Every semester, the MSU College of Business (CoB) administers a standardized test that compares its senior business students’ scores to those of others across the nation, and our students are measuring up extremely well.

The CoB first started administering this test in 2005 and so far the average scores achieved by our seniors have consistently been at or above the 90th percentile as compared to the averages at over 500 Colleges of Business who have their students take the MFT. In fact, the spring 2009 cohort (141 students) scored in the 96th percentile overall.

The Major Field Test (MFT) – Business, administered by Educational Testing Services (ETS), the same testing facility that administers the SAT and GRE, is taken by CoB seniors enrolled in the Senior Seminar (a required course usually taken during the final semester before graduation). This test is designed to measure a student’s knowledge of business and their ability to apply significant concepts, theories and analytical methods to practical business problems.

Students can compare their individual performance on the MFT to that of approximately 250,000 other business students from more than 500 other institutions across the nation.

The MSU CoB, which is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), was granted full unconditional reaffirmation of its accreditation in the spring of 2008. Dr. Bill Brown, professor of business management, mentions the importance of our students’ performance on the MFT-Business. “One of the central tenets of our mission is that we seek to provide our students with knowledge of current business practices and theory and to be conversant in the language of business. Instead of asking [the AACSB] to take our word for the fact that we are doing a good job of that, this test is a way to compare the business knowledge and skills of our students to students around the country.”

Students, who typically take the electronic test during their final semester of school, are able to get immediate results, which indicate their placement among all other students participating. They can also see how well they individually scored in sub-categories, such as the business option they are enrolled in or economics.

Alan Poole (’06, business marketing) recalls his experience with the MFT. “The CoB professors do a very good job of providing a well rounded education. Even though you may be in a finance class, a marketing class, a management class, or an accounting class, the professors go beyond the scope of that subject to apply the terminology to real world business scenarios. I think that is what helps us to do so well on the field test. It is basically a culmination of four years of study.”

“We have really excellent students. They are hard working, they are conscientious, and they respond well to the course of instruction,” says Brown. He continued, saying that in seeing such scores, “We are reassured that we are getting something right about our curriculum and approach to teaching.”