The Goddard School of Business and Economics has been ranked one of the best business schools to attend, according to the Princeton Review. The school was ranked among 296 business schools in the nation.

The business school has been ranked before by the Princeton Review, and continues to show positive feedback from students. The school has been ranked as one of the best in the nation for the third year in a row. The school was ranked based on academics, faculty and student relations, and students’ level of career preparation.

“We really have a high-quality program,” said Jeff Steagall, dean of the business school.

Steagall, who is in his first year as dean, has made efforts to gain national attention for the school. He has emphasized supply chain management, entrepreneurship, international business, environmental sustainability and the Master of Taxation program.

The school has 2,400 students out of the 26,000 enrolled at Weber State University. There are only 44 faculty members, with an average class size of 27. With the school being so big, Steagall said it tries to do something for every group of students.

“We have lots of different programs, and all those programs are important to us,” Steagall said.

Entrepreneurship is a growing endeavour, especially in Utah. Steagall said that the program reaches out to all kinds of majors around the university. He recently spoke with faculty at the college of performing arts, and how students can start there own business in that program.

Steagall said the school puts a lot of work into preparing students for future employment. A lot of students come back for a master’s program. The Master of Business Administration is one of the top master’s programs at WSU.

“In the MBA program, we do strive to have a diverse group of students,” Steagall said.

The MBA program was started in 2000, and efforts are still being made to advertise and recruit students. Word of mouth has brought more students to the program to see its quality. Mark Stevenson, enrollment director of the MBA program, said students have had positive things to say about it.

“We do provide quite a quality education for an affordable price,” Stevenson said. “The MBA is the most sought-after master’s degree in the country currently.”

Stevenson said the school doesn’t price people out of the market they can pay, since not all employers will help pay for them to get master’s degrees. On average, around 220 active students are in the program. Close to 90 percent of the students in the program will graduate.

Different recruiting efforts take place through publications, Business and Industry Night, and sponsoring events, such as the Business and Sustainability Conference and the Intermountain Sustainability Summit.

“We do put ourselves out there in the community,” Stevenson said.

The program has graduate certificates in environmental sustainability, contract management, aerospace management and information technology. The first three of these four are more recent. Stevenson said he thinks environmental sustainability is very important.

“It really is about enhancing (the) bottom line, saving money and reducing waste,” Stevenson said. “Environmental constraints are going to play a role in our future.”

Students complete the MBA program at the WSU Davis campus. It is flexible with students’ work schedules, with eight-week courses in which students have class once a week and do the rest online. Stevenson said the flexibility of the program allows students to work at their own paces.

“We have quality faculty and a flexible format,” he said.

Stevenson said the nice thing about the Princeton Review is that it’s based on surveys of students. He said the most important thing is the quality of the education and the way the students are treated.

Mina Eastes, student senator for the College of Business and Economics, said the faculty members at the business school are very approachable and willing to go out of their way to help.

“When teachers are more willing to help us, we’re more willing to learn,” Eastes said.

Eastes said not only is the school affordable, but a very good education and experience. She said she thinks it deserves to be called one of the best schools.