Heavener School the No. 23 best undergraduate business program in the nation
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Heavener School of Business at the University of Florida Warrington College of Business is again among the top U.S. schools on U.S. News & World Report’s “2023 Best Undergraduate Business Programs” rankings released Monday. With this ranking, Heavener maintained its status as the No. 23 undergraduate business program in the nation (No. 13 among publics) and the best undergraduate business school in the state of Florida.
With its No. 23 national ranking out of 516 ranked schools, the Heavener School is among the top 5 percent of all ranked undergraduate business schools in the United States.
In the same ranking, for the second year in a row, the University of Florida was named among the top five public research universities in the nation. The No. 5 recognition reaffirms UF’s status as an academic powerhouse in research, innovation, educational excellence, student outcomes and technology transfer.
“At the Heavener School, we’re committed to providing our students with the best of the best opportunities for hands on learning and leadership,” said Erica Studer-Byrnes, Assistant Dean and Director of the Heavener School of Business. “From innovative academic experiences, unparalleled flexibility in our degree offerings, to professional development opportunities that provide customized skill development that’s right for each student, we are preparing the next generation of transformational leaders for the state of Florida and beyond.”
The Heavener School saw significant advances in its degree program rankings, six of which were ranked as part of U.S. News’ annual list. The undergraduate programs in accounting, marketing and real estate were ranked in the top 10 among national programs. Accounting rose to the No. 10 program in the nation along with gains by the finance and management programs, up four and five places from last year to the No. 14 and No. 21 best programs in the nation, respectively. After not being ranked in 2022, information systems joined the list as the No. 21 best program in the nation.
The complete list of the Heavener School’s impressive rankings is as follows:
Heavener School of Business
Overall: #23
Among Publics: #13
Accounting
Overall: #10
Among Publics: #5
Finance
Overall: #14
Among Publics: #8
Information Systems
Overall: #21
Among Publics: #17
Management
Overall: #21
Among Publics: #13
Marketing
Overall: #10
Among Publics: #8
Real Estate
Overall: #8
Among Publics: #5
Beyond its numerous top-ranked degree programs, the Heavener School offers its students professional development opportunities that lead to excellent career outcomes.
For Heavener Hall of Fame inductee Ophir Rotem (BSBA ’19), Heavener’s professional development opportunities, coupled with its cutting-edge academics, assisted her in making connections that would lead to her current role as a Senior Account Executive/Growth Analyst with Proctor & Gamble. Rotem was involved with many student organizations as an undergraduate student, including Florida Leadership Academy, Career and Academic Peer Mentors, the Business Undergraduate Mentorship Program and the Warrington Diplomats.
“The leadership opportunities at [Heavener] are significant,” Rotem said. “I competed in case competitions and learned to deliver recommendations to executives and handle their questions. That’s what I do every day [in my role] at Procter & Gamble.”
Rotem also was able to find mentors at Heavener, and as she grew in her experience as a student, she also became a mentor to younger students. It helped her learn the importance of mentorship – both as the mentor and mentee – and that has continued in her role at Procter & Gamble.
“I learned at [Heavener] how to seek mentors and find people that can help me in my career,” Rotem said. “I’ve been at Procter & Gamble two years, and I can mentor others now and know how powerful that is. [Heavener] did a great job in helping me learn how to do that.”
To calculate these rankings, U.S. News surveyed deans and senior faculty members at each of the 516 undergraduate business programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in the spring and early summer of 2022. These deans and faculty members – two at each AACSB-accredited business program – were asked to rate the quality of all programs with which they were familiar on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). The undergraduate business school rankings were based solely on the judgements of deans and senior faculty members at peer institutions.
For the specialty rankings, U.S. News asked deans and senior faculty to nominate up to 15 of the best programs among each specialty area. A school had to receive seven or more top-15 nominations in a specific specialty area to be included on the list.
