Program Basics

• • Wisconsin BBA
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin School of Business
  • 975 University Avenue
  • Madison, Wisconsin
  • 53706
  • United States
  • Program Web site: http://bus.wisc.edu/bba
  • Program e-mail address: wisconsinbba@bus.wisc.edu
  • Program phone number: (608) 265-3771
  • Status: Public (state-operated)
• • AACSB accredited: Yes
• • Year in which the undergraduate business program was founded: 1944
• • Institution: Four Year
• • Business Program: Three Year

SCHOOL BASICS

• Enrollment:

  • Total undergraduate: 28,737
  • Full-time undergraduate business: 1,890
  • Part-time undergraduate business: 46
  • Distance undergraduate business: 0
• • College or university freshman retention rate: 94 %

• Percentage of students who graduate from the business program:

  • Within four years of admission to the university: 76 %
  • Within six years of admission to the university: 99 %

• Undergraduate Business Degrees Offered:

  • BBA/Bachelor of Business Administration

PROGRAM COSTS

• • Annual Tuition (Resident): $9,592.00
• • Annual Tuition (Non-Resident): $25,342.00
• • Annual Required Fees: $1,079.00
• • Tuition Per Academic Credit (Resident): $400.00
• • Tuition Per Academic Credit (Non-Resident): $1,056.00
• • Annual Room and Board: $7,780.00
• • Annual Cost of Books: $1,140.00

CLASS PROFILE

• Students in newest entering class that are:

  • Female: 40 %
  • International: 14 %

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

  • Mean: 21
  • Median: 20

• Percentage of newest entering class:

  • Top 10% of high school class: 57 %
  • Top 25% of high school class: 93 %
  • GPA of 3.75 or higher: 64 %
  • GPA of 3.5 to 3.74: 27 %

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

  • Mean: 1268
  • Median: 1270

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

  • From: 1210
  • To: 1330

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

  • Mean: 28
  • Median: 28

• Middle 50% range of ACT scores:

  • From: 27
  • To: 30

• Citizenship breakdown for newest entering class:

  • US: 86.3
  • Canada: .3
  • Other Non-US Citizens: 13.4

• U.S. citizens in newest entering class:

  • African American: 1.5
  • Asian American: 3.4
  • Hispanic or Latino American: 2.5
  • Native American: 1 %
  • White (Non-Hispanic): 91.2
  • Other: .4

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

  • Northeast: 5.9
  • Mid-Atlantic: 1 %
  • South: .8
  • Southwest: 1 %
  • Midwest: 88.3
  • West: 3 %

ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Institution

• Standardized tests required of all applicants:

  • ACT or SAT
• • Interviews are: Not offered

• Application deadlines:

  • Fall 2012 2/1/2012
  • Spring 2013 10/1/2012
• • Total undergraduate applicants, all programs: 34,150
• • Percentage of applicants admitted: 49 %
• • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 43 %
• • International applicants: 18 %
• • Female applicants: 40 %

• Relative Importance of Application Elements

  • Secondary school record: Very Important
  • Class rank: Important
  • Talent/ability: Considered
  • Interview: Not Considered
  • Extracurricular activities: Considered
  • Volunteer work: Considered
  • Character/personal abilities: Considered
  • Application essay: Important
  • Work experience: 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: 972
  • Percentage of applicants admitted: 63 %
  • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 99 %
• • 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: 3 %
  • Are freshman business admits required to complete or obtain minimum GPAs in pre-business courses before taking upper-level courses? Yes
  • Process for freshmen admission?: Complete an application, apart from the university application
  • Additional application requirements for freshman admits: A number of high-merit, incoming UW-Madison freshmen will be invited to apply for admission to the business school for the 2012-2013 academic year. A relatively small number of students from that group will be admitted to the business program directly out of high school. They will be evaluated holistically, with a combination of academic and personal strengths taken into consideration.

• Internal transfers:

  • Method for handling internal transfers: Separate application
  • Minimum college GPA for internal transfers to the business program: NA
  • Additional application requirements, including course/grade requirements: 1) students must complete a collection of pre-business courses 2) complete an essay application 3) submit a professional resume focusing on experience and involvement

CAMPUS LIFE

• Five largest on-campus organizations for business students:

  • Actuarial Science Club
  • Alpha Kappa Psi
  • Beta Alpha Psi
  • Mu Kappa Tau
  • Real Estate Club
• • 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:

  • BBA 120

ACADEMICS

• Average class size:

  • Required business classes: 65
  • Business electives: 32
  • Non-business electives: 70

• Percentage of business classes:

  • With 20 or fewer students: 32 %
  • With 21 to 50 students: 47 %
  • With more than 50 students: 21 %

• Course enrollment:

  • Percentage of required business courses reaching maximum enrollment by the first day of class: 66 %

CURRICULUM

• Electives:

  • Available business electives: 118
  • New electives: New Ventures in Business, the Arts & Social Entrepreneurship
• • Last curriculum overhaul: 2009
  • Total business faculty: 105
  • Percentage of the total faculty that is tenured or tenure track: 48.6

• Most prominent faculty:

  • Randy Wright
  • Jan Heide
  • Hollis Skaife

• Business program's leading areas of study:

  • • Accounting
    • Finance
    • Marketing
    • Actuarial Science
    • Real Estate
• • Special programs: 1) G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition 2) Entrepreneurial Residential Learning Community 3) LeaderShape 4) Leadership Certification 5) Big Ten Case Competition 6) Ignite the Potential
• • Work study: Several companies offer semester-long co-op opportunities and several departments within the Wisconsin School of Business offer work-study opportunities.
• • Study abroad programs: 24 study abroad programs in 19 countries in Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America are offered through the business program's International Programs office. Partnerships are with highly rated business school around the world. These programs are targeted towards business majors with courses counting towards business core, breadth and major requirements. Summer opportunities are also available.
• • Volunteer opportunities: 1) Project Give Back - school-wide effort to get students to participate in varied and extensive volunteer projects throughout the year 2) Grainger Goes Pink - annual student initiative brings awareness to breast cancer through guest speakers and other organized events

• Extra-curricular activities:

  • Actuarial Club, AIESEC, Alpha Kappa Psi, Asian Business and Economic Student Association
  • Association of Information Systems Professionals, Badger Business Buddies, Beta Alpha Psi
  • b.Line, Business Action for Sustainable Enterprise, Christians in Business
  • DECA, Delta Sigma Pi, Enterpreneurship Assocation, Fantasy Sports and FInance Club
  • Finance & Investement Society, Institute of Management Accountants, Investment Banking Club, Korean Business Student Association, Madison Business Mentoring
  • Mu Kappa Tau, Multicultural Business Student Association, National Organization for Business and Engineering, Phi Beta Lambda, Real Estate Club
  • Risk Management & Insurance Society, Sigman Iota Epsilon, Society for Human Resource Management, Society of Personal Investment, Sport Business Club, Students in Free Enterprise, Undergraduate Business Leadership Council
  • Underclassmen Outreach Committee, UW Rotaract/International Business Student Association, Wisconsin BBA Student Government, Wisconsin Consulting Club, Women in Business

FINANCIAL AID

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

• Scholarships

  • Scholarship money distributed to business students last year: $2,204,493.00
  • Expected scholarship distribution to business students this year: $2,284,945.00
  • Scholarships are awarded to business students based on: a combination of need and merit
  • Students receiving institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 46 %
  • Students receiving full-tuition institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 3 %
  • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on need: 38 %
  • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on merit: 62 %

• Loans

  • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan to all business students, regardless of nationality?: No
• • Mean outstanding debt, most recent graduating class: $11,377.00

CAREER SERVICES

• Employment Information

  • Percentage of most recent business graduates who supplied information regarding employment: 100 %
  • Percentage seeking full-time professional employment in business: 71.5
  • Percentage not seeking full-time professional employment in business: 28.5

• Received first job offer:

  • By graduation: 67 %
  • After graduation, but within 3 months: 8 %
  • More than 3 months after graduation : 2 %
  • No job offer reported: 23 %

• Accepted first job offer:

  • By graduation : 66 %
  • After graduation, but within 3 months: 8 %
  • More than 3 months after graduation: 2 %
  • No job acceptance reported: 24 %
• • Companies recruiting business students on campus: 382
  • Companies posting job offers for business students on school job boards: 1,763

• Top employers (number of students hired):

  • Kohl's Department Stores 19
  • Target Corporation 15
  • Epic Systems Corporation 13
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers 6
  • Proctor & Gamble 5
  • Googl 5
  • CUNA Financial Group 5
  • Altria Group, Inc. 5
  • Liberty Mutual 5
  • General Mills, Inc. 4
  • Ernst & Young 4
  • Deloitte, LLP 4
  • JP Morgan Chase & Co. 4
  • UBS 4
  • Milliman, Inc. 4

• Compensation

  • Mean base salary: $51,609.00
  • Median base salary : $52,000.00
  • Mean signing bonus: $5,517.00
  • Median signing bonus: $5,000.00
  • Mean other guaranteed compensation: $3,107.00
  • Median other guaranteed compensation: $2,000.00

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

  • Consulting: 8 %
  • Finance/Accounting: 29.9
  • General Management: 3.8
  • Human Resources: 2.6
  • Management Information Systems: 3.8
  • Marketing/Sales: 26.1
  • Operations/Production: 1.6
  • Logistics/Transportation: 0 %
  • Other: 24.2

• Most recent graduates accepted jobs in the following industries:

  • Accounting: 7.3
  • Consumer Products/Retail : 23 %
  • Consulting: 6 %
  • Financial Services: 20 %
  • Government/Education: 1 %
  • Pharma/Biotech/Health: 2 %
  • Manufacturing: 4 %
  • Media/Entertainment: 2 %
  • Petroleum/Energy: 0 %
  • Real Estate: 7 %
  • Sports/Leisure: 1.3
  • Technology/Science: 8.6
  • Non-Profit: 1 %
  • Transportation: 1.3
  • Utilities: 0 %
  • Other: 11 %

• 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: 14.1
  • Mid-Atlantic: 3 %
  • Midwest: 74.8
  • South: 2.7
  • Southwest: .7
  • West: 4.7
  • Possessions and territories: 0 %
• • Career services offered: We offer specialized one-on-one advising appointments for students based on their major, over 30 career workshops annually, 400 mock interview with employers, career fairs, drop-in advising, an online recruitment system, the Wisconsin School of Business Alumni directory, alumni networking events, career development tools, video conferencing, business cards, and more. The career center has 33 corporate partners that provide financial support for the career development resources for students.

INTERNSHIPS

• • Companies recruiting business students for internships on campus: 265
  • Companies posting internship offers for business students on school job boards: 715

• Top internship employers (number of students hired):

  • PriceWaterhouseCoopers 33
  • KPMG 21
  • Ernst & Young 13
  • Deloitte 12
  • Kohl's Department Stores 9
  • CUNA Mutual Group 6
  • JP Morgan Chase 6
  • McGladrey 5
  • Dominium Development 5
  • General Electric 4
  • UBS Financial Services 4
  • Robert W. Baird & Co. 4
  • Target Corporation 4
  • IBM 4
  • Baker Tilly 4

• Internship pay

  • Internships that are paid: 75 %
  • Mean compensation, per week, for paid internships only: 760.67
  • Median compensation, per week, for paid internships only: $750.00
  • Average internship length, in weeks: 10

B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

• • Total number of undergraduate business program graduates since inception: 32,902
  • Total living alumni of the undergraduate business program: 28,627
  • Percentage of living alumni who contributed to the business program or university in the last academic year: 16 %

• Alumni gifts

  • Mean Gift: $2,750.00
  • Median Gift: $150.00
  • 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

  • Tom Falk CEO, Kimberly-Clark Corporation
  • John Morgridge Chairman Emeritus, Cisco Systems
  • John Oros Managing Director, JC Flowers & Co.

• • -The core classes that we need to take (accounting, finance, marketing, etc.) are taught very well. Even those that aren't interested in the subject matter learn valuable information. In addition, the professors that teach the classes have a vast amount of knowledge about their subject and are able to bring real world events into our learning. Finally, the internship and job placement is outstanding. If you are looking for one or the other, advisers and counselors will do anything to help you be the best candidate for those positions.
    
    -The Wisconsin School of Business's motto is "Be Out in Front." The business program really tries to foster leadership within students to create the next generation of business leaders. The leadership skills I've gained in student organizations, my classes, and from activities sponsored by the school couldn't be gained anywhere else.
    
    -I would like to see more personal outreach from the advising staff. I have business advisors who have been assigned to me based on my majors but I have never been contacted by them or spoken with them. I have only gone to the advising office during walk-in appointments and spoken to the first available advisor.
    
    -The accounting program has really helped to shape my experience. It is very structured to help students gain experience in the field, as well as the technical knowledge needed to sit for the certified public accountant exam. It also integrates activities to help develop communication and collaboration skills, as well as an awareness of ethical and social responsibility.
    
    -There could be more focus on bringing current events into our curriculum. Also, the school needs to directly admit more students into the program.
    
    -In my personal experience, the real estate department has gone above and beyond anything I could have expected. The exposure to MBAs, professionals and professors who all have experience in the industry have given me the hard and soft skills that I can use to build a successful career in real estate. Classes are focused on teaching through hands on learning and really makes the process of education beneficial.
    
    -Career services offer many helpful tools but they do not advertise them well or push them at us. Many students likely don't know about these services, and it would be nice for all of us to experience these things. I know people in other universities who talk about their career services, which sound much better than ours.
    
    -Our students are very driven and hard working. Also, our administration is extremely open to student feedback, and I have seen them make many significant changes based on student opinion. Also, we are taught by leading researchers in their fields that keep us up to date and in tune with recent academic developments.
    
    -I think our business school could come together to foster a little more sense of community. I believe we are taking steps in the right direction with the creation of a BBA Government but there is still a long way to go. A lot of top tier programs have a great sense of community within their schools, which results in great pride, and traditions and I believe that is something we can really build here at Wisconsin.
    
    -Networking events are an important part of the business world and I think Wisconsin does a great job at facilitating such events. For my real estate major, I have been on networking trips to New York and Los Angeles. I also attended a commercial real estate convention in Munich, Germany through an international real estate class.
    
    -Most of the math-based majors (accounting, finance, actuarial science, etc.) are fantastic and have great job placement rates & high starting salaries. But some of the softer subjects (human resources, marketing) don't have placement rates or salary rates that are as high as the math-based programs, which makes our business school look worse overall. We need to figure out a way to improve recruiting in those majors in order to help out our overall statistics.
    
    -We offer an actuarial science program, which is one of the best in the country. The expertise of the faculty, camaraderie among students in the program, and the willingness of actuarial club advisors to go out of their way to help us in our career has far exceeded my expectations. I am very confident that I could not have had this experience at any other university in the country.
    
    -I feel like my major, information systems, is the weakest program within this business program. We need more detailed information available in publish about how important InfoSys is in business and what we do.
    
    -Great student organizations set us apart. In the finance program alone we have three strong groups (Investment Banking Club, Capital Management Club, Finance & Investment Society) that all push real world skills on their members. Whether it be excel workshops, guest speakers, stock pitches, or practicing financial modeling, the organizations know the skill set that is necessary for success in the future, and teach it to the members.