Hi, i want to ask your opinion about the best business liberal art colleges in America. I made research and realized that quit few LACs teach business?
And if you have any idea about best LACs in Accounting and Product Management, please recommend! Thank you
I will give you some eastern schools that would fall into this general bracket. Some are technically universities but are matches nonetheless. Loyola Maryland, Bucknell, Lehigh, Muhlenberg, Holy Cross, TCNJ, Providence, Richmond, Villanova, St. Bonaventure, U of Scranton and Manhattan College. All have excellent business schools. Holy Cross does not have a business school but has an elite accounting/finance major capped at 32 students per class.
Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Washington and Lee
Rollins College
Skidmore College
Dickinson College
Franklin and Marshall
Rhodes College
St. Anselm College
Wake Forest University
Millsaps College
Mills College
College of Charleston
Trinity University in San Antonio
Babson College
I think its a stretch to call Wake Forest, Bentley or Babson an LAC
I would agree. Bentley and Babson are small, business centric, colleges with good reputations. I know a few who have graduated from Babson and been hired by leading firms. They’re now partners. I also know partners who were English majors at state flagships schools. There are many paths into the business world but with regards to Babson, here’s a link to their website……http://www.babson.edu/Academics/divisions/arts-humanities/Pages/home.aspx.
Claremont McKenna has an Econ-Accounting major, and the general atmosphere at the school is very pre-professional focused.
@CHD2013 Why do you not think that Wake Forest is an LAC?
I would not call Babson a LAC, but I would call it a “business LAC”. I would also call Harvey Mudd a “STEM LAC”. Both schools teah their respective disciplines with a liberal arts focus.
@Irreplaceable - because they call themselves a research university
The reason so few LAC’s teach “business” is because business is a vocation and is not a “liberal art.” The basic tenet of liberal arts is that students at the undergrad level should not be focused on career preparation but rather on acquiring and mastering the deeper skills and thought processes that will facilitate a broad variety of career paths later on.
That said, Babson.
@CHD2013 They also claim to offer an undergraduate liberal arts education, and the general consensus in the Wake Forest section of the forum is that it is a liberal arts institution with a few grad programs and less research than other research universities. I just figured you’d have a better reason for why you don’t think Wake Forest provides a liberal arts education.
Here is one list of LACs:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges
The following page describes the USNWR basis for classifying these and other schools:
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2014/09/08/best-colleges-ranking-category-definitions
US News classifies Wake Forest as a National University. This follows its “basic” Carnegie classification
(http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup_listings/view_institution.php?unit_id=199847&start_page=institution.php&clq=%7B%22first_letter%22%3A%22W%22%7D)
Maybe the OP is looking for small schools that teach business.
Babson is a highly-regarded business school that enrolls only about 2K undergraduates.
USNWR (and Carnegie) classifies University of Richmond as a LAC.
http://news.richmond.edu/releases/archives/dec04/Carnegie.html
Nevertheless, URichmond does have business programs.
Bloomberg ranked Richmond #17 in 2014 for undergraduate business programs.
http://www.bloomberg.com/bschools/rankings/#5
Richmond appears to be the only “LAC” listed in the Bloomberg top 100 undergraduate business programs.
Holy Cross has a strong accounting program with great job placement.
Washington and Lee is a top LAC with those programs.
Westminster College in Salt Lake City Utah supposedly has a strong regional reputation for the quality of its business graduates. One of the benefits of Westminster is its proximity to the University of Utah and suburban SLC location. Both of those provide increased social and professional opportunities for students. For instance, one of my friends who goes to the U lives between the two schools and regularly socializes with students at both schools. I’ve heard from a couple of seniors at more isolated LACs that smaller schools tend to feel a bit claustrophobic by the end of junior year, a problem that likely would not exist at an urban liberal arts college.
You may also be interested in [this press release from Southwestern University](Trust the accountants - liberal arts pays off! • Southwestern University), a small LAC in an exurb of Austin.
If you are interested in accounting, I would make sure that the Big 4 accounting firms heavily recruit there. Big 4 accounting is not for everyone, but it is a great place to start your career for most.
@IIrreplaceable - I guess another reason that I don’t classify Wake as an LAC is that its too big. Most LACs I know are in the 1,00 - 3,000 student range. I’m not sure what the cut-off is, but I think 7,000 exceeds it.
If you classified Wake as an LAC, why not Dartmouth, Tufts, Princeton, Bown, Rice . . . ?
I agree with you. Though a university, Wake is arguably the most LAC-like of any of the national universities and has a heavy emphasis on undergrads, not just a small student body (4800 undergrads). It has fewer large classes than any of the national universities except Yeshiva, as I recall – in fact, it has fewer classes with 50+ students than some respected LACs like Williams and Pomona. Unfortunately, Wake is also the least known of the national universities on these forums, much like its fellow NC school Davidson.
I’d add Tulsa to the list, which has a business school and the extra perk of being fairly generous with merit aid, but I think most of the obvious suspects have already been recommended.
Colgate posters have spoken highly of the econ program there over the years, so it may be an option as well.