Program Basics

• • Leeds School of Business
  • 419 UCB
  • Boulder, Colorado
  • 80309
  • United States
  • Program Web site: http://leeds.colorado.edu/
  • Program e-mail address: leedsug@colorado.edu
  • Program phone number: 303-492-6515
  • Status: Public (state-operated)
• • AACSB accredited: Yes
• • Year in which the undergraduate business program was founded: 1906
• • Institution: Four Year
• • Business Program: Four Year

SCHOOL BASICS

• Enrollment:

  • Total undergraduate: 26,433
  • Full-time undergraduate business: 2,755
  • Part-time undergraduate business: 93
  • Distance undergraduate business: 21
• • College or university freshman retention rate: 84 %

• Percentage of students who graduate from the business program:

  • Within four years of admission to the university: 55 %
  • Within six years of admission to the university: 65 %

• Undergraduate Business Degrees Offered:

  • BSBA Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

PROGRAM COSTS

• • Annual Tuition (Resident): $14,122.00
• • Annual Tuition (Non-Resident): $32,400.00
• • Annual Required Fees: $1,493.00
• • Tuition Per Academic Credit (Resident): $1,697.00
• • Annual Room and Board: $10,792.00
• • Annual Cost of Books: $1,748.00

CLASS PROFILE

• Students in newest entering class that are:

  • Female: 40 %
  • International: 5 %

• Mean and median age of full-time business students in the newest entering class:

  • Mean: 22
  • Median: 20

• Percentage of newest entering class:

  • Top 10% of high school class: 23 %
  • Top 25% of high school class: 63 %
  • GPA of 3.75 or higher: 37 %
  • GPA of 3.5 to 3.74: 29 %

• SAT scores (1600 scale) for the newest entering class of full-time undergraduate business students:

  • Mean: 1154
  • Median: 1160

• Middle 50% range of SAT scores (1600 scale):

  • From: 1110
  • To: 1270

• ACT scores for the newest entering class of full-time undergraduate business students:

  • Mean: 25
  • Median: 26

• Middle 50% range of ACT scores:

  • From: 24
  • To: 28

• Citizenship breakdown for newest entering class:

  • US: 95 %
  • Unknown Citizenship: 1 %

• U.S. citizens in newest entering class:

  • African American: 1 %
  • Asian American: 7 %
  • Hispanic or Latino American: 8 %
  • Native American: 1 %
  • White (Non-Hispanic): 74 %

• Regional breakdown of U.S. citizens in newest entering class:

  • Northeast: 5 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 2 %
  • South: 4 %
  • Southwest: 62 %
  • Midwest: 6 %
  • West: 20 %
  • Possessions and territories: 1 %

ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Institution

• Standardized tests required of all applicants:

  • SAT
  • ACT
• • Interviews are: Not offered

• Application deadlines:

  • Fall 2012 1/15/2012
  • Spring 2013 10/1/2012
  • Summer 2013 1/15/2013
  • Fall 2013 1/15/2013
• • Additional application requirements: Two personal essays. Specifically for international students, F1 or J1 visa status. Official test scores on the TOEFL/IELTS. Students transferring into Leeds must have a cumulative college GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• • Total undergraduate applicants, all programs: 23,409
• • Percentage of applicants admitted: 85 %
• • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 30 %
• • International applicants: 29 %
• • Female applicants: 40 %

• Relative Importance of Application Elements

  • Secondary school record: Very Important
  • Class rank: Very Important
  • Talent/ability: Considered
  • Interview: Not Considered
  • Extracurricular activities: Considered
  • Volunteer work: Considered
  • Character/personal abilities: Important
  • Application essay: Very Important
  • Work experience: Considered
  • SAT/ACT scores: Very Important
  • Recommendations: Important
  • High school GPA: Very Important

ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Business Program

• • Undergrad business program admissions are managed by: The university admissions office
  • Total undergraduate business applicants: 2,724
  • Percentage of applicants admitted: 84 %
  • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 27 %
• • Entrance exam other than the SAT/ACT required for admission to the undergraduate business program?: No
• • Admissions interviews for the undergraduate business program are: Not offered

• Freshman admission:

  • Does the business program admit freshmen?: Yes
  • Percentage of business program admits in most recent entering class who were freshman: 93 %
  • Are freshman business admits required to complete or obtain minimum GPAs in pre-business courses before taking upper-level courses? No
  • Process for freshmen admission?: Indicate interest on university application

• Internal transfers:

  • Minimum college GPA for internal transfers to the business program: 3.26
  • Additional application requirements, including course/grade requirements: 24 credit hours (12 must be University of Colorado at Boulder graded courses). Pass Excel assessment. Complete pre-requisites w/B- or above - Finite Math, Calculus, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics. Complete quiz on intra-university transferring. Have GPA of 2.0 or better in any business classes.

CAMPUS LIFE

• Five largest on-campus organizations for business students:

  • Alpha Kappa Psi
  • Multicultural Business Students Association
  • CU American Marketing Association
  • Delta Sigma Pi
  • Beta Alpha Psi
• • Are freshmen required to live on campus?: Yes
  • Are business students grouped together in 'learning communities' in housing and other facilities?: Yes

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

• Minimum number of credit hours required to receive an undergraduate business degree:

  • 120 120

• Other requirements for the undergraduate business degree

  • Excel assessment. Students complete 30 hrs. of business courses, including 18 hrs. in emphasis area. Cumulative GPA of 2.00 in emphasis area. Must have a C- or higher in18 credit hrs. Cumulative 2.00 required for all courses attempted at the university.

ACADEMICS

• Average class size:

  • Required business classes: 137
  • Business electives: 45

• Percentage of business classes:

  • With 20 or fewer students: 15 %
  • With 21 to 50 students: 60 %
  • With more than 50 students: 25 %

• Course enrollment:

  • Percentage of required business courses reaching maximum enrollment by the first day of class: 78 %
  • Percentage of required business courses with waiting lists: 33 %

CURRICULUM

• Electives:

  • Available business electives: 19
  • New electives: ACCT - Accounting & Finance for Energy Industry
• • Last curriculum overhaul: 2006
  • Total business faculty: 118
  • Percentage of the total faculty that is tenured or tenure track: 46.7

• Most prominent faculty:

  • John Lynch, Ted Anderson Professor of Free Enterprise
  • Manuel Laguna, Media One Professor of Management Science
  • Jaime Zender, Baughn Professor

• Business program's leading areas of study:

  • • Accounting
    • Finance
    • Marketing
    • Human Resource Management
    • Operations Management
  • Other leading area of study: Entrepreneurship, Social Responsibility, Real Estate
• • Special programs: BS/MS in Business Administration & Masters in Accounting w/a concentration in Accounting or Taxation. BS/MS in Business Administration & Masters from College of Engineering in Telecommunications. Certificate programs: Entrepreneurship & Small Business Mgmt., International Business, Operations Information Management, Quantitative Finance, Real Estate, Sports Management.
• • Work study: Work study opportunities are available campus-wide and offered on a first-come, first serve basis.
• • Study abroad programs: Leeds offers the London Seminar in International Finance and Business, a five-week summer study abroad program in London and Paris. It focuses on London's role as an international financial center and studies business and financial issues in Europe. Students receive 6 credits - 3 for their chosen area of emphasis and 3 business elective credits. Leeds students also have the opportunity to choose from any of the campus-wide study abroad programs. CU Boulder has over 160 program offerings.
• • Volunteer opportunities: Leeds students have the opportunity to volunteer with over 200 area organizations, as well as national and international organizations, such as Americorps and the Peace Corps (for which CU-Boulder is ranked #1 for volunteers). The University of Colorado's Volunteer Resource Center provides best-fit guidance on volunteer placement opportunities, including an interest assessment. Individual and group project opportunities are available and search-able via CU's large databases.

• Extra-curricular activities:

  • Leeds Council
  • Leeds Ambassadors
  • International Business Club
  • Multicultural Business Students Association
  • Society for Human Resource Management
  • Business of Sports Club
  • Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization
  • CU Investment Club

FINANCIAL AID

• • Who manages financial aid for the business program?: Central financial aid office at the university
  • Financial aid web site: http://www.colorado.edu/finaid/

• Scholarships

  • Scholarship money distributed to business students last year: $679,913.00
  • Expected scholarship distribution to business students this year: $669,194.00
  • Scholarships are awarded to business students based on: a combination of need and merit
  • Students receiving institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 14 %
  • Students receiving full-tuition institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 1 %
  • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on need: 65 %
  • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on merit: 35 %
• • Mean outstanding debt, most recent graduating class: $47,000.00

CAREER SERVICES

• Employment Information

  • Percentage of most recent business graduates who supplied information regarding employment: 95 %
  • Percentage seeking full-time professional employment in business: 82 %
  • Percentage not seeking full-time professional employment in business: 18 %

• Accepted first job offer:

  • By graduation : 46 %
• • Companies recruiting business students on campus: 235
  • Companies posting job offers for business students on school job boards: 873

• Top employers (number of students hired):

  • Goldman Sachs Operations 6
  • Deloitte 6
  • Target 5
  • KPMG 5
  • PwC 4
  • Grant Thorton 4
  • Ernst & Young 3
  • Key Equipment Finance 3
  • EKS & H 3
  • Markit On Demand 3
  • FACTSET 2
  • Sterling Rice Group 2
  • Teach for America 2
  • Sports Authority 2
  • Brocade Communications 2

• Compensation

  • Mean base salary: $46,607.00
  • Median base salary : $48,500.00
  • Mean signing bonus: $3,000.00
  • Median signing bonus: $3,000.00

• Most recent graduates accepted jobs in the following functional areas:

  • Consulting: 8 %
  • Finance/Accounting: 38 %
  • General Management: 13 %
  • Human Resources: 3 %
  • Management Information Systems: 5 %
  • Marketing/Sales: 27 %
  • Operations/Production: 5 %
  • Logistics/Transportation: 1 %
  • Other: 0 %

• Most recent graduates accepted jobs in the following industries:

  • Accounting: 9 %
  • Consumer Products/Retail : 9 %
  • Consulting: 5 %
  • Financial Services: 19 %
  • Government/Education: 4 %
  • Pharma/Biotech/Health: 3 %
  • Manufacturing: 4 %
  • Media/Entertainment: 4 %
  • Petroleum/Energy: 4 %
  • Real Estate: 7 %
  • Sports/Leisure: 4 %
  • Technology/Science: 7 %
  • Non-Profit: 3 %
  • Transportation: 1 %
  • Utilities: 0 %
  • Other: 17 %

• Job offers accepted by most recent graduates in North America:

  • US: 100 %
  • Canada: 0 %

• Percentage of 2009-10 academic year graduates who accepted jobs in regions of US:

  • Northeast: 2 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 1 %
  • Midwest: 4 %
  • South: 1 %
  • Southwest: 77 %
  • West: 15 %
  • Possessions and territories: 0 %
• • Career services offered: One on one career counseling, interview preparation/Mock interviews, workshops on how to work a career fair, building a resume, senior conference, career panels, career exploration, internship panels, networking events, career fair for business students only, resume critiques, Alum and Company Time events.

INTERNSHIPS

• • Companies recruiting business students for internships on campus: 23
  • Companies posting internship offers for business students on school job boards: 882

• Top internship employers (number of students hired):

  • Formations LLC 18
  • Northwestern Mutual 9
  • Target 5
  • Kroenke Sports 5
  • Budget Rent A Car 4
  • Deloitte 4
  • EKS & H 4
  • Goldman Sachs Operations 4
  • Level 3 4
  • Raymond James & Associates 4
  • UBS Financial 4
  • University of Colorado Athletic Department 4
  • Green Garage 3
  • PwC 3
  • Sterling Rice Group 3

• Internship pay

  • Internships that are paid: 58 %
  • Mean compensation, per week, for paid internships only: $440.00
  • Median compensation, per week, for paid internships only: $440.00

B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

• • Total number of undergraduate business program graduates since inception: 33,138
  • Total living alumni of the undergraduate business program: 30,177
  • Percentage of living alumni who contributed to the business program or university in the last academic year: 9 %

• Alumni gifts

  • Mean Gift: $5,751.00
  • Median Gift: $170.00
  • Did the business program receive a gift of $10 million or more in the last academic year? No

• Prominent alums of the undergrad business program

  • Michael Leeds President & Founder of FlightStar Inc., Former President & CEO of CMP Media, Inc.
  • Jerry McMorris Owner of Timnath Farms Inc., Former Vice Chair & General Partner of Rockies Baseball Club
  • Jeanne Jackson President, Direct to Consumer of Nike, Inc.

• • -The quality of the teaching staff is outstanding. They make you apply your knowledge to real life situations. Upper division classes are smaller and lots of discussions are facilitated. Almost every class that isn't introductory requires a group project or two out of you. I've gotten good at working with people and problem solving with people.
    
    -Our new dean has really turned around the program, I am sad that he came in during my senior year, he has done a great job listening to students and making key changes. I applaud his efforts for communicating with students, and making the business school a better program.
    
    -They provide a program highly involved in the technical and quantitative analysis of business, but provide an even more intense arena for future industries and competitive factors relating to business, such as sustainability, clean energy etc.
    
    -The grading policy discourages students from working together and creates a cutthroat environment.
    
    -The business program has an amazing accounting department. I have had numerous teachers from who I have learned so much in the classroom, but also about jobs and future education.
    
    -Our business program could be stronger if it offered more opportunity for job placement. Some of the companies are looking for an intern, rather than an employee.
    
    -I think the entrepreneurial environment that compliments our education is very unique. We have so many venture capitalist firms around here. Also, we have many success stories. It's like a Palo Alto of small businesses for all industries and it’s exciting to be around. Everyone wants to engage with Leeds and Leeds is happy to offer a venue to connect tomorrow's job creators to today's. I couldn't be more thrilled with how my future looks. I'm not worried about if I will make a million dollars, but rather how many millions. And, I didn't think that way before coming to this school. See you on the top.
    
    -The grading policy is too tough and too discouraging for many students who put in a ton of work and can't make the grade. An environment less focused purely on grades would be beneficial to the school.
    
    -The students at CU work harder and play harder than any other students I know. CU has a reputation for being a party school, but people don't understand that me and my fellow peers in the business school are spending 20-60 hours a week in the library to stay up with school. It is a program where having a life is encouraged, but everyone understands that work must come first, and we push each other to be better students in the classroom.
    
    -I believe that a stronger brand image will make our business program stronger. We have excellent professors, sufficient resources, students from all different backgrounds and a campus located in a beautiful setting. However, this has been tainted by assumptions.
    
    -The core classes set a nice broad base, the more area specific classes do a good job of building off of the core classes initial efforts and my most recent capstone type of courses have done an excellent job of tying multiple areas together for a very holistic approach to the business world.
    
    -They need to lower the amount of Arts and Sciences classes required. Right now, business students need a minimum of 57 credit hours in Arts and Sciences classes to graduate- that's almost half of your time spent in undergrad. As much as I enjoy these classes, they are a waste of time and money. The College of Engineering does not require even close to that amount of unnecessary credits. I understand having a well-rounded student, but this is a bit much.
    
    -Despite being in a large public university, I would argue my school is very good at making a personal connection with those students who make the effort. These people not only care about their students but will go above and beyond the call of duty to make the best effort they can in assisting students achieve their goals.
    
    -I think the program could be stronger by having the business students take more classes in the actual business building earlier in their school careers. The building is one of the newest, and nicest ones on campus with high technology and comfortable learning environments. When you're in the building you feel connected to the other students and the faculty and I think having that feeling earlier in the college experience would create a stronger sense of community. Also, I think that they should promote business clubs and groups more intensely at the beginning of the year so that students have more incentive/opportunity to become integrated with other students and find what they might truly be interested in.
    
    -Our business program is unique in that the Leeds School is its own community. The way in which it was designed allows students to grab a coffee, email a professor, study for an upcoming test, or chat with friends. In our school, everyone knows everyone. The professors come down on their breaks and talk with the students, and the students feel comfortable talking to professors outside of class.