UST Business College Receives Major Accreditation

By Susie Jones, NewsRadio 830 WCCO

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business is the first private college in Minnesota to receive the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation. Less than 5 percent of the world's business schools hold the accreditation, which is regarded as the highest standard of quality for business education.

University of St. Thomas Associate Dean For Faculty and Scholarship, Michael Garrison, said the accreditation has taken 10 years to achieve. He said it also makes credentialed business schools eligible for many of the top rankings of MBA programs and it provides faculty with greater research opportunities.

Garrison said the accreditation will have an impact on more than a third of the students enrolled at the school with 36 percent enrolled at Opus College of Business.

"Many undergraduate students today want to go to an accredited school because of better placement opportunities as well as graduate school opportunities," he said.

Garrison said over the past decade, St. Thomas has taken a series of key stops on the path to accreditation. The school hired Dean Christopher Puto in 2002 to serve as dean. They added 52 full time positions, as well as opened two of the most technologically-advanced classrooms and office buildings in the country.

NewsRadio 830 WCCO's Susie Jones Reports