DeGroote business students score tops in North America

MBA and undergraduate commerce students from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University scored among the highest business schools 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.

For the first time ever, both DeGroote's undergraduate and MBA classes scored in the 95th percentile – the highest category available.

“This is an outstanding achievement for the University and provides clear evidence of the strong teaching culture and quality of curriculum we possess here at DeGroote,” announced Paul Bates, dean of the DeGroote School of Business. “The fact that both programs are tops among their peers is very gratifying and proves that our graduates are top notch.”

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 that is used by schools and departments at more than 700 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.

DeGroote administered the first set of MFT exit exams during December of 2003, and followed this up with tests in April and December of each subsequent year. One test is targeted for Commerce undergraduate students and another for MBAs.

During the most recent examination in December 2008, DeGroote's Commerce students scored an average of 165 out of a possible 200 points placing them in the 95th percentile in North America for the eleventh consecutive time. The MBAs scored an average of 266 out of a possible 300 points placing them in the 95th percentile for the first time.

“I am delighted with these results. This is the first time both programs reached the top. In addition to our very strong institutional scores, we can also be proud of our extremely high student achievements,” said exam coordinator Nick Bontis. “Undergraduate student Daniel Tersigni scored 194 out of 200 while MBA students Robert Coffin and Craig Hanna scored 288 out of 300, placing all three of them among the highest scoring students in North America.”