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Today's business undergraduates are taking trips overseas, enjoying hands-on learning, and developing leadership skills—just like MBA students. The similarities don't stop there. by Sharon Shinn No.1 Bachelor When James Danko is called upon to give a speech to a Villanova University stakeholder—or anyone interested in business education—he likes to say, "This is the era of the undergraduate business student." The dean of Villanova's School of Business in Pennsylvania notes that the events swirling around graduate business education have created something of a perfect storm that has benefited the BBA. "There was the recession and the decline in applications, and there were significant people like Warren Bennis taking shots at full-time MBA programs," says Danko. "Employers are starting to look toward undergraduate markets when they're recruiting and hiring. The reality is that undergraduate programs are really hot right now." In fact, they are. Since 1995, undergraduate business degrees have account- ed for about 69 percent of all the business degrees awarded in the U.S. During that same period of time, the number of graduates from business bachelor's programs has grown by roughly 80,000, and in the 2003–2004 school year, more than 300,000 individuals were awarded bachelor's degrees in business. By contrast, only about 140,000 people earned master's degrees in business in that year. Even more impressive than the number of BBA degrees being awarded is how much BBA programs are changing. An added emphasis on experiential learn- ing and global perspective is almost required these days, and deans are looking for ways to strengthen their undergraduate business curricula even more. The launching of BusinessWeek's undergraduate business school rankings is expected to make many schools reassess—and perhaps upgrade—their BBA offerings. In fact, it's clear that some schools are modeling their enhanced undergraduate degrees after the degree that has been so visible for so long: the MBA. What's more, some deans are starting to think that undergraduate education might give them a better return on investment. For years, the rankings race dictated that schools pour resources into their MBA programs, but the cost of recruiting and supporting grad students has led to rising expenses. "We've decided we're not going to continue to elevate our resource com- mitment to the MBA," says Daniel Smith, dean of Indiana University's Kel- ley School of Business in Bloomington. "Instead, we are putting incremental resource increases into the undergraduate program, both in terms of dollar investments and faculty investments. To strengthen our presence in the mar- ketplace, we want to produce more quality students and have a larger faculty producing high-quality research." 26 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006