Michigan State University’s supply chain program continues setting the national standard, according to U.S. News & World Report’s latest rankings of America’s Best Colleges, out Sept. 12.
For the second year in a row, the magazine ranked MSU’s supply chain specialty for undergraduate students No. 1, ahead of the program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In March, U.S. News & World Report ranked the supply chain program for graduate students No. 2, behind only MIT. Later that month, the MSU program’s chairperson, David Closs, was invited to the White House to discuss ways of making the nation’s supply chains more sustainable.
The supply chain program, located in the Broad College of Business, is known for training students on the entire supply chain of a given product, from commodity raw materials, to the point the product is consumed, and even the recycling process.
Overall, Michigan State ranked 72 on the list of 281 national universities, putting it in the top 25 percent of major public and private higher education institutions.
On the list of top public universities, MSU was 28.
U.S. News also recognized three “outstanding programs” at MSU designed to foster student success: study abroad, service learning (in which students volunteer in the community) and learning communities (or residential colleges).
The Broad College of Business’ undergraduate program ranked 24.
In addition to supply chain, several other specialties within the business college also fared well: production/operations management (11), accounting (13) and international business (20).
MSU’s College of Engineering undergraduate program came in at 44.
U.S. News bases its rankings on a number of factors, which are weighted, including undergraduate academic reputation; graduation and retention rates; faculty resources; student selectivity; financial resources; alumni giving; and graduation rate performance, or the difference between actual and predicted graduation rates.