Texas A&M University's executive MBA program provides its students with the best return on investment of any program in the country, according to rankings by The Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper compared 27 schools across the country and, in an article published Wednesday, found that A&M's program in the Mays Business School provided students with the highest five-year return on investment: 243 percent.
The University of Florida's program, with a return of 212 percent, was the only other school with a rate higher than 200 percent.
"We are obviously very excited about it because it means that our programs are adding value to our students' careers," said Jerry Strawser, the dean of the Mays Business School.
According to the newspaper's survey, the median total cost of the two-year program is $54,00, and students receive an initial median raise of about 11 percent after they graduate. The projected salary of a graduate five years after completing the program is $181,718, the paper reported.
"At A&M, low tuition and a no-frills focus are at the heart of the program," the article said.
Strawser said the ability to keep tuition costs low while providing a solid education is especially vital in the current economic climate.
"In general, companies are being very careful about subsidizing the effects of this program," he said. "People are going to make an investment in themselves, and they need to be sure they are getting good returns."
Strawser said the program has fewer retreats and other expensive features that some others and instead focuses on classroom work and personal instruction from prestigious teachers.
"When you are offering a program for people who are working and are paying tuition themselves, you have to consider what adds value to the class or not," he said. "We will never compromise on the best faculty and putting up the best material."
The program is based in The Woodlands, and its capacity of 50 students per class has been filled in each of the past four years. Strawser said the new ranking should make the school even more attractive to potential students.
"Any time you are ranked No. 1 in The Wall Street Journal in anything, it attracts students," he said.
About 94 percent of the program's students are from the Houston area, and 14 percent have other degrees from Texas A&M. The program didn't make the top 25 in The Wall Street Journal's overall rankings.
Four of the top seven program on the return-on-investment list are based in Texas. The other three in Texas are the University of Texas programs in Austin and Dallas and the Southern Methodist University program in Dallas.
TOP 10
Universities offering the best values in their executive MBA programs, as ranked by the Wall Street Journal:
1. Texas A&M University
2. University of Florida
3. Ohio State University
4. University of California, Los Angeles
5. University of Texas at Austin
6. University of Texas at Dallas
7. Southern Methodist University
8. Rutgers University
9. University of Notre Dame
10. University of Southern California
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