UNDERGRADUATE Profiles Publish Date 2/26/09

Lehigh University

College of Business and Economics

Getting In

PROGRAM BASICS

College of Business and Economics

621 Taylor Street
Bethlehem , Pennsylvania 18015

Private Institution

Web site

http://www3.lehigh.edu/businss/academics/ugprogs.asp

Program telephone number:

(610) 758-3400

AACSB accredited:

Yes

Accreditation other than AACSB:

Middle States

Year in which the undergraduate business program was founded:

1910

Length of entire institution:

Four Year

Business program length:

Four Year

Degrees offered:

Degree/Program Name:
BS/Business and Economics
BS/Integrated Business and Engineering
BS/Computer Science and Business

PROGRAM COSTS

Annual Tuition (Resident):

$ 37,250

Annual Tuition (Non-Resident)

$ 37,250

Cost per academic credit (resident)

$ 1,555

Cost per academic credit (non-resident)

$ 1,555

Required fees

$ 300

Books:

$ 1,000

Room and board:

$ 9,770

ENROLLMENT

Full-time undergraduate business student enrollment:

1,472

Part-time undergraduate business student enrollment:

Distance undergraduate business student enrollment:

Total College enrollment for 2008-09:

4,876

ADMISSIONS

Minimum SAT score for entire college on 1600 scale:

Minimum ACT score for entire college:

Minimum high school GPA for entire college:

Interviews for entire college:

Recommended

Additional application requirements for entire college:

The Admissions Committee recommends a TOEFL score of 90 or above on the Internet-based test, 230 or above for the computer-based test or 570 or above for the paper-based test. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is also acceptable. A score of 7 or higher is preferred. Although we do not require students with an SAT I Verbal score of 570 or higher to submit TOEFL tests results, we STRONGLY recommend that all students whose first language is not English take this exam. Academically strong students whose TOEFL scores are slightly below Lehigh's recommended scores may be considered for admission on a conditional basis. Conditional admission entails successful completion of the seven-week intensive English as a Second Language program (Step Up).

Upcoming application deadlines for entire college:

Semester: Fall 2009 Early I
Deadline: 11-15-2008
Semester: Fall 2009 Early II
Deadline: 01-01-2009
Semester: Fall 2009 Regular
Deadline: 01-01-2009

Freshmen admitted into business program:

Yes

Percentage of business students admitted as freshmen:

95 %

Are the freshman admits to the business program required to complete pre-business courses before beginning upper-lever courses in the junior year?

Freshmen admitted by:

Indicate interest on university application

Minimum requirements for business program:

Entrance exam requirement other than SAT/ACT for business program:

Interview to enter business program:

Not required

Additional application requirements for freshman admits:

N/A

Additional requirements for internal transfers:

There is no minimum overall college GPA required for internal transfer to the College of Business and Economics. Lehigh has a fluid internal transfer policy that allows students to move between colleges without an application. Each student transferring within Lehigh must complete a petition form and meet with the Associate Dean of the college that they are transferring from as well as the Associate Dean of the college that they are transferring into, for guidance and advice.

Total number of full-time applications for entire college:

12,941

International applicants, entire college, 2008-09:

11 %

Female applicants, entire college, 2008-09:

43 %

Selectivity--applicants admitted to undergraduate business program, 2008-09:

28 %

Yield -- applicants enrolled in undergraduate business program, 2008-09:

33 %

Relative Importance of Application Elements:

Secondary School Record:

Very Important

Class Rank:

Considered

Talent/Ability:

Important

Interview:

Not Considered

Extracurricular Activities:

Important

Volunteer Work:

Important

Character/Personal Abilities:

Very Important

Application Essay:

Important

Work Experience:

Considered

SAT/ACT Scores:

Important

Recommendations:

Very Important

High School GPA:

Considered

Admissions program managed by:

The university admissions office

Total undergraduate business program applicants, 2008-09:

3,078

Applicants enrolled in undergrad business program 2008-2009:

47 %

Applicants admitted to undergraduate business program, 2008-09:

20 %

CLASS PROFILE

Class Profile:

Female: 32 %
International : 10 %

Entering students by age:

Mean: 18
Median: 18

Citizenship of Entering Students

U.S.: 90 %
Canada: 0 %
Other countries: 10 %
Unknown: 0 %

Percentage of US citizens in entering class who are:

African American: 6 %
Asian American: 10 %
Hispanic or Latino American: 6 %
Multiethnic/Multiracial : 6 %
Native American: 0 %
White (Non-Hispanic): 63 %
Chose not to report: 0 %
Other: 9 %

Entering students from the following region:

Northeast: 57 %
Mid-Atlantic: 25 %
South: 4 %
Southwest: 3 %
Midwest : 7 %
West: 4 %
Possessions and territories: 0 %

SAT Scores for full-time entering business students on 1600 scale:

Mean: 1293
Median: 1300

SAT middle 50% range on 1600 scale:

From: 1,228
To: 1,380

Mean: N/A Median: N/A

From: N/A To: N/A

Percent of Students Who Were In:

Top 10% of high school class

92 %

Top 25% of high school class:

99 %

HS GPA of 3.75 or higher

50 %

HS GPA of 3.5 to 3.74:

29 %

FINANCIAL AID

Financial aid handled by:

Central financial aid office at the university

Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students in previous academic year:

$ 11,940,660

Institutional scholarship money to be distributed to undergraduate business students in current academic year:

$ 13,730,917

Scholarships awarded to students in the business program based on:

A combination of need and merit

Scholarship consideration process:

All candidates are considered for scholarships

Other scholarship considerations:

N/A

Students receiving institutional scholarships for 2008-09 academic year:

41 %

Percentage of institutional scholarship money distributed to business students based on merit, 2008-09 year:

88 %

Percentage of institutional scholarship money distributed to business students based on need, 2008-09:

12 %

School offers guaranteed loans:

Financial aid web site

http://www.lehigh.edu/financialaid

Academics & Lifestyle

PROGRAM BASICS

Business students who graduate within four years:

69 %

Business students who graduate within 6 years:

82 %

Freshman retention rate:

94 %

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Credit hours required for graduation:

Degree: BS
Hours: 124
Degree: BS
Hours: 137
Degree: BS
Hours: 135

Other degree requirements:

English 1 and English 2, Calculus, Principles of Economics, Statistics, Microeconomics, 2 Social Science courses, 2 Humanities courses, 1 Science course, minimum of 48 credits taken outside of the College of Business and Economics. For additional information on the core courses, please go to: http://www3.lehigh.edu/business/academics/core.asp.

ACADEMICS

Average class size in required business courses:

47.7

Average class size in business electives:

26.2

Class size:

Classes with fewer than 20 students: 17 %
Classes with 21 to 50 students: 76 %
Classes with more than 50 students: 7 %

Required business courses that reached maximum enrollment by the first day of class, previous academic year:

0 %

Required business courses that had waiting lists, 2007-08:

0 %

CURRICULUM

Number of elective courses available in business program:

Electives added current year:

Financial Crisis: Past & Present
Ethics & Business

Year of the last major change to the business program's core curriculum:

2002

Leading areas of study:

Accounting

Economics

Finance

Marketing

Supply Chain Management

Special programs for business students:

Computer Science and Business, Integrated Business and Engineering (Honors), Eckhart Scholars (Honors), Minor in Integrated Real Estate, Minor in Entrepreneurship, Minor in Engineering and Tauck Scholars Program.

Business program offers work study or co-op opportunities:

Yes

During the academic year, many students participate in externships with a variety of different businesses. Summer internships are quite common and are encouraged by faculty who also frequently assist students in the process.

Business program offers study abroad opportunities:

Yes

Study abroad program description:

The College offers a number of summer study abroad programs that are led by College faculty, including Lehigh in Prague, Lehigh in Belgium, Lehigh in Ireland, and Lehigh in Shanghai. Many business students also participate in study abroad programs sponsored by other Universities, both during the summer and during the academic year.

Volunteer work and community service opportunities:

Yes

Volunteer opportunities description:

There are many opportunities for volunteer work and community service. The most notable of these are Delta Sigma Pi, the Professional Business Fraternity and Beta Alpha Psi, the Accounting Honor Society. Both organizations create such opportunities for their members. The minor in Integrated Real Estate requires 40 hours of community service.

Business clubs and extracurricular activities:

Beta Alpha Psi
Delta Sigma Pi
Women in Business
Economics Society
Accounting Club Marketing Club Investment Club
Ethics Club
Omicron Delta Epsilon (Economics Honor Society)

FACULTY

Faculty:

Full-time faculty : 69
Adjuncts and visiting faculty: 34
Permanent/tenured professors: 37
Percentage of permanent/tenured professors who are women: 16
Percentage of permanent/tenured professors who are underrepresented minorities: 0
Percentage of permanent/tenured professors who are also members of company boards of directors or of advisors: 2
Percentage of permanent/tenured professors who are business owners: 2

Prominent faculty:

Shin-Yi Chou
Gopal V Krishnan
K Sivakumar

STUDENT LIFE

Largest on-campus organizations for business students:

Women in Business
Accounting Club
Investment Management Club
Finance Club
Marketing Club

Freshmen are required to live on campus:

Yes

Business students are grouped in learning communities:

TECHNOLOGY

Wireless network available:

Yes

Technological improvements made in the last three years:

Financial Services Lab: a partnership with IBM. The lab has tickers and software for simulated trading. Students see live coverage of CNBC, CNNfn, and Bloomberg. Students enjoy real-world trading, real-time insights into the global economy and financial markets and use the lab for advanced research and developing and testing dynamic programming models of portfolio optimization. The goals of the lab are to maximize the classroom expertise, and enhance employment opportunities for graduates.

Trading laboratory available:

Yes

Alumni Affairs & Careers

ALUMNI

Total number of undergraduate business program graduates since inception:

14,404

Total living alumni:

13,249

Percent of alumni who gave, 2007-08 academic year:

23 %

Mean alumni gift 2007-08:

$ 2,578

Median alumni gift, 2007-08:

$ 120

Single donation in excess of $10 million in 2007-08?

Prominent alumni:

Name: Joseph R. Perella
Title: Principal, Perella Weinberg Partners
Name: Arthur C. Tauck, Jr.
Title: Chairman, Tauck World Discovery
Name: Roger S. Penske
Title: Chairman & CEO, Penske Corporation

CAREER SERVICES

Percent of 2008 graduates who provided employment information:

91 %

Seeking full-time employment in business: 88 %
Not Seeking full-time employment in business: 12 %

Number of companies recruiting undergraduate students on campus in previous academic year:

103

Companies that posted full-time job offers/positions on school job boards, previous academic year:

650

Other activities and services provided for business majors:

Career fairs, workshops, externships, internships, mock interviews, trips to industries, conferences, alumni networks, corporate information sessions, and personal appointments.

Job offer results, 2008 graduates:

Top hiring firms:

PricewaterhouseCoopers
Ernst & Young
KPMG LLP
Goldman Sachs Group
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Deloitte Touche Tomatsu
International Bus. Machines
Citigroup Inc.
Deutsche Bank AG
Merrill Lynch

Rothstein, Kass & Co
Huron Consulting
Grant Thornton
Accenture
Bearing Point
Eisner LLP
The Prudential

Graduate compensation:

Mean base salary: $ 52,799
Median base salary: $ 55,000

Grads accepted jobs in following functional areas:

Consulting: 10 %
Finance/Accounting: 70 %
General Management: 2 %
Human Resources: 0 %
Management Information Systems: 2 %
Marketing/Sales: 10 %
Operations/Production: 0 %
Logistics/Transportation: 3 %
Other: 3 %

Grads accepted jobs in following industries:

Accounting: 34 %
Consumer Products/Retail: 4 %
Consulting Services: 8 %
Financial Services: 34 %
Government/Education: 2 %
Pharma/Biotech/Health: 0 %
Manufacturing: 4 %
Media/Entertainment: 6 %
Petroleum/Energy: 1 %
Real Estate: 1 %
Sports/Leisure: 0 %
Technology/Science: 3 %
Non-Profit: 0 %
Transportation: 1 %
Utilities: 1 %
Other: 1 %

Percentage of job acceptances, US and Canada:

US: 99 %
Canada: 1 %

Grads accepted jobs in the following US regions:

Northeast: 75 %
Mid-Atlantic: 22 %
Midwest: 1 %
South: 1 %
Southwest: 0 %
West: 1 %
US Possessions/Territories: 0 %

Number of companies recruiting interns on-campus, 2007-08 academic year:

Internship postings on job boards, previous academic year:

264

Top internship recruiters, 2007-08:

KPMG LLP
Ernst & Young
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Deutsche Bank AG
Goldman Sachs Group
Merrill Lynch
Citigroup Inc.
Morgan Stanley
Deloitte Touche Tomatsu
Credit Suisse Group
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Accenture
Parente Randolph
The Prudential
Huron Consulting

Percentage of internships that were paid, previous academic year

100 %

Mean internship compensation per week:

$ 700

Median internship compensation per week:

$ 698

Average internship, in weeks:

Graduate Comments

Professors here really care about students. Once I was told that I did not have the prerequisites for two classes, and my adviser talked to each professor personally and sent a letter to the dean. My marketing professor brings in a lot of corporate executives to speak in class. Also, many professors have prior work experience in the business world.

The school cares more about its reputation than focusing on its current students.

Lehigh provides the perfect balance between learning and enjoying life. Professors allow students to actively engage in discussions and treat students with respect. They help in education and career advising. Likewise, career services and alumni are very helpful in the next step in your life; finding a career or opportunity to pursue continued education. I am so happy I chose to go to Lehigh.

The administration is entirely inflexible. The College of Arts and Science increased the number of credits per class to try to reduce the total number of classes a student takes per semester; however this is extremely frustrating for business school students because B-school classes are three credits while Arts and Science are four. That hardly ever divides evenly into our max allowed of 18.

The doors that have been opened for me as a result of the accounting program and its staff have been amazing. I think the aspect that amazes me the most is how much everyone cares about the students. I feel I have been given the tools necessary to succeed in my career.

Lehigh offers an outstanding honors program known as �Integrated Business and Engineering.� As the name implies, accepted students are given a strong core in both business and engineering. The knowledge I have learned in this program has given me unparalleled knowledge and skills that will definitely be useful in the real world.

The college is always trying to add more classes to its core curriculum, and no one ever likes them. There are now three management courses that are required for graduation and all three of them are tedious and time consuming. The college is also adding an ethics course, covering a subject which is already discussed in almost all classes, which will just add to the already overloaded core curriculum.

The accounting department is always doing something positive, be it the Accounting Club, Beta Alpha Psi, or the annual Conference on Accounting Professionalism. There is constant exposure to the �Big 4� accounting firms, which allow most accounting students to secure internships for the summer between junior and senior year, and then a job prior to even starting senior year.

The college as a whole is doing significant amounts of recruiting, which should lend itself to a lot of new and fresh faces on the faculty next year.

Lehigh prepares you for the real world from day one. We work on group projects starting freshman year, professors stress what employers look for and in general, Lehigh builds well rounded students and not just academics.

Lehigh�s Undergraduate Business College offers a great balance between your major focus and further concentration into your focus. For example: Finance-Marketing, Finance-Math, Finance-Accounting, etc. It allows the blend required for students to be equipped with the knowledge and focus needed to enter the work force effectively.

Lehigh�s business program is unique because of the real-world case studies and group projects that give students an opportunity to make their own judgments and conclusions about business matters.

I think the combination of a few factors make the program unique. Among them: the close proximity to both New York City and Philadelphia, the quality of the faculty and their ability to bring current business practices into the classroom, and the �not too big, not to small� size of the business school.

The Supply Chain Management major offered from the business school, the university and business school�s high rankings, combined with the career placement of the major�s department make the school�s business program unique; however, the best feature and one that is often utilized is Lehigh University�s cross-school education that allows me to also major in International Relations of the Arts & Science school and actively engage in entrepreneurial activities.

Alumni go out of their way to help out current students.

We have a unique �Computer Science & Business� degree that combines the computer science core and the business core. This prepares us well for the job market as companies try to bridge the gap between business and uses of technology. The computer science core allows us to have a solid problem solving background while the business core prepares us for teamwork in the corporate environment. The students can also choose to take more classes in whichever field they desire, such as Accounting or Finance.