Sykes College of Business Named One of the World’s Top Business Schools by Princeton Review

For the sixth year in a row, The University of Tampa’s Sykes College of Business has been named an outstanding business school by the Princeton Review — and recognized as one of the 294 best business schools in the world. The Princeton Review features the school in the 2011 edition of The Best 294 Business Schools.

The Princeton Review tallied its ranking lists based on its surveys of 19,000 students attending the 294 business schools during the 2010-11, 2009-10, and 2008-09 academic years.

In The University of Tampa write up, students are quoted as saying that the Sykes College of Business is “a great, friendly place to study” and that “The University of Tampa does an excellent job preparing you for the business world.” Students also appreciate the “cheap tuition,” and that “most of the classes require heavy interaction instead of just the instructor speaking.” Lastly, students also praise the “beautiful campus” with “a business building that is top notch, with up-to-date facilities.”

The Sykes College of Business offers both undergraduate and graduate coursework. Graduate students can pursue an MBA, as well as Master of Science degrees in accounting, finance and marketing. There are joint MS/MBA degrees, as well as part-time, full-time and executive MBA schedules.

Frank Ghannadian, dean of the Sykes College of Business, said students at UT are successful in that they have ample opportunities to mix classroom work with real world business application.

“The College of Business is renowned for graduating students who are well prepared to make immediate impacts in the business community,” Ghannadian said. In fact, he added, numerous businesses recruit annually at The University of Tampa, including T. Rowe Price, Citigroup, Syniverse Technologies, Coca-Cola Enterprises and Franklin Templeton Investments.

Within an 80,000-square-foot facility, the College of Business offers state-of-the-art resources such as the Huizenga Family Foundation Trading Center and more than 1,300 data ports and Wi-Fi for high-speed access. It is also home to the Center for Ethics, TECO Energy Center for Leadership, Naimoli Institute for Business Strategy and the UT Entrepreneurship Center.

“We recommend the Sykes College of Business to readers of our book and users of our site, www.PrincetonReview.com, as one of the best institutions they could attend to earn an MBA,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review senior VP-Publisher. “We chose the 294 business schools in this book based on our high opinion of their academic programs and offerings, as well as our review of institutional data we collect from the schools.”

The Sykes College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and is one of the few business schools in the Southeast accredited at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. UT is one of only 33 nationwide universities — and the only in Florida — with information systems program accreditation by the Computing Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

The Best 294 Business Schools: 2012 Edition has two-page profiles of the schools with write-ups on their academics, student life and admissions, plus ratings for their academics, selectivity and career placement services. The book was released by Random House/Princeton Review and can be purchased at local and online bookstores.