OSWEGO – The company that made the Fortune 500 rankings famous published its first-ever list for online MBA programs, where SUNY Oswego ranks first in New York state among public institutions.
Coming in -38 overall in Fortune Education’s “2021 Best Online MBA Programs” (released Monday, April 26, 2021) reflects Oswego’s academic quality, solid reputation and specialized student support.
“Our impressive and consistent national rankings firmly recognize SUNY Oswego’s commitment as we continue on a path of providing the best possible education for our students and producing the greatest good for our region and the world,” said college President Deborah F. Stanley.
“We are delighted that our program has yet again been affirmed as the top online MBA program offered by a public institution in the state of New York,” School of Business Dean Prabakar Kothandaraman said. “Our placement in the Fortune national rankings reflects the quality of our program, its admission and student advising processes and the exceptional teaching done by our top-notch faculty members.”
“The Fortune ranking for Best Online MBA program is particularly special because it not only recognizes Oswego’s customized MBA student support model, but it also recognizes the quality of the faculty and curriculum in the business school from the view of industry professionals,” said Irene Scruton, director of MBA programs and assistant dean of the School of Business.
The metrics recognize Oswego’s online MBA “is highly individualized,” Scruton noted. “Oswego’s customized advisement approach in the MBA program combined with our dedicated faculty gives the students a level of confidence that they will have the support needed to complete the program while they manage their professional and personal responsibilities.”
The rankings also reflect that the Oswego online MBA “held its own as a prestigious and well-regarded brand,” Kothandaraman said. “This is a clear acknowledgement of how well our alumni are doing in their respective professions.”
“These types of rankings serve as confirmation to the strength of our student body, the excellence of our faculty, and the opportunities afforded through our engaged alumni network,” Dean of Graduate Studies Kristen Eichhorn said.
The accomplishment is a team effort, Kothandaraman noted, that encourages the college to maintain and continue to improve upon academic quality.
“Kudos to our faculty and our MBA team for always striving to keep our students at the heart of whatever they do,” Kothandaraman said. “This recognition will strengthen our resolve to continue our journey in pursuing academic excellence in all our online programs.”
“The business school faculty and MBA team take great pride in the work they do to provide individualized support for our MBA students as they work to complete their degree and advance their careers,” Scruton added.
Eichhorn noted that the robust alumni network means the Oswego degree is recognized as a quality qualification for those pursuing careers in business.
“Fortune’s methodology also weaves in the perceptions of hiring managers and business leaders, further solidifying SUNY Oswego’s strong reputation in the field,” Eichhorn noted. “We are grateful for this recognition and excited to continue to offer high-quality online graduate opportunities at an affordable price point.”
The Fortune rankings include a program score (55%) that gathers academic strength of incoming students, cohort size, retention rates and graduation rates to show that the program is filled with talented students and often completed; a Fortune 1000 score (17.5%) that looks at how many leadership roles in top 1000 companies a college’s MBA graduates have attained; a brand score (20%) where survey leader Ipsos interviewed 2,500 professionals on their impressions on specific business schools; and prestige score (7.5%) that incorporates existing top ranking services.
SUNY Oswego’s online MBA has earned praise across many ranking services. U.S. News and World Report’s 2021 “Best Online Degree Programs: MBA” this January also ranked Oswego the top public institution in New York state, -62 overall. U.S. News included Oswego among the listed the top part-time MBA programs in its most recent ranking in that category in spring 2020.
Other recent honors include Oswego making the Princeton Review’s Top 50 Online Programs for 2021 (-33, also the highest of any New York state public college) and making the ranking service’s Best Business Schools for 2021: On-Campus MBA Programs. The Oswego MBA also ranked -30 overall and top in the state on business school website Poets and Quants’ most recent top online MBA rankings.
“The Fortune ranking combined with our other ranking recognition affirms nationally that Oswego’s business school and its MBA program deliver the highest quality of student support, admissions, faculty credentials and program excellence,” Scruton said. “Those factors combined with our alumni network and SUNY’s tuition rates make Oswego’s MBA program a one of the highest value programs in the country.”
Oswego — the first comprehensive college in the SUNY system to offer an MBA degree, starting in 1997 — has increased the options students have for specializing within their graduate business studies, offering MBA programs in health services administration, management and public accounting. The college also offers a variety of graduate programs and five-year options that combine an MBA with such bachelor’s degrees as in broadcasting, public accounting or psychology.
MBA delivery options include classroom-based in Oswego and/or at SUNY Oswego’s Syracuse campus or blended classroom-online programs, as well as the online MBA.
