Rankings & Recognitions
Spears Business is among the top six percent of the world’s schools offering business degrees. Since 1958, all academic programs in Spears Business have been accredited by the AACSB International, considered the highest standard for quality in business education. According to the AACSB, there are 1,026 business institutions in more than 65 countries and territories have earned AACSB accreditation, but only 194 institutions – including Spears Business – hold the additional, specialized AACSB accreditation for their accounting programs.
- Spears Business undergraduate programs ranked 77th out of more than 530 programs in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.
- No. 5 ranking of the 10 Best Online Bachelor’s in Business (OnlineSchoolsGuide.net)
- No. 22 ranking of the Best Online Undergraduate Business Programs 2024 (CollegeConsensus.com)
- No. 2 ranking of the Best Online MBA in Sustainability Programs (BestColleges.com)
- No. 13 ranking of the 50 Best Online Business Schools (SuccessfulStudent.org)
Accounting
CPA Exam: Pass rate of 76.7% for OSU graduate students taking the test. Also, the overall pass rate for OSU students (both undergraduates and graduates) exceeded the state and national averages for all four sections.
- No. 41 nationally in the 50 Best Accounting Schools (Big4Accountingfirms.org)
- No. 19 nationally in the Top 50 Undergraduate Rankings for schools with 17 to 23 full-time accounting faculty (Public Accounting Report 38th Annual Professors Survey – 2019)
- No. 38 nationally in the Top 50 Master’s Rankings of all schools, and No. 14 for master’s programs with 17 to 23 full-time accounting faculty (Public Accounting Report 38th Annual Professors Survey – 2019)
- No. 45 in the 50 Best Master of Accounting Degree Programs 2017-2018 (OnlineAccountingDegrees.net)
Economics
- OSU is the sixth most prolific institution in the U.S. based on publications in the top 10 regional science journals, and ranks 17th in the world (Growth and Change: A Journal of Urban and Regional Policy)
- Dan Rickman: Regents Professor of Economics and Oklahoma Gas and Electric Services Chair in Regional Economic Analysis ranks second in regional science publications among all U.S. researchers (Growth and Change: A Journal of Urban and Regional Policy)
Entrepreneurship
- Spears Business undergraduate entrepreneurship program tied for No. 31 in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.
- No. 10 in the world on the list of the Family Business Research Productivity Ranking (McCoy College of Business, Texas State University)
- No. 34 for the 2024 Best Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs (U.S. News & World Report)
- No. 19 on the list of 25 Best Online Entrepreneurship MBA Programs for 2022 (OnlineMBACoach.com)
- No. 8 on the list of the 30 Best Master's Degrees in Entrepreneurship 2021 (BestAccreditedColleges.org)
- No. 7 on the list of the 10 Best Online MBA in Entrepreneurship 2021 (MastersProgramsGuide.com)
- Tied for No. 31 on the list of the 2021 Best Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs (U.S. News & World Report)
Finance
- The MS in Quantitative Finance program is now an academic partner with the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP), joining more than 40 other top graduate programs from around the world.
- Top online undergraduate BSBA in Finance program in Oklahoma.
- No. 39 on the list of 2021 Best MBA in Finance Programs (BestAccreditedColleges.org)
- No. 3 placement of the undergraduate Finance team in The University of Tulsa 2020 (Investment Portfolio Challenge)
- Selected for the Financial Management Association (FMA) Student Chapter 2021 Superior Chapter Award
- Department selected for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) University Affiliation Program
- OSU’s Financial Management Association (FMA) student chapter has been recognized as an Ambassador Chapter
Hospitality and Tourism Management
- No. 8 in the U.S. and No. 22 in the world in the Global Ranking of Academic Subject in Hospitality & Tourism Management for 2024 (Academic Ranking of World Universities_ShanghaiRanking.com)
- No. 1 in the Best Hospitality Management Colleges in Oklahoma for 2022 (Universities.com)
- No. 6 in Top 20 Colleges for Hospitality and Hotel Management in the U.S. for 2021 (DegreeQuery.com)
- No. 13 in Best Hospitality Management Degrees in the U.S. for 2022 (CollegeChoice.net)
- No. 11 in the Top 20 Schools for Bachelor’s in Food Service Management degree programs for 2021 (BusinessManagementDegree.net)
- No. 13 in Best Bachelor's in Hospitality Management in the U.S. for 2021 (Collegerank.net)
- No. 13 in Best Master’s in Hospitality Management Degrees in the U.S. for 2021 (CollegeChoice.net)
Management
- No. 20 in the U.S. and No. 26 globally in the aggregate rankings of the eight top-tier journals in the 2022 Management Department Research Productivity rankings (TAMUGA rankings)
- Top 200 in the 2021 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (ShanghaiRanking.com)
- No. 11 in the United States in number of publications published in Strategic Management Journal and the Academy of Management Journal from 2018-2020 (UT Dallas’ Naveen Jindal School of Management)
Management Information Systems
- No. 10 in ranking of Top 20 Best Master’s in Management Information Systems Online Degree Programs for 2019 (BestCollegeReviews.org)
- No. 1 on the 15 Most Affordable Master’s in Data Science Online 2019 (Data Science Degree Programs)
- Masters program ranks No. 5 in the nation (AffordableColleges.com - 2017)
- No. 2 most affordable MIS master’s degree program among the nation’s Top 30 (BestMasterDegrees.com)
- National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defender Education: Academic years 2014 – 2020 (National Security Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
Marketing
- No. 7 in Best Online Marketing Programs 2022-2023 (AffordableCollegesOnline.org)
- No. 7 in Best Online Marketing Programs 2021-2022 (AffordableCollegesOnline.org)
- No. 7 in Best Colleges for Marketing Degree Programs for 2018 (Schools.com)
- No. 7 in Best Colleges for Marketing Degree Programs for 2017 (Schools.com)
MBA/Graduate Programs
- Tied for No. 16 on the list of the 2024 Best Online MBA Programs (U.S. News & World Report)
- Tied for No. 14 on the list of the 2024 Best Online MBA Programs for Veterans (U.S. News & World Report)
- Tied for No. 20 on the list of the 2024 Best Online Business Analytics MBA Programs (U.S. News & World Report)
- Tied for No. 76 on the list of the 2024 Best Full-time MBA Programs (U.S. News & World Report)
- Tied for No. 60 on the list of the 2024 Best Part-time MBA Programs (U.S. News & World Report)
- No. 7 on the list of the 10 Best MBA Online Schools and Programs (OnlineSchoolsGuide.net)
- No. 7 on the list of the 10 Best Online MBA in Entrepreneurship 2021 (MastersProgramsGuide.com)
- No. 39 on the list of 2021 Best MBA in Finance Programs (BestAccreditedColleges.org)
- The highest ranked among programs featured in the 10 Most Affordable Online MBA Programs (yahoo! finance)
- No. 2 of The Best Online MBA in Sustainability Programs (BestColleges.com)
- No. 4 nationally in the ranking of Editors’ Choice Top 50 Online MBA Programs for 2021 (BusinessStudent.com)
- No. 73 in the United States - a jump of 22 positions - in the 2020 Best Business Schools rankings (U.S. News & World Report)
- No. 10 in ranking of the Top 50 Online MBA programs in Marketing. (OnlineMBAToday.com)
- OSU's online MBA ranks No. 6 in the nation (GradSchoolHub.com)
Master in Business Analytics and Data Science
- No. 15 in the 2024 rankings of the Best Online Master's in Data Science programs (Fortune.com)
- No. 4 in the 2024 rankings of the Most Affordable Online Master's in Data Science programs (Fortune.com)
- No. 13 in the 2024 rankings of the Best Master's in Data Science programs (Fortune.com)
- No. 20 in 2024 Best Master’s of Business Analytics programs (TFE Times)
- Among the nation’s top 20 in the Best Online Schools for Masters of Business Intelligence/Data Analytics(Business-Management-Degree.net)
- The 20 best schools to study big data analytics (TechRepublic.com)