BusinessWeek has recognized the evening MBA program at the C. T. Bauer College of Business as one of the best in the nation by including it in the 2007 list of the 30 Best Part-Time MBA Programs.

This survey marks the first time that BusinessWeek has ranked part-time MBA programs. Bauer College’s program is the only Houston program on the list and is No. 27 in the United States and No. 4 in the Southwest region. Only 30 private and public business schools made the list which was culled from 340 programs across the country, ultimately including Bauer as well as the University of California - Los Angeles, New York University, Wake Forest University, Washington University, Emory University, University of Chicago and Boston University, among others.

Bauer was one of four Texas programs recognized, placing higher on the list than the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, which ranked No. 30 in the country and No. 5 in the Southwest. University of Texas at San Antonio ranked No. 26 in the country and Southern Methodist University was No. 13.

“This ranking signifies a great success by all of our students, faculty and staff as well as the University and Houston communities,” Dean Arthur D. Warga said. “We are thrilled to be included in such a prestigious list of schools and even more excited that this is the first ever BusinessWeek ranking for our evening MBA program. Our MBA students’ positive feedback about our program made this ranking possible.”

For nearly 70 years, Bauer has educated business professionals through its evening MBA program, which is designed to allow students to earn their degrees while maintaining full-time employment. Students are challenged by other motivated professionals who have a broad range of academic and occupational backgrounds that add value to the overall educational experience.

The program is designed to give students a foundation in such areas as management, accounting, finance, operations management, statistics and marketing. Students can complete the program and earn degrees in about 30 months. Almost 9,000 students have graduated from the part-time program since its inception.

The BusinessWeek ranking is a testament to the hard work of all of those students, as well as the faculty, staff and mentors that guided them along the way, said Dr. Latha Ramchand, associate dean for graduate and professional programs.

“We are very pleased that BusinessWeek has ranked us the No. 27 evening MBA program in the nation, and the No. 4 evening MBA program in the region,” she said. “It is gratifying that the work of our students, faculty and staff is getting the recognition it truly deserves.”

“After we take a moment to savor and celebrate this honor, we plan to keep this momentum going and will continue to focus on offering high-quality educational programs for the Houston community,” Ramchand added.

Rankings Methodology
The rankings were determined by three measures, including student surveys completed by more than 3,000 graduate students across the country. BusinessWeek also assessed an academic quality score based on average GMAT score, average work experience, the percentage of tenured faculty, class size, electives and completion rate. The rankings also considered post-MBA outcomes, which measured how many survey respondents credit their respective program as being “completely” responsible for them achieving their goals. The top 30 list can be found at http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/bschool_ptmba_2007/

About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research and teaching institution is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.

About the C. T. Bauer College of Business
The C. T. Bauer College of Business has been in operation for more than 60 years at the University of Houston main campus. Through its five academic departments, the college offers a full-range of undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees in business. The Bauer College is fully accredited by the AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In August 2000, Houston business leader and philanthropist Charles T. (Ted) Bauer endowed the College of Business with a $40 million gift. In recognition of his generosity, the college was renamed the C. T. Bauer College of Business.

About the Evening MBA Program
The program awarded its first graduate degree in 1939 and has since graduated almost 9,000 students. Accredited by the prestigious AACSB International, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the Houston MBA is the largest MBA program in the Houston area and one of the largest in Texas. In 2004, Bloomberg Markets ranked the program 12th in the nation and 5th among public universities in producing CEOs of S&P 500 companies.

About BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek is a global source of trusted content that informs and inspires business leaders to make smarter decisions in their professional and personal lives. Founded in 1929 and published by the McGraw-Hill Companies, BusinessWeek magazine is the market leader, with more than 4.8 million readers each week in 140 countries. Local language editions include Chinese, Russian, and Bahasa Indonesian. Launched in 1994, BusinessWeek.com is the preeminent provider of daily, essential business news, information, and services to business decision-makers. Reaching 85% of the nation’s households, BusinessWeek TV delivers important business, consumer and financial news to television viewers every week.