Marriott School Ranked Most Family Friendly — Again

PROVO, Utah – Oct 14, 2009 – The Brigham Young University Marriott School of Management was ranked the most family friendly business school in the United States, according to The Princeton Review's "The Best 301 Business Schools," which hit the shelves last week. The Marriott School was also ranked third for most competitive students and fifth for best professors.

Since The Princeton Review's 2006 rankings, the Marriott School has been ranked No. 1 four times in the family friendly category. The Princeton Review's entry on student life at BYU notes that students and their families receive "excellent support" thanks to organizations like the MBA Spouse Association, which offers a network of support and a variety of activities for MBA students and their families.

"I know several people who chose the program because of how family friendly it is," says Kricket Barnum, MBASA president. "They know, and the professors here know, that families matter."

Barnum says MBASA benefits both students and their spouses. Spouses can foster friendships and find support during an often hectic time. And for students, it's a great way to network and get to know others in the program.

"We just want to ensure that the spouses have as good an experience here as the students do," Barnum says.

Perhaps one of the most significant factors in students' experience is the faculty, which was also highly rated by The Princeton Review this year.

"Excellent teaching is a rich tradition at BYU and in the Marriott School," says Michael Thompson, Marriott School associate dean. "The core mission of this university is to be a place where students can be stretched and supported in all aspects of their development — intellectual, social and spiritual. That requires a deeper engagement with students than many schools offer. For our faculty, teaching is a mission, not just one of our professional responsibilities."

The Princeton Review does not rank business schools on a single hierarchical list from one to 301 or name one business school best overall. Instead, the book has 11 ranking lists of the top 10 business schools in various categories. Ten lists are based on The Princeton Review's surveys of 19,000 students; one list is based on institutional data.

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.