[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Can Bus.jpg” caption=”Dean Paul Bates (centre) says the Commerce and MBA programs at the DeGroote School of Business are among the best in North America. File photo.”]Undergraduate and MBA students from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University scored 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 December 2006 and both programs scored in the 95th percentile in North America. This was the seventh time for the undergraduates and the first time that the MBAs scored at the highest level.

“The Commerce and MBA programs at DeGroote are among the best on the continent,” announced Dean Paul Bates. “The consistent level of high achievement is a testament to our outstanding students, faculty and staff. I know that our alumni would be proud.”

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 began administering the MFT exit exams in December 2003.

During the most recent examination in December 2006, DeGroote's Commerce students scored an average of 167 out of a possible 200 points, placing them in the 95th percentile in North America for the seventh consecutive time. The MBAs scored an average of 265 out of a possible 300 points, placing them in the 95th percentile for the first time.

Commerce students Michael Dunk, Scott Hillis, Mark Tracey and Peter Martorelli scored 195, 194, 193 and 193 out of 200 respectively while MBA students David Newbigging, Jeff Shannon, Jeffrey Rinne and Marc Clemente scored 287, 286, 284 and 284 out of 300, placing all of them among the highest scoring students in North America.