Notre Dame Executive Education programs earn Top 20 rankings by BusinessWeek

The Executive MBA program at the University of Notre Dame ranked No. 20, while its custom programs earned a No. 19 slot in the BusinessWeek biennial survey of the world’s top 25 executive education programs. The ranking was announced online Nov. 5 and is available in the print magazine on newsstands now.

“The combination of rigor and values-based leadership in our programs resonates with those who are charged with leading teams and organizations through complexity,” said Sharon Keane, director of Notre Dame Executive Education at the Mendoza College of Business.  “These rankings are a wonderful affirmation of our approach and work.”

The Notre Dame Executive MBA received an “A+” for teaching and an “A” for curriculum, making it one of only 13 Executive MBA programs to receive an “A” or better in both areas. Graduate comments accompanying the survey lauded the program for its ethics-focused curriculum and for bringing real-world cases and executive guest speakers into the classroom, particularly during an extraordinary time when the financial crisis was unfolding in the country.

“It’s important that leadership takes a holistic approach, as with our integral leadership model,” said Carolyn Y. Woo, Martin J. Gillen Dean of the Mendoza College of Business. “We want to inspire our students to create economic value, while also achieving social good.”

The Notre Dame EMBA enrolls approximately 240 students total in its 21-month program in South Bend, Ind., which has an off-site classroom in Cincinnati, and its 17-month program in downtown Chicago.

Northwestern University, the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania took the top three spots in the EMBA ranking. BusinessWeek utilizes two main sources of data to determine how the schools stack up — a survey of recent EMBA graduates and a survey of EMBA program directors.

The No. 19 ranking of the Notre Dame Executive Education custom programs was based on a survey of 188 corporate clients across schools. Custom programs provide individualized developmental opportunities for corporations, non-profit organizations and government entities. Clients for Notre Dame’s custom programs include Biomet, Bayer Corp., OfficeMax, Chevron, the U.S. Navy and Bon Secours Health System.  The rankings were determined by survey results of high-level executive education contacts within the corporate clients’ organizations. The goal is to identify the programs that are considered best-in-class by the vast majority of companies that are familiar with them.

The Mendoza College of Business has offered Executive Education programs since 1982.  In addition to custom and Executive MBA programs, Notre Dame’s Executive Education department offers open-enrollment and online courses for executives, managers and supervisors.

For more information about the Notre Dame Executive Education program, call (574) 631-5285 or (800) 631-3622, or visit business.nd.edu/executive_education. For information on the Notre Dame Executive MBA program, call (574) 631-4948 or (866) 218-4948, or visit http://business.nd.edu/executive_mba/

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