Southwest Baptist University Ranked in Top Ten by Christian Publication

The September/October 2005 issue of Business Reform magazine, a five-year old Christian Business magazine, published updated rankings of various categories for business programs at Christian colleges and universities.

Southwest Baptist University’s College of Business and Computer Science (which includes the Accounting Department) ranked 4^th in the category of BEST JOB PLACEMENTS, another indicator that SBU graduates are well prepared for the marketplace. The SBU Accounting Department works hard to help each individual student achieve their maximum potential by emphasizing personal interaction with accounting majors in a variety of ways (classroom, study sessions, accounting club events, and small group learning activities). Then the department works to bring potential employers to SBU to interview students for internships and full-time positions. For example, two CPA firms are interviewing on campus in late September, 2005 and the Missouri State Auditor’s Office will interview students in October, 2005. SBU’s Accounting graduates consistently get jobs in accounting or finance-related fields usually before they graduate or within a few months of graduation.  Nick Layman, a May 2005 Accounting graduate, is shown interviewing with Camille Lockhart, Partner with BKD, LLP, the tenth largest CPA firm in the United States and based nearby in Springfield, Missouri.

The College of Business and Computer Science also was ranked 9^th in the BUSINESS FACULTY category. This is strong evidence that the variety of accounting, business, and computer science programs available at SBU will provide graduates with an excellent foundation for entering the business workplace. SBU’s College of Business and Computer Science graduates regularly score above the national average on national business assessment exams. In the last two years, these graduates have scored above the 85^th percentile nationally (50^th percentile would be “average”).