Program Basics

• • College of Business and Economics
  • College of Business and Economics
  • 621 Taylor Street
  • Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
  • 18015
  • United States
  • Program Web site: http://www4.lehigh.edu/business/academics/undergraduate
  • Program phone number: 6107583400
  • Status: Private
• • AACSB accredited: Yes

• Accreditation other than AACSB:

  • Middle States
• • Year in which the undergraduate business program was founded: 1910
• • Institution: Four Year
• • Business Program: Four Year

SCHOOL BASICS

• Enrollment:

  • Total undergraduate: 4,869
  • Full-time undergraduate business: 1,261
  • Part-time undergraduate business: 23
• • College or university freshman retention rate: 95 %

• Percentage of students who graduate from the business program:

  • Within four years of admission to the university: 78 %
  • Within six years of admission to the university: 86 %

• Undergraduate Business Degrees Offered:

  • BS/Business and Economics
  • BS/Integrated Business and Engineering
  • BS/Computer Science and Business

PROGRAM COSTS

• • Annual Tuition (Resident): $40,660.00
• • Annual Tuition (Non-Resident): $40,660.00
• • Annual Required Fees: $300.00
• • Tuition Per Academic Credit (Resident): $1,695.00
• • Tuition Per Academic Credit (Non-Resident): $1,695.00
• • Annual Room and Board: $10,840.00
• • Annual Cost of Books: $1,000.00

CLASS PROFILE

• Students in newest entering class that are:

  • Female: 37 %
  • International: 9 %

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

  • Mean: 18
  • Median: 18

• Percentage of newest entering class:

  • Top 10% of high school class: 94 %
  • Top 25% of high school class: 100 %

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

  • Mean: 1291
  • Median: 1300

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

  • From: 1220
  • To: 1360

• Citizenship breakdown for newest entering class:

  • US: 90 %
  • Canada: 1 %
  • Other Non-US Citizens: 8 %
  • Unknown Citizenship: 2 %

• U.S. citizens in newest entering class:

  • African American: 6 %
  • Asian American: 8 %
  • Hispanic or Latino American: 6 %
  • Multiethnic/Multiracial: 1 %
  • White (Non-Hispanic): 74 %
  • Chose not to report: 5 %

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

  • Northeast: 58 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 26 %
  • South: 4 %
  • Southwest: 1 %
  • Midwest: 7 %
  • West: 3 %
  • Possessions and territories: 1 %

ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Institution

• Standardized tests required of all applicants:

  • SAT
  • ACT
• • Interviews are: Not required

• Application deadlines:

  • Fall 2012 11/15/2011
  • Fall 2013 11/15/2012
• • Total undergraduate applicants, all programs: 11,578
• • Percentage of applicants admitted: 33 %
• • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 31 %
• • International applicants: 14 %
• • Female applicants: 37 %

• Relative Importance of Application Elements

  • Secondary school record: Very Important
  • Class rank: Considered
  • Talent/ability: Important
  • Interview: Considered
  • Extracurricular activities: Important
  • Volunteer work: Important
  • Character/personal abilities: Important
  • Application essay: Important
  • Work experience: Considered
  • SAT/ACT scores: Important
  • Recommendations: Very Important
  • High school GPA: Considered

ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Business Program

• • Undergrad business program admissions are managed by: The university admissions office
  • Total undergraduate business applicants: 2,173
  • Percentage of applicants admitted: 31 %
  • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 39 %
• • 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 required

• 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
  • Additional application requirements for freshman admits: Students planning to enroll in the College of Business and Economics must have completed mathematics through trigonometry, but also should strongly consider taking pre-calculus and calculus.

• Internal transfers:

  • Additional application requirements, including course/grade requirements: 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 they are transferring into, for guidance and advice.

CAMPUS LIFE

• Five largest on-campus organizations for business students:

  • Women in Business
  • Accounting Club
  • Investment Management Club
  • Finance Club
  • Marketing Club
• • Are freshmen required to live on campus?: Yes
  • Are business students grouped together in 'learning communities' in housing and other facilities?: No

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

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

  • BS 124
  • BS 135
  • BS 137

ACADEMICS

• Average class size:

  • Required business classes: 38
  • Business electives: 24

• Percentage of business classes:

  • With 20 or fewer students: 19 %
  • With 21 to 50 students: 76 %
  • With more than 50 students: 5 %

CURRICULUM

• Electives:

  • Available business electives: 74
  • New electives: Business Intelligence
• • Last curriculum overhaul: 2002
  • Total business faculty: 115
  • Percentage of the total faculty that is tenured or tenure track: 55 %

• Most prominent faculty:

  • Shin-Yi Chou
  • Paul Brockman
  • Gopal Krishnan, CPA, CMA, CISA

• Business program's leading areas of study:

  • • Accounting
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Marketing
    • Supply Chain Management
• • Work study: Students have access to externship programs to learn more about their business fields of choice. Internships supervised by faculty are also available. International internships are often included in programs led by College of Business and Economics faculty abroad during the summer in locations including Prague, Belgium, and Shanghai.
• • Volunteer opportunities: Within the College of Business and Economics (CBE), students can connect to service opportunities via student clubs, Accounting’s Beta Alpha Psi honor society, and special programs organized by the major department or college to serve various communities. Juniors and seniors have opportunities to serve as mentors to underclassmen in venues including Apprentice Teaching and Major Mentor programs. Other Lehigh organizations like Lehigh’s Community Service Office connect business students to a variety of one-time and ongoing service opportunities

• Extra-curricular activities:

  • Accounting club
  • Business Careers in Entertainment Club
  • Finance Club
  • Investment Management Group
  • Microfinance Club
  • National Association of Black Accountants
  • Women In Business
  • Beta Alpha Psi (Accounting Fraternity)

FINANCIAL AID

• • Who manages financial aid for the business program?: Central financial aid office at the university
  • Financial aid web site: http://www4.lehigh.edu/admissions/undergrad/tuition/aidtypes.aspx

• Scholarships

  • Scholarship money distributed to business students last year: $12,306,879.00
  • Expected scholarship distribution to business students this year: $12,474,728.00
  • Scholarships are awarded to business students based on: a combination of need and merit
  • Students receiving institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 38 %
  • Students receiving full-tuition institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 0 %
  • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on need: 70 %
  • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on merit: 30 %

• Loans

  • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan to all business students, regardless of nationality?: No
• • Mean outstanding debt, most recent graduating class: $12,762.00

CAREER SERVICES

• Employment Information

  • Percentage of most recent business graduates who supplied information regarding employment: 94 %
  • Percentage seeking full-time professional employment in business: 88 %
  • Percentage not seeking full-time professional employment in business: 12 %

• Received first job offer:

  • By graduation: 69 %
  • After graduation, but within 3 months: 18 %
  • More than 3 months after graduation : 11 %
  • No job offer reported: 2 %

• Accepted first job offer:

  • By graduation : 69 %
  • After graduation, but within 3 months: 18 %
  • More than 3 months after graduation: 11 %
  • No job acceptance reported: 2 %
• • Companies recruiting business students on campus: 74
  • Companies posting job offers for business students on school job boards: 644

• Top employers (number of students hired):

  • PWC/PricewaterhouseCoopers 27
  • KPMG 25
  • Ernst & Young 12
  • IBM 5
  • Bank of America 5
  • Barclays Capital 4
  • Boeing 4
  • Eisner Amper 3
  • Morgan Stanley 3
  • Deutsche Bank 3
  • Ingersoll Rand 3
  • Deloitte 2
  • Accenture 2
  • Grant Thornton 2
  • The Vanguard Group 2

• Compensation

  • Mean base salary: $57,304.00
  • Median base salary : $55,000.00
  • Mean signing bonus: $5,720.00
  • Median signing bonus: $5,000.00

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

  • Consulting: 7 %
  • Finance/Accounting: 61 %
  • General Management: 1 %
  • Human Resources: 1 %
  • Management Information Systems: 4 %
  • Marketing/Sales: 19 %
  • Operations/Production: 1 %
  • Logistics/Transportation: 5 %
  • Other: 1 %

• Most recent graduates accepted jobs in the following industries:

  • Accounting: 34 %
  • Consumer Products/Retail : 17 %
  • Consulting: 4 %
  • Financial Services: 28 %
  • Government/Education: 1 %
  • Pharma/Biotech/Health: 2 %
  • Manufacturing: 4 %
  • Media/Entertainment: 1 %
  • Petroleum/Energy: 0 %
  • Real Estate: 3 %
  • Sports/Leisure: 0 %
  • Technology/Science: 4 %
  • Non-Profit: 0 %
  • Transportation: 2 %
  • Utilities: 0 %
  • Other: 0 %

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

  • US: 99 %
  • Canada: 1 %

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

  • Northeast: 71 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 20 %
  • Midwest: 3 %
  • South: 2 %
  • Southwest: 1 %
  • West: 3 %
  • Possessions and territories: 0 %
• • Career services offered: Career fairs, workshops, externships, internships, mock interviews, trips to industries, conferences, alumni networks, corporate information sessions, and personal appointments.

INTERNSHIPS

• • Companies recruiting business students for internships on campus: 33
  • Companies posting internship offers for business students on school job boards: 281

• Top internship employers (number of students hired):

  • PWC 30
  • KPMG 14
  • Deloitte Touche 6
  • Ernst & Young 6
  • Grant Thornton 5
  • Morgan Stanley 4
  • Thomson Reuters 4
  • Air Products 3
  • JP Morgan Chase 3
  • ParenteBeard 3
  • Deutsche Bank 2
  • Johnson & Johnson 2
  • MetLife 2
  • NYSE Euronext 2
  • Oppenheimer & Co 2

• Internship pay

  • Internships that are paid: 100 %
  • Mean compensation, per week, for paid internships only: $742.00
  • Median compensation, per week, for paid internships only: $720.00
  • Average internship length, in weeks: 12

B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

• • Total number of undergraduate business program graduates since inception: 15,209
  • Total living alumni of the undergraduate business program: 13,728
  • Percentage of living alumni who contributed to the business program or university in the last academic year: 24 %

• Alumni gifts

  • Mean Gift: $2,299.00
  • Median Gift: $100.00
  • 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

  • Joseph R. Perella Chairman and CEO, Perella Weinberg Partners
  • Arthur C. Tauck, Jr. Chairman, Tauck World Discovery
  • Roger S. Penske Chairman & CEO, Penske Corporation

• • -The program's ability to bring in outside speakers and mentors is outstanding. Top-brass CEOs are regularly guests in my classes. Only so much can be learned from books; to be able to hear successful business men and women describe their experiences and how they got to the top adds an element of legitimacy to our lessons.
    
    -The downside of going to a small school is getting less attention from employers. Though we get many large employers, some smaller companies would prefer to spend their recruiting budget at a larger school. The business program at my school is striving to get more employers onto campus every year; however, more can be done.
    
    -SCM professors give you all the time you need with them - they are always available and have great professional connections.
    
    -Lehigh's inherent teaching technique is to have the students learn the material before they are taught it in class. This means that you are required to read the relevant textbook chapters and complete the assigned work before the professor teaches it. This method is very controversial because on the one hand, it is demanding on the students and can be counterproductive. However, it instills in students the ability to learn on their own, a skill essential in everyday life. I believe that Lehigh should find a medium between this method and one in which professors introduce material earlier.
    
    -The teaching methods really help us learn and retain the material. Professors expect a lot out of their students, and the students want to meet/exceed their expectations.
    
    -They need to stop deflating the grades. While in New York this past summer, I came across several interns with much higher GPAs than me who were much less qualified. It was frustrating because they have been getting more looks from Top Employers than me despite the fact that I'm more qualified.
    
    -The small class sizes allows professors to provide a level of detail to each class that is unmatched at larger business schools. Your professors will know your face and name so there’s no skipping classes at this school. Most professors will want to help however there are some bad egotistical eggs in the mix who won't look your way even if you're an A student. The small class sizes also allow for a lot of networking and bonding with your fellow classmates. Depending on your particular class though this could turn out one of two ways. Your class could take the high road and band together to mentor and tutor each other through the years or the low road where its every man for himself with cut throat competition that leaves the weakest links in the dust. There are pros and cons of both roads but I was lucky enough to part of the former group.
    
    -There is a lot of work in the business courses. It is very rigorous but definitely prepares you for the real world. I would say if they made each course worth 4 credits instead of 3 would be better. This will accurately reflect how much work goes into each class. There are no easy courses in the business school.
    
    -I think that Lehigh's curriculum is very balanced. I've had some of my best experiences in my business classes, in both my core Finance and Accounting classes as well as the general business curriculum. For the most part teachers are extremely helpful and looking to help students succeed. Many teachers have experience in the professional world and can provide valuable insights to prepare students for the future.
    
    -To make the business program stronger, I would suggest not making people take so many core requirements and requiring more major-specific courses in order to graduate. Some seemed redundant or not useful and cutting those out of the program would improve the quality of student and potential for exploring your major more in-depth.
    
    -The projects that the program has integrated into the classes have been the most valuable aspect in preparing me for the job world. I have had to work with many different people on many different types of projects. I have also received a fully comprehensive education in terms of the business world.
    
    -Lehigh has a program called Integrated Product Development (IPD) that is currently only an elective for business students. The program is a two semester-long program in which groups of students are paired up with real companies to develop real next-generation products. The program is currently geared towards engineers, but the experience you gain is second to none if you desire to work in any product-driven company as a business major. It's also a great way to work into an internship and eventually a full-time job with the company you get paired with.
    
    -Due to the size, Lehigh University has the ability to pay more attention to individual students. The school is small enough for smaller classes and a lower student to faculty ratio. Also, the school is large enough to encourage student organizations, programming, and other student-driven initiatives.
    
    -Our program is unique in that you get a sense of all industries before you select an area to concentrate on. There is also a lot of classes that provide real life and unique experiences that no other business program has. An example is the business 1 course that every freshman takes where you design a business plan, present it to real bankers to try to get a "loan" for financing, and is then assessed by Accenture. The program is partnered with NIKE and provides an interesting element to the course in that all topics are taught through the experiences and stories from the development of NIKE. The winners of Accenture's assessment get to go to the NIKE store in New York City.