June 04, 2010 12:19 ET

The University of Texas - Austin Is the Top Graduate Business School In Texas, According to a Decision Analyst Survey

ARLINGTON, TX--(Marketwire - June 4, 2010) -  According to a new Decision Analyst statewide survey of 2,160 Texas adults with college degrees, The University of Texas - Austin is the Top Business School in terms of "Status and prestige." The ranking of the top graduate business schools in Texas in "status and prestige" are listed below:

Top Graduate Business Schools in Texas
In "Status and Prestige"

Universities	Status and Prestige Score
University of Texas - Austin	68.0
Rice University	62.1
Texas A&M	56.2
Southern Methodist University (SMU)	54.1
Baylor University	47.6
Texas Christian University	41.5
Texas Tech University	38.8
University of Texas - Dallas	35.9
University of Houston	35.4
University of Texas at Arlington	29.0

Participants in the statewide online survey rated only the graduate business schools that they were aware of. A total of 51 universities in Texas with graduate business degree programs were included in the survey.

"The 'Status and Prestige' scores are a result of the overall status and prestige of each university mixed with the status and prestige of each university's graduate business school," said Jerry W. Thomas, President/CEO of Decision Analyst and the study's author. "That is, the brand image of the graduate business school and the brand image of the parent institution are entangled -- each is influencing the other. For example, the brand image of Rice University is elevating the image of its graduate business program."

"These 'Status and Prestige' scores are good proxies for the overall status and prestige Texas adults associate with each university," said Thomas.

Methodology

The survey was conducted from March 15 to April 15, 2010. A total of 2160 interviews were conducted statewide, following a carefully balanced sampling plan to create a representative sample. Sampling error is generally less than 3%, plus or minus, but varies by the number of residents rating each university. For more information about the North Texas Graduate Business Study please visit our website: http://www.decisionanalyst.com/GBS.asp or email Cristi Allen at callen@decisionanalyst.com.

About Decision Analyst

Decision Analyst (www.decisionanalyst.com), based in Dallas-Fort Worth, is a leading global marketing research and analytical consulting firm in North America. It specializes in strategy research, advanced analytics, advertising testing, market segmentation, and marketing mix modeling.