Moore School's graduate program in international business is the top-ranked public university program in the country and No. 2 among all institutions, according to U.S.News & World Report.

The ranking marks the 17th consecutive year that the program at the Moore School of Business has been ranked either No. 1 or 2. The only public university ranked in the top five, USC outpaced Columbia University, Harvard University, Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania, New York University and the University of Southern California.

The ranking appears in the book, "America's Best Graduate Schools," which will be on newsstands April 4 and in the April 11 edition of U.S.News & World Report. All the rankings will be available online April 1 at www.usnews.com.

Joel Smith, dean of the Moore School of Business, said the elite U.S. News ranking affirms the university's continued commitment to its international business program.

"The Moore School has placed one or two in the U.S.News & World Report for graduate international business since these rankings were first published," Smith said. "Maintaining this lofty perch over 17 years is further testimony to the outstanding contributions of the faculty, staff and students of the Moore School. Good faculty attract good students. Their service to the school is greatly appreciated, and we are pleased to see that performance reflected in this ranking."

Thunderbird Graduate School of Arizona led the rankings. The other public universities are the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (No. 6) and the University of California-Berkeley (No. 10).

The magazine and guidebook also provides an overall ranking of the Top 50 Schools of Business. While the Moore School does not appear in this overall top 50 ranking, according to an online summary of all the schools ranked, the Moore School is tied at an overall ranking of 59th—up from 68th last year.

U.S. News rankings are based on objective measures, such as entering students' test scores and placement success, and expert opinion, drawn from inside and outside academia, on program quality, faculty and research. For the international business ranking, U.S.News & World Report asked business school deans and program heads to vote for up to 10 schools offering the best programs in each area. The 10 schools receiving the most votes appear in the ranking.

Moore School's IMBA program was featured last year in an article published in the U.S. News & World Report "2006 Best Graduate Schools" guidebook. More.

Dr. Martin Roth, associate professor of international business, spoke about the ranking and the reasons for the continued top ranking on NBC affiliate WIS TV's "Newswatch", on April 10, 2006. Click on the following link to view the video.

http://video.sc.edu/msb/rothinterview.mov

Note: QuickTime is available free for Windows or Macintosh at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download