When Samantha Bement and Aaron Katz, both business school undergraduates, were asked where they thought the program ranked nationwide, they guessed somewhere in the top 20.

Indeed, the program has traditionally been ranked near the top 20 – by U.S. News and World Report. But this year, a new magazine’s evaluation was not so high. In its first set of undergraduate business school rankings, Business Week ranked the Robert H. Smith School of Business No. 36 among business schools.

The ranking follows a drop from No. 17 in 2004 to No. 22 in 2005 by U.S. News and surprised some students and faculty members.

The rankings have not set off a panic alarm in the business school just yet, however.

“Well sure, we would’ve liked to have been ranked higher, but we see Smith consistently ranked among the best,” said Jeff Heebner, the managing director for marketing communications.

“The criteria are different for different rankings,” he added. “We don’t think any one publication can capture everything about a business school.”

Business Week surveyed 61 programs and ordered them based on graduates’ median starting salary, MBA feeder school rank, academic quality rank and student and recruiter survey results.

Business Week sent out 100,000 surveys to students in top business programs with a response rate of about 22 percent, said associate editor Louis Lavelle, who wrote the article accompanying the rankings.

Students at this university commonly complained of “straight from the book” lower-level classes far inferior to upper-level classes.

“Honestly, I don’t even go to class,” said Bement, a sophomore accounting and finance major. “But since the work is straight out of the book, I still have As.”

Business Week gave the business school a B for teaching quality, A for facilities and service and B for job placement. Only the top 20 percent of each category got an A+.

Student surveys said the school could do a better job finding internships and jobs for students, Lavelle said.

Freshman accounting major John Ying said business advisers “kind of have a one-track mind of getting me to graduate instead of fulfilling the goals I want to do.”

Lavelle said the new rankings are not a devastating blow for the business school’s status.

“Maryland’s a great program,” he said.

The Big Top Ten

1. Software Engineer

2. Professor

3. Financial Advisor

4. Human Resources Manager

5. Physician Assistant

6. Market Research Analyst

7. Computer IT Analyst

8. Real Estate Appraiser

9. Pharmacist

10. Psychologist

SOURCE: MONEY magazine

Contact reporter Brandon Weigelat newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.