MBA and commerce students from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University continue to score among the highest in North America in a recent Major Field Test (MFT) conducted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) – the largest educational assessment organization in the world. The exam was administered in April 2005 to graduating students.

DeGroote's commerce students scored in the 95th percentile in North America. MBAs scored in the 85th percentile. For the first time, a DeGroote student, Christian Kurtz scored perfect on the tests.

“This is further evidence that our instruction and curriculum are among the best” says Paul Bates, d of the DeGroote School of Business. “Our faculty continue to work towards executing our vision of preparing the brightest graduates.”

ETS is widely known for the development of its entrance exams such as the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). However, the assessment of university education quality requires the testing of outcomes from graduating students.

To address this issue, ETS also administers MFTs for various university programs such as graduating MBAs and undergraduate commerce students. The MFT program is an innovative battery of tests used by schools and departments at more than 600 colleges and universities globally to measure student academic achievement and growth.

Academic departments benefit from the use of the tests as the scores allow for detailed curriculum review, benchmarking and evaluation. Students benefit from the tests by having an effective metric to determine their own level of achievement, comparing their scores with those of other students in the program and with international comparative data.

During the most recent examination in April 2005, DeGroote's commerce students scored an average of 164.0 out of a possible 200 points placing them in the 95th percentile in North America. The MBAs scored an average of 261.7 out of a possible 300 points placing them in the 85th percentile.

“I am very proud of our consistently strong performance, and I am confident that we can continue to graduate top-notch students,” said exam co-ordinator Nick Bontis. “Commerce students Christian Kurtz and Darryl Brown scored 200 and 192 out of 200 respectively while MBA students Clifford Hung and James Sheridan scored 285 and 283 out of 300, placing all four of them among the highest scoring students in North America. I am especially proud of Christian who was the first ever DeGroote student to receive a perfect score.”

DeGroote administered the first set of MFTs during December of 2003, and followed this up with subsequent tests in April 2004, December 2004 and most recently April 2005. One test is targeted to commerce undergraduate students and the other to MBAs. The next MFT administration is scheduled for December 2005.

Further information on the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University can be found at http://www.degroote.mcmaster.ca.

Further information on the Major Field Test program administered by the Educational Testing Service can be found at http://www.ets.org/hea/mft/index.html.