed for professionals who want to continue working full time and attend school part-time. All on-campus courses are offered in evenings, so you can work during the day and meet with your professors and fellow classmates just a couple nights a week.
But that doesn’t mean you have to earn your MBA part time. You can choose to take a full course load every semester and complete the curriculum in as little as a year and a half.
We offer some hybrid course options, and we’re moving toward even more online course options, so you can choose to complete some of your curriculum online at a time that’s most convenient to you.
If you’re a professional who has eight or more years of managerial experience, you can opt to go through the Executive MBA program, which is a 16-month accelerated MBA program with classes on alternating weekends.
Return on Investment
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is a public university and is incredibly affordable, especially when compared to public universities in other states, like UT-Austin, and private universities like Emory.
Because of our low tuition, the financial burden on professionals—combined with the flexible schedule—make it easier for students to invest in their education. According to Fortune Magazine, the national median salary for recent MBA graduates in 2015 was $100,000, and lower tuition means you’ll spend less time paying back student loans and more time putting money in your own pocket.
Accreditation
The best business colleges should all be accredited. The B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration holds an advanced accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International. It’s the largest and most recognized specialized accrediting body in the world, and it is only one of about 700 best business schools in the world.
Quality & Relevance of Teaching
Students in the MBA program at UL Lafayette consistently praise the knowledgeable and talented faculty they work with and learn from. Many of our faculty and instructors have worked in the business world and make sure their courses are challenging and relevant. You’ll learn more about business and management theories, and you’ll also learn how to apply those theories in your workplace the next day.
We also encourage our students to learn from each other. The MBA program at UL Lafayette welcomes students from all professional backgrounds, which helps facilitate rich and diverse classroom discussions and group projects.
Faculty Mentors
What really stands out about the MBA programs at UL Lafayette is the faculty. They’re not just teachers—they’re mentors. We want our students to succeed, so our faculty are available to work with you and answer any questions you may have.
Our medium-sized program is an asset, because it lets our professors and instructors know all of our students—and vice versa.
Alumni
What have other UL Lafayette MBA grads accomplished? After all, the best business schools have the best alumni.
Our alumni include Mike DeHart, the chief investment officer for Stuller, Inc., which is one of the world’s largest jewelry manufacturing and distribution companies; former U.S. Senator and Representative John Breaux, who served in Congress from 1972 to 1987 and worked as a lobbyist; K-2 Coolers, LLC, Chief Operating Officer David Young; and more CEOs, CFOs, COOs, presidents, and vice presidents than we can mention here.
Join us at one of the top business schools in the South! Learn more about our MBA options.