OSU Fisher College of Business is located between West Woodruff and West Lane avenues. Fisher was recently ranked the No. 36 best US business school by Forbes.
Credit: Brent Hankins / Lantern photographer
Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business was recently ranked one of the top graduate business schools in the country.
Fisher was ranked as the No. 36 best business school in the U.S. by Forbes. This list is published once every two years, and schools are ranked by their MBA program alumni’s returns on investment. There was no significant change for Fisher, which was ranked as the No. 34 best school in the 2011 poll.
The top spot on the 2013 list went to the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in California.
Using return on investment, Forbes used the cost of going to a school with the average base salary of its graduates for their first five years out of school. Fisher full-time MBA students pay tuition of about $29,700 for in-state, while out-of-state students pay more than $47,000, for two semesters. The median base salary for a Fisher graduate in 2012 was $90,000, according to Forbes.
About 97 percent of graduates were employed within three months after graduation, according to Forbes.
Brian Croyle, a third-year in operations management, said although he’s an undergraduate, he’s gotten jobs in the past in part because of his Fisher affiliation.
“When I was working as a manager downtown at Max & Erma’s, the Fisher name was recognized. I applied as a manager at Kroger and I got a call back within 20 minutes and the first thing they said was, ‘So you went to Fisher,’” Croyle said. “Fisher is pretty important.”
Students can choose between a variety of programs in the college, including master’s degrees in accounting, finance, human resource management, business logistics engineering and business operational excellence, in addition to the full-time MBA.
Ann Hamilton, a Fisher spokeswoman, said the college posts some rankings on its website for advertising and recruiting purposes.
“Students are very savvy, they have access to information at their fingertips,” Hamilton said.
She was also optimistic about Fisher’s current ranking.
“Generally, we feel good,” Hamilton said, adding that Fisher is “on the path” to improving its rankings.
Some students, though, said they were unaware of what Fisher was ranked.
Christian Merrill, a fourth-year in arts and technology with a marketing minor, said while he knew the rankings were available, he hadn’t checked them out.
“I do know the college is prestigious around here,” Merrill said.
The website lists 118 full-time MBA students in the class of 2013 and has more than 200 students enrolled in its other graduate programs.
Hamilton said no matter what the ranking, it’s important that the college’s students, staff and faculty are recognized for their excellence.
“They (Fisher’s programs) are strong and getting stronger, and it will improve over time as Ohio State moves from excellence to eminence. Right now, we are very proud of our academic standing,” Hamilton said.
