Die - University of the Free State

News
UFS MBA
gets high rating
Prof. Tienie Crous, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, and Prof. Helena
van Zyl, with a copy of the Financial Mail.
The UFS MBA was
rated second
best in terms of
quality and
standard.
In a recent survey in the Financial Mail the
MBA programme presented by the School of
Management at the UFS was rated jointly
second best in the country by its graduates in
terms of quality and standard. The UFS MBA
Programme was also rated fourth best by its
graduates in terms of relevance to their business.
Prof. Helena van Zyl, Director of the UFS
School of Management, said: “I am overwhelmed
and very proud that the School of Management,
although we are a young school and have only
been in existence for seven years, has been rated
so highly by our graduandi. The school contributes
in a very special way to much-needed
business training in central South Africa.
“According to the survey, we have the lowest
acceptance rate of applicants for the MBA
programme, with only 33 applicants being
accepted out of every 100 who apply. In general,
we do not compromise on quality – as stated by
our slogan: Be worth more. Given the quality of the
programme, our MBA is very affordable – it
offers real value for money,” said Prof. van Zyl.
She said the School of Management has had
an increase the past six months in enquiries from
prospective students from Gauteng who are
interested in studying the MBA programme.
“They are even prepared to travel to Bloemfontein
to attend classes.”
This year Financial Mail moved away from an
overall MBA ranking to a detailed consideration
of subject area strengths for each business school
in South Africa. The subject Strategy offered at
the UFS School of Management was rated
second in the country while the subject Economics
also received the same rating.
Prof. Tienie Crous, Dean: Faculty of
Economic and Management Sciences, said: “The
School of Management is the flagship of the Faculty
of Economic and Management Sciences. It
gives the UFS and this faculty a standing in
corporate South Africa. This is largely due to the
strategy to position the school and making it
visible on a national level.”
He said the School of Management provides
students with opportunities to obtain first-hand
experience of how big and successful companies
are managed. “For instance, our MBA students
undertake an overseas study tour every year. This
year they visited amongst others the headquarters
of Airbus in Toulouse, France and next year they
will be visiting the headquarters of Toyota and
Yamaha in Japan,” said Prof. Crous.
Bult •November 06
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