Ranked in the Top 25

Public Accounting Report Ranks UM’s Graduate and Undergraduate Programs in Nation’s Top 25 in 2006

OXFORD, Miss. – A new national ranking places the University of Mississippi’s undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting education in the nation’s top 25.

The Oct. 30 issue of the Public Accounting Report slots Ole Miss at No. 22 in undergraduate education, one spot up from the 2005 report. Unranked last year, UM’s graduate accountancy program cracked the 2006 list at No. 23.

“We have long known that our program in the Patterson School of Accountancy is among the best programs in the country and produces outstanding graduates who consistently rise to the challenges of professional competition,” said Chancellor Robert Khayat. “Recognition by the Public Accounting Report – the independent newsletter of the accounting profession – is a high compliment for our faculty, students and graduates.”

More than 1,000 schools in the United States offer accounting programs and around 500 of those, including UM, are accredited by the AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) as being among “the best accountancy and business programs in the world.”

“Being in the top 25 is indeed a significant accomplishment,” said Dale Flesher, associate dean and the Arthur Andersen Alumni Lecturer.

Schools holding the top two places in both graduate and undergraduate programs repeated from last year are the University of Texas and Brigham Young University. The top-ranked SEC school for 2006 is the University of Florida at No. 13 in both programs. The only other SEC schools ranked higher than Ole Miss are the universities of Alabama and Georgia.

Seven SEC schools and six Big 10 institutions failed to make the list, according to Flesher, who pointed out that “huge, respected accountancy programs, such as Penn State, Purdue, Northwestern and Minnesota, are not ranked in the Top 25.”

Summarizing the reason for the ranking, former dean Tonya Flesher, the Arthur Andersen Professor of Accountancy, said, “The ranking addresses the perception of how well our graduates will perform; this perception is based on the success of past graduates, the national reputation of the faculty and the availability of the largest accountancy library in the world.” Flesher was referring to the National Library of the Accountancy Profession, which is permanently housed on the Oxford campus.

The list of Top 25 undergraduate programs as it appears in the Oct. 30, 2006, issue of the Public Accounting Report follows: (1) University of Texas-Austin, (2) Brigham Young University, (3) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, (4) University of Notre Dame, (5) University of Southern California, (6) Texas A&M University, (7) Indiana University, (8) Michigan State University, (9) Ohio State University, (10) University of Wisconsin, (11) Northern Illinois University, (12) Miami University (Ohio), (13) University of Florida, (14) University of Virginia, (15) University of Alabama, (16) University of Georgia, (17) University of Washington, (18) Baylor University, (19) University of Missouri, (20) North Carolina State University, (21) University of Iowa, (22) University of Mississippi, (23) College of William & Mary, (24) Bentley College, and (25) Tie: University of Tennessee and Florida State University.