Finding a B-School Niche

Got a fondness for thoroughbreds or country music? Some smaller business programs may be right for you

By Geoff Gloeckler

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The Penns and Virginias of the world have no problem attracting undergrads to their business programs. Each year the top schools get thousands more applications, from all over the country, for entrance into their prestigious programs than they can handle. And come graduation, business students from these schools embark on Wall Street careers with big salaries and signing bonuses to boot.

But for schools without the draw of a big-name program, and in locales closer to Manhattan, Kan., than Manhattan, N.Y., attracting students from beyond the state line can be a challenge. In an attempt to make names for themselves in the crowded undergraduate business market, a handful of schools have launched niche programs within their business schools to attract prospective students—and tuition dollars—from beyond their state borders.

Here's a look at four such programs that are using local industry and corporate connections to build a national profile. You'll learn how the equine management program at the University of Louisville is roping students to Kentucky; how Belmont University is using its Nashville locale to help students break into the music industry; and how the University of Houston, in the heart of the nation's oil capital, is training the next generation of energy executives. Finally, you'll get a look inside Florida State's Professional Golf Management program to see why aspiring golf pros are flocking to Tallahassee.

University of Louisville

Richard Wilcke likes to say his school is a mile and a quarter from Churchill Downs—the same distance as the racetrack's annual Kentucky Derby. In any other department at the University of Louisville, this fact would be nothing more than a useless piece of trivia, but for Wilcke's students the proximity to the legendary racetrack couldn't be more important. Wilcke is the director of the Equine Industry Program in Louisville's College of Business. At any given time, he has close to 100 undergrads looking to break into the horse industry. It's his job to help them get there. And he can, thanks to his school's location. "This is horse country," Wilcke says.

With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that Louisville is the only school in the country that offers an accredited business degree in the equine industry. Nowhere else can a student get classroom training in areas such as equine taxation and equine management, as well as nearby access to hundreds of horse farms, racetracks, and ranches. And because it is the only degree of its kind, students from all over the country descend on Louisville to be part of it. "Kids aren't coming from Wisconsin to the University of Louisville to get a BS in business administration if they have 50 options between here and there," Wilcke says. "But the horse industry option is something that draws them down here."

The horse industry, though, has had its ups and downs, and so has the program. After its launch in 1987 business began to falter: Moderating inflation made investing in horses less attractive, while widespread simulcasting made it possible to watch, and bet on, races away from the track. As a result student interest in the program dropped considerably.

But now, thanks in part to the popular book and movie about the legendary Seabiscuit, and the tragic drama of Barbaro in 2006, horse racing is big again. At the university, students are on waiting lists for the equine finance, management, and marketing courses. In all, the equine program consists of 30 hours of special courses taught by industry experts. But every student must complete the core curriculum of the business school first. "These are business students first, equine majors second," Wilcke says.