For the third year in a row, The Princeton Review has recognized the excellence of the University of Nevada, Reno College of Business in its Best Business Schools guidebook.

In the just-published 2011 edition of The Best 300 Business Schools, the College received the recognition based on the quality of its MBA Program as rated in student surveys over the past three years, as well as data provided by the University.

The Princeton Review collected opinions of more than 19,000 students at the best accredited MBA programs in the world. About 65 students answered 80 questions to assess Nevada’s MBA Program, consistently praising the solid preparation they received in doing business in a global economy.

“Our goal is to prepare our students to successfully work in an increasingly global economy,” said Greg Mosier, dean of the College. “This recognition is an affirmation that we are providing them with the skills and knowledge to become our business leaders of tomorrow. The hope for Nevada’s sustainable economic development depends on maintaining this high quality of our programs.”

The diversity within the program is one the elements its students praised. About one in 12 students is international, with representation from countries such as Brazil, China, India, Iran, Kenya, Poland, Russia and Turkey.

One student observed that the program “’has a diverse student body in background, interests, and ambitions.’” Another commented, “I think the diversity of the class is the key component in UNR’s graduate program.”

Students of the program also highly rated the professors of the program, in terms of being interesting and accessible, and added that the faculty is “’extremely knowledgeable in their fields and also understand[s] that most of us work full-time jobs while going to school.’”

Students frequently reported that the program provided solid preparation in general management, and described the program as “’challenging,’” “’well-rounded’” and “’rigorous.’” The program offers specializations in accounting, finance, gaming management and information technology.

Students also appreciated the availability of “’high-end technology’” and access to the state-of-the-art Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, reporting “’With [the] latest cool gadgets and [an] automated library system, it goes without saying that UNR has one of the best library systems in the USA.’”

The Princeton Review’s recognition supplements the findings from Educational Benchmarking Inc. (EBI) that rated Nevada’s MBA Program particularly high in important categories such as learning outcomes achieved, course availability, and quality of faculty and instruction. In fact, Nevada’s MBA Program ranked first in overall program effectiveness among the 24 prestigious Carnegie Class institutions who participated in the assessment this year, including highly regarded institutions such as Georgia State University, George Washington University, University of California-Irvine, University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of San Diego.

Nevada’s MBA Program is the largest of the University’s 138 graduate programs, with 193 students enrolled this fall. Enrollment in the program has consistently increased over the past three years.

“I am delighted that The Princeton Review has once again found that our MBA Program is living up to its fine reputation,” stated Kambiz Raffiee, director of the MBA Program and associate dean of the College. “Each year, our faculty work hard to make our program the very best that it can be. Being included in The Princeton Review’s guidebook for the third year in a row, as well as in the top 25 of the past two BusinessWeek rankings, shows that their efforts are paying off.”

For more information about Nevada’s MBA Program, contact Raffiee at (775) 682-9142 or raffiee@unr.edu.