Go To Businessweek.com
Undergraduate Profile Publish Date 05/27/12

Louisiana State University

Ourso College of Business

  • Program Basics

      • E. J. Ourso College of Business
      • E. J. Ourso College of Business
      • 3304 Patrick F. Taylor Hall
      • Louisiana State University
      • Baton Rouge, Louisiana
      • 70803
      • United States
      • Program Web site: http://www.business.lsu.edu
      • Program e-mail address: advisor@lsu.edu
      • Program phone number: 225-578-3211
      • Status: Public (state-operated)
      • AACSB accredited: Yes

    • Accreditation other than AACSB:

      • Southern Association of Colleges & Schools
      • Year in which the undergraduate business program was founded: 1928
      • Institution: Four Year
      • Business Program: Four Year

  • SCHOOL BASICS

    • Enrollment:

      • Total undergraduate: 23,980
      • Full-time undergraduate business: 1,287
      • Part-time undergraduate business: 65
      • College or university freshman retention rate: 84 %

    • Percentage of students who graduate from the business program:

      • Within four years of admission to the university: 46 %
      • Within six years of admission to the university: 66 %

    • Undergraduate Business Degrees Offered:

      • BS/Accounting
      • BS/Economics and International Trade & Finance
      • BS/Finance
      • BS/General Business
      • BS/Information Systems and Decision Sciences
      • BS/Management
      • BS/Marketing

  • PROGRAM COSTS

      • Annual Tuition (Resident): $4,558.00
      • Annual Tuition (Non-Resident): $17,566.00
      • Annual Required Fees: $1,796.00
      • Annual Room and Board: $8,670.00
      • Annual Cost of Books: $1,520.00

  • CLASS PROFILE

    • Students in newest entering class that are:

      • Female: 43 %
      • International: 5 %

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

      • Mean: 21
      • Median: 21

    • Percentage of newest entering class:

      • Top 10% of high school class: 24 %
      • Top 25% of high school class: 48 %
      • GPA of 3.75 or higher: 21 %
      • GPA of 3.5 to 3.74: 20 %

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

      • Mean: 1179
      • Median: 1180

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

      • From: 1090
      • To: 1270

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

      • Mean: 25
      • Median: 25

    • Middle 50% range of ACT scores:

      • From: 23
      • To: 28

    • Citizenship breakdown for newest entering class:

      • US: 95 %
      • Canada: 0 %
      • Other Non-US Citizens: 5 %

    • U.S. citizens in newest entering class:

      • African American: 8 %
      • Asian American: 3 %
      • Hispanic or Latino American: 5 %
      • Multiethnic/Multiracial: 1 %
      • Native American: 0 %
      • White (Non-Hispanic): 80 %
      • Chose not to report: 3 %

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

      • Northeast: 1 %
      • Mid-Atlantic: 1 %
      • South: 83 %
      • Southwest: 13 %
      • West: 2 %

  • ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Institution

    • Standardized tests required of all applicants:

      • ACT
      • SAT
      • Minimum SAT score on 1600 scale (if applicable) required for admission: 1030
      • Minimum ACT Score (if applicable) required for admission: 22
      • Minimum High School GPA (if applicable) required for admission: 3.0
      • Interviews are: Not offered

    • Application deadlines:

      • Fall 2012 4/15/2012
      • Spring 2013 12/1/2012
      • Summer 2013 4/15/2012
      • Additional application requirements: See http://www.lsu.edu/admissions
      • Total undergraduate applicants, all programs: 14,818
      • Percentage of applicants admitted: 80 %
      • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 45 %
      • International applicants: 2 %
      • Female applicants: 43 %

    • Relative Importance of Application Elements

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

  • ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Business Program

      • Undergrad business program admissions are managed by: The business program office
      • Total undergraduate business applicants: 740
      • Percentage of applicants admitted: 93 %
      • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 93 %

    • Admission requirement for admission to the undergraduate business program

      • Minimum SAT: 1030
      • Minimum ACT: 22
      • Minimum high school GPA: 3.0
      • 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?: No
      • Are freshman business admits required to complete or obtain minimum GPAs in pre-business courses before taking upper-level courses? No

    • Internal transfers:

      • Method for handling internal transfers: Separate application
      • Minimum college GPA for internal transfers to the business program: 2.0
      • Additional application requirements, including course/grade requirements: See http://www.business.lsu.edu/undergraduate/pages/Admissions.aspx

  • CAMPUS LIFE

    • Five largest on-campus organizations for business students:

      • Beta Alpha Psi
      • Students in Free Enterprise
      • Pi Sigma Epsilon
      • Delta Sigma Pi
      • Beta Gamma Sigma
      • Are freshmen required to live on campus?: No
      • 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:

      • BS 120
      • BS 150
      • BS 180

    • Other requirements for the undergraduate business degree

      • Students must meet university general education requirements, business core requirements, and major core requirements.

  • ACADEMICS

    • Average class size:

      • Required business classes: 67

    • Percentage of business classes:

      • With 20 or fewer students: 2 %
      • With 21 to 50 students: 23 %
      • With more than 50 students: 75 %

  • CURRICULUM

      • Total business faculty: 100
      • Percentage of the total faculty that is tenured or tenure track: 69 %

    • Most prominent faculty:

      • Rudy Hirschheim
      • Dek Terrell
      • Eli Jones

    • Business program's leading areas of study:

        • Accounting
        • Economics
        • Finance
        • Marketing
        • Human Resource Management
      • Special programs: We offer programs in internal audit and entrepreneurship.
      • Work study: Students have the opportunity to earn course credit for internships.
      • Study abroad programs: Students have an opportunity to travel with business faculty members and visit companies in Europe over the winter break. Students earn course credit.
      • Volunteer opportunities: The college and university offer service learning courses.

    • Extra-curricular activities:

      • Alpha Kappa Psi
      • Beta Gamma Sigma
      • Delta Sigma Pi
      • Diplomats for Diversity
      • The Colleagues
      • I Am Entrepreneur
      • Beta Alpha Psi
      • Students in Free Enterprise

  • FINANCIAL AID

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

    • Scholarships

      • Scholarship money distributed to business students last year: $3,421,000.00
      • Scholarships are awarded to business students based on: a combination of need and merit
      • Students receiving institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 44 %
      • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on need: 11 %
      • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on merit: 89 %

    • Loans

      • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan to all business students, regardless of nationality?: No
      • Mean outstanding debt, most recent graduating class: $15,300.00

  • CAREER SERVICES

    • Employment Information

      • Percentage of most recent business graduates who supplied information regarding employment: 82 %
      • Percentage seeking full-time professional employment in business: 64 %
      • Percentage not seeking full-time professional employment in business: 36 %

    • Received first job offer:

      • By graduation: 51 %
      • No job offer reported: 49 %

    • Accepted first job offer:

      • By graduation : 25 %
      • No job acceptance reported: 75 %
      • Companies recruiting business students on campus: 172
      • Companies posting job offers for business students on school job boards: 434

    • Top employers (number of students hired):

      • KPMG 7
      • Shell 6
      • Capitol One 3
      • Deloitte & Touche 3
      • Ernst & Young 3
      • U. S. Marine Corps 3
      • Lisa D. Traina, LDT CPA LLc 2
      • Louisiana State University 2
      • Merck & Co. 2
      • Postlethwaite & Netterville, APAC 2
      • Turner Industries Group 2
      • Walt Disney World 2
      • Chevron 2
      • Occidental Petroleum Co. 1
      • PricewaterhouseCoopers 1

    • Compensation

      • Mean base salary: $45,341.00
      • Median base salary : $45,000.00

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

      • Consulting: 7 %
      • Finance/Accounting: 41 %
      • General Management: 8 %
      • Human Resources: 2 %
      • Management Information Systems: 9 %
      • Marketing/Sales: 15 %
      • Operations/Production: 6 %
      • Logistics/Transportation: 2 %
      • Other: 11 %

    • Most recent graduates accepted jobs in the following industries:

      • Accounting: 23 %
      • Consumer Products/Retail : 9 %
      • Consulting: 4 %
      • Financial Services: 5 %
      • Government/Education: 11 %
      • Pharma/Biotech/Health: 3 %
      • Manufacturing: 6 %
      • Media/Entertainment: 5 %
      • Petroleum/Energy: 10 %
      • Real Estate: 0 %
      • Sports/Leisure: 0 %
      • Technology/Science: 1 %
      • Non-Profit: 4 %
      • Transportation: 1 %
      • Utilities: 1 %
      • Other: 19 %

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

      • US: 99 %
      • Canada: 0 %

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

      • Northeast: 4 %
      • Mid-Atlantic: 3 %
      • Midwest: 3 %
      • South: 65 %
      • Southwest: 23 %
      • West: 2 %
      • Possessions and territories: 0 %
      • Career services offered: Career Services’ Assistant Director for Employment Services serves as liaison to the E. J. Ourso College of Business. This includes offering specialized programming, like networking and career-development workshops focused on the unique needs of students; development of resources, including resume samples; weekly e-newsletters; and extensive, ongoing work with faculty and staff through meetings and e-communication.

  • INTERNSHIPS

      • Companies recruiting business students for internships on campus: 97
      • Companies posting internship offers for business students on school job boards: 218

  • B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

      • Total number of undergraduate business program graduates since inception: 30,969
      • Total living alumni of the undergraduate business program: 29,018
      • Percentage of living alumni who contributed to the business program or university in the last academic year: 8 %

    • Alumni gifts

      • Mean Gift: $1,002.00
      • Median Gift: $50.00
      • Did the business program receive a gift of $10 million or more in the last academic year? No

Getting In

B-School Life

Finding a Job

Paying the Bills