POINTS OF PRIDE

STUDENT EXPERIENCE

• 10% of students study abroad.
• Scholarships available for study abroad.
• Two thirds of students complete internships.
• 25% of graduates report offers of employment prior to graduation.
• International Business team compete Global Bilingual Sales Competition.
•  Illinois State University sales students rose to the top of more than 70 competing schools. Named overall champion at he National Collegiate Sales Competition.

ALUMNI

• The College has built its reputation on its ability to prepare students who can hit the ground running when they graduate.
• COB alumni hold executive positions in many different types of companies and industries, including government, law, and the non-profit sectors. Several have also become successful entrepreneurs and small business owners.
• Alumni salaries and time from degree to employment are competitive with national averages - average starting salaey is $55,000.
• During the 2020-2021 academic year the College of Business conferred undergraduate degrees to 946 individuals, 140 master degrees, and 54 certificates.
• More than 76% of our over 42,000 living alumni work in the Midwest, but are represented in all 50 states and abroad.
• Alumni rate the following skills as most important to their success in business: communication, use of technology, teamwork, problem solving, and critical thinking.
• The Career Services at Illinois State assists students and alumni in exploring satisfying career opportunities that fit their talents, interests, and goals. The Center also assists employers in finding candidates for career positions.

ACCREDITATION

• The College of Business is one of 190 schools in the United States to have achieved accreditation by the AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business for its undergraduate and graduate programs in business and accounting.

EXCELLENCE

• 74.5% first time pass rate for Master of Professional Accounting on CPA Exam.
• All classes taught by professors or business professionals
• Award winning Registered Student Organizations - Women in Business, Accounting and Financial Women's Alliance, Society for Human Resource Management, and many more.
• SCRUM Certification earned by 43 students.

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

• Over 42,000 graduates of the College of Business have put their skills to work in the fields of accounting, business information systems, finance, insurance, law, marketing, management, international business, and education - 9 undergraduate degrees, 4 graduate degrees, and multiple ceritifcate programs. 
• A special integrated Bachelor of Science/Master of Professional Accountancy major enables students to prepare for careers in professional accounting to meet the formal requirements needed to sit for the CPA exam. 
• The college offers the following master's degree programs: Illinois State MBA, Corporate MBA, Master of Science in Accountancy, and a Master of Science in Business Education.

HIGH RETENSION & GRADUATION RATES

• Illinois State students complete their degrees on time. ISU's retention rate remains among the highest in the nation at over 84percent, and our high graduation rate (69.1 percent) is well above the national average.
• 100% pass rates of students on the Certified Staffing Professional and Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) exams. (Management and Quantitative Methods Department)
• Ranked third in the State of Illinois overall for Master’s pass rates on CPA Exam with 70.4% (2017 NASBA Advanced Degrees First Time Events) (Accounting Department)
• As reported by the Illinois Board of Examiners (ILBOE), College of Business had an average of 54.9% for all scores, all degrees, all events.  Higher than the overall state average of 52.44%.  (Accounting Department).

• 97% of all College of Business students graduate in 5 years or less.

ENROLLMENT

• Recent College of Business enrollment has averaged just over 3649 undergraduates. The average ACT score for new freshmen in the College of Business for fall 2019 was 23.3

PERCENTAGE BY MAJOR - SPRING 2021

• 17.9% Accountancy & BS/MPA
• 22% Business Administration
• 1.5% Business Education & MS Business Education
• 5.4% Business Information Systems
• 17.4.% Finance
• 3.4% International Business
• 8.8% Management
• 21.9% Marketing
• 1.7% Risk Management & Insurance

• 65% males; 35% females 
• 29.4% minority representation
• 96% of undergrads are from Illinois

QUALITY OF STUDENTS

• 16 to 20% of the Honors students and Bone Scholars on campus since 1990 have been business majors.
• For the last several years it has taken at least a 3.80/4.0 GPA to get on the Dean's List and the average undergraduate GPA has been over 3.0/4.0.
•  This fall, new transfer students had an average transfer GPA of 3.34/4.0
• New freshman have an average composite ACT score of 23.7

FACULTY

• The college of Business has faculty representation from 16 home countries.
• The College of Business has a diverse and distinguished faculty with experience in all segments of business. All regular faculty hold doctoral degrees and/or professional certification in their areas of expertise and engage in research and professional service that enhance students' learning opportunities.
• Faculty prepare students for successful professional and managerial careers while maintaining a close relationship with the business community, relying on a balance between quality teaching and applied theoretical academic research.
• The first focus of our faculty is excellence in classroom instruction; the second focus is to be innovative scholars through research.
• Survey results indicate that students feel a major strength of the College of Business is the quality of its faculty and their willingness to help students, both in and outside of the classroom.
• The College of Business is unique in that all classes are taught by full-time faculty or industry professionals. No courses are taught by teaching assistants.

HIGH TECH LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

• The State Farm Hall of Business embraces the best features of the nation's most prominent business schools, while retaining the spirit of personalized, student-centered education that is the hallmark of Illinois State University. The facility is one of the best in the country and was built with student interaction, faculty, and technology as priorities. This facility is large, professional, and technologically sophisticated. This $28 million facility opened for classes in January of 2005 and is helping the College of Business expand and improve upon its student-centered mission.