SFSU's MBA program has reason to celebrate in the new year -- the 2006 edition of the Princeton Review's "Best 237 Business Schools" ranks it third on its top 10 list of MBA schools offering the "Greatest Opportunity for Minority Students."

"The College of Business offers its students a rich experience which mirrors the global world in which they will live and work," Dean Nancy Hayes said. "We believe both our ethnically and racially diverse student body and faculty contribute significantly to the value of the students' educational experience and better prepare them for the opportunities they will pursue throughout their business careers."

The ranking is based on statistical information submitted by business schools and the opinions of 11,000 students at 143 schools. Opportunities for minority students are evaluated on five criteria:

• percent of students from minority groups;
• percent of faculty from minority groups;
• student assessment of resources for minority students;
• student assessment of how supportive the school's culture is of minority students; and
• student assessment of whether fellow students are ethnically and racially diverse.

At SFSU, 25 percent of College of Business students are minorities, and 40 percent of its faculty are minorities.

The Princeton Review profile of SFSU's College of Business highlights comments from students and recent alumni, submitted anonymously.

"Having received my undergraduate degree from a small private college that touted its 'diversity,' I was unsure what to expect from a larger state school," one student wrote. "But the diversity of the students in my classes is amazing. This is what my private undergrad college was trying to accomplish."

The college attracts a diverse student body from across California and the United States and many international students. According to the Princeton Review profile, 40 percent of SFSU's MBA students are international students.

Overall, SFSU has more international students than any other master's degree-granting institution in the United States, according to 2004-05 figures released in November by the Institute of International Education. Almost half of SFSU's international students are in the College of Business.

The College of Business offers traditional MBA and MSBA programs on the University's main campus and Executive MBA programs in downtown San Francisco and Redwood City.

-- William Morris