UH business college continues growth

The number of freshmen accepted as pre-business students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has hit another record.

Preliminary indications show that the number of pre-business students accepted has reached 801, up from the previous high last year of 751, according to the UH admissions office.

UH’s Shidler College of Business has been gaining national attention as the number of students accepted in the college grows.

Its international business program is ranked in a tie for 17th nationally for 2017 with Brigham Young University and the University of Missouri, according to U.S. News & World Report. The program was 15th in 2016, 18th in 2015 and consistently has remained in the top 20. Shidler’s undergraduate program is ranked 114th out of 488 accredited business programs in 2017 by the same publication after finishing 131st the year before.

”Our reputation has grown among the college- bound public and their parents, and the set of universities with which we compete for students has risen every year,” Shidler Assistant Dean Robin Hadwick said Friday. “I believe we are now seen as a local alternative that is superior to many more expensive options. Part of what we share is the support we offer the students with scholarships and the opportunity to study abroad.”

The UH admissions office said the 801 applications accepted were selected from 964 applications, with both numbers still expected to increase. While the deadline was March 1, the process is not complete. The gender breakdown of those applications accepted so far include 415 females and 355 males, with 31 not reporting their gender.

The number of applications likely will exceed last year’s 987 overall applications, Hadwick said. The peak number of applications dating back to 2012 occurred in 2015 when there were 1,021, which Hadwick said was likely an “aberration.”

The grade point average for the top freshman applicants invited into Shidler’s Direct Admit Program (DAP) also could hit a record this year as well.

In 2016 Shidler invited 218 of the 751 accepted freshman students to consider DAP. The GPA of the 84 students who enrolled in the program was 3.79.

This year the 252 applicants invited so far to enroll in the DAP program have a GPA of 3.91. Of those invited applicants, 156 are from out of state and 96 within Hawaii, with 150 being female, 96 being male and six not reporting their gender.

Students invited this year to DAP have until May 1 to make a decision, but Hadwick says “it appears the GPA will be markedly higher this year” and that the number of students who enroll will be similar in size to last year’s 84 students.

Shidler started DAP in 2012 with 25 students and has grown it in each of the next four years to achieve its current class size of 80 to 90 students.

Students enrolled in DAP can get a head start on their business education because they can take classes they normally wouldn’t be able to take until their junior year, get additional access to scholarships and dedicated business advisers, and can get involved with business-oriented students clubs at an earlier date.

Hadwick said Shidler’s accounting, finance, marketing and management majors continue to be strong.

“Many students also double-major in international business as this is an area where we have a nationally ranked program,” he said. “We are seeing growth in management of informational systems as we have built up our curriculum to meet the demand for students with strong data analytic skills. Also, with PACE (the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship) continuing to thrive, we are attracting a lot of students with an entrepreneurial spirit.”

Hadwick said demand is particularly strong this year for its executive MBA program.

“While it is too early to report numbers, we are anticipating a good-size cohort of exceptional students,” he said. “Our portfolio of MBA and other graduate programs provide a lot of ways that we can match a course of study with the demanding lives of our students.”

Hadwick said he doesn’t know whether there is a correlation between the rising enrollment at Shidler and the state’s low unemployment rate.

“When unemployment is higher, many students return to or continue in school to avoid the difficult labor market and to improve their skills,” he said. “Currently, locally, even though our unemployment rate is low, a lot of people are unable to work in their chosen field. I think a big draw to the Shidler College of Business is our career services office. Of our (2016 spring) graduates seeking employment, 88 percent were fully employed three months after graduation, and of those graduates, 86 percent were employed in a field aligned with their major.”