The Economist ranked the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia’s M.S. in Commerce as the top fully U.S.-based master’s in management (MiM) program, placing it sixth worldwide. It was the only program at a U.S.-based institution to rank in the top 10. The M.S. in Commerce also moved up a spot to earn the #1 rating for education experience, and achieved other high marks, which include ranking #4 in the world across subcategories such as career services, faculty quality, student salary earnings, and personal development experiences.
“We are extremely pleased that The Economist continues to recognize the value of the M.S. in Commerce Program—and its excellence among the world’s best,” says McIntire Dean Nicole Thorne Jenkins. “Despite the many challenges of providing a truly global education during the pandemic, this ranking speaks to the ongoing acumen and creativity of our world-class faculty, who have nimbly updated the curriculum to meet the needs of students. By providing a unique and rigorous learning experience, the program prepares our students to tackle many business opportunities across the globe and meets the needs of employers intending to hire well-qualified MiM graduates.”
Designed to give students an integrated, enterprise-wide view of business, the M.S. in Commerce Program also develops in-depth skills in a functional specialty. The foundation of the program is a graduate-level version of McIntire’s renowned Integrated Core, an intense curriculum that helps students cultivate their analytic, strategic, and behavioral business skills. Blending curriculum innovation and insights from teams of faculty and corporate leaders, the coursework is carefully constructed and consistently updated to give students real-world exposure to the complexities of business, preparing them to meet the needs of an ever-changing world and highly competitive employment market.
Upon completion of the Integrated Core, students select and develop a specialty in one of three areas: business analytics, finance, or marketing and management. To complete their course of study, students take the Global Immersion Experience (GIE), a required faculty-led sequence of courses that purposefully guides students to explore business within a global context, culminating with on-site learning in locations around the world. For 2020 and 2021, due to the travel restrictions of the pandemic, the program pivoted to launch altogether new and relevant courses ranging from the business impacts of political and cultural issues in various regions, to global sustainability, international corporate governance, social entrepreneurship in emerging markets, and more—with all courses strengthened by input and engagement from international guest speaker experts.
Now in its 14th year, the M.S. in Commerce has further enhanced the curriculum through the Leadership Speaker Series, which exposes students to professionals currently applying their McIntire education. The brainchild of the program’s Academic Director, Professor Ira Harris, the series is composed chiefly of McIntire and UVA alumni who offer essential firsthand perspectives that capture the experiences of program graduates who are using their Commerce School knowledge in various professional fields.
McIntire reports favorable career outcomes for the past two graduating classes of the M.S. in Commerce, with 96-97% of students reporting being employed or seeking further study within three months after graduation. The average base salary reported for 2020 M.S. in Commerce graduates was $70,553; the average bonus was $24,656.
Find complete rankings at The Economist website.