At Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, students aren’t just prepared for their futures — they are empowered to shape them.
After all, this is a school with internationally renowned programmes, a supportive community, and great job placements and graduate outcomes. Since its founding as the School of Commerce and Finance in 1920, the school has become an innovative leader among business schools. Kelley outperforms many of its peers in both national and international rankings; it ranks #9 for Overall Best Undergraduate Business Programmes 2024 (US News and World Report), with multiple majors – Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management, Management Information Systems, Marketing, and Production/Operations Management – among the top 10.
Kelley allows students to tailor their business degree by exploring 20 majors and co-majors. Source: Kelley School of Business
Not a “one size fits all” school, Kelley’s stature may be big but its programmes put students first. They are flexible, allowing students to curate a curriculum that capitalises on their interests and strengths. In this transformative journey, they won’t be just another face on campus either – students are guided by a dedicated faculty and a 133,000-strong alumni community, and can further explore their interests through a wide range of student clubs and activities. These aspects are what make Kelley #2 for Academic Experience (Poets & Quants Rankings 2024).
Just ask Deborah Martinez Garcia, who hails from Brazil. She had her first taste of American campus life when she spent a month studying English in the US when she was 14 years old. Since then, she set her sights on moving there for university.
“IU stood out to me because of Kelley School of Business, being one of the top 10 in the country, as well as other important college aspects that I wanted, such as being located in a college town, being close to an airport and big city, and having a beautiful campus,” she says.
Garcia quickly settled in, citing Kelley’s community and faculty as great resources to navigate a new city and new academic system. She first pursued Management, then enrolled as a Standard Admit into Kelley during her sophomore year with Accounting as her second major. She finds her classes interesting, and her experience enriching – for her Business Immersion class, she got to travel to the Netherlands for on-site visits and learn from professors at Breda University.
At Kelley, Garcia made the most of the school’s resources – going for mock interviews, joining networking events, and talking to recruiters eager for fresh talent. “I would say that Kelley has a great preparation for students to navigate their professional careers,” says Garcia. “This summer, I had an internship with EY Brazil, working in my hometown with their SaT Valuations team. Kelley contributed to this accomplishment by preparing me for the interviews and providing me with a good network that connected me to this summer programme.”
Here at Kelley, the community is close-knit, with many graduates referring to it as their second family. Source: Kelley School of Business
The best start to your future career
As many as 96% of Kelley students successfully found full-time jobs or are in graduate school. With Kelley as their guide, graduates are well-prepared for their future careers and further study – Fares Hajji, a student from Tunisia, is set to become one of them. He was first drawn to Kelley after seeing how it aligned with his aspirations. Of course, the school’s national rankings and strong academic and professional offerings were a big plus. “I have to admit that I always had a bit of apprehension for months before coming, but after getting on campus for orientation and the start of the semester I knew I had made a great choice,” he says.
He’s now in his third year of the Bachelor of Science in Business, majoring in Finance. Since joining, he’s taken part in multiple projects, travelling to Singapore for two weeks to learn about global trends in the financial world, learning about the local culture, and meeting with business leaders. Another project involved winning an inter-university competition using a case provided by Ernst & Young, one of the school’s corporate partners.
Hajji credits Kelley’s strong focus on career preparation for his success, having attended over 100 corporate events and securing multiple offers. “The spectrum of extracurriculars and events available helps a lot with that whether they are hosted by a club, a workshop, the career centre, the honours programme, a professor or the school as a whole,” he says. “You can learn about any profession and any company.”
Thanks to an industry panel hosted by the school, Hajji developed the connections he needed to join Morgan Stanley as a sales and trading analyst during the summer. It’s not his first foray into the professional world – he previously interned for ICBC Standard Bank in London as a global markets intern.
“The Investment Management Workshop, which is a programme led by alum Dan Aron, was also very helpful in getting ready for my internship,” says Hajji. “It allowed me to learn a lot of the technicals of the industry, and connected me with a lot of upperclassmen, alumni, professionals and now mentors.”
Ready to discover your path at Kelley? Explore their programmes today and see how you can craft a future that’s uniquely yours.
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