Graduate School of Commerce

The McIntire School of Commerce has a national reputation in business education and has been cited as one of the top business schools in the country. The School confers the Bachelor of Science in Commerce and offers Master of Science degrees in Accounting, Commerce, and the Management of Information Technology.  McIntire graduates pursue a variety of challenging and rewarding career opportunities throughout the United States, entering such fields as accounting, finance, human resource management, information technology, and marketing. They are employed in roles in such diverse work settings as investment and corporate banking, public accounting, manufacturing, advertising, retailing, consulting, government, and real estate.  Graduates depart McIntire as professionals with a strong foundation in their chosen field, the ability to add immediate value to an organization, and an appreciation of the role their profession carries in a rapidly changing world.

The graduate programs at the McIntire School of Commerce combine a broad-based managerial perspective with a sharply defined professional and technical focus in a designated functional area. To be successful at McIntire, graduate students must demonstrate an intellectual enthusiasm for their program of choice. They must have the desire not only to master their field, but also to apply that mastery in significant and innovative ways. Our programs are for people who are both drawn to, and envision being leaders in, these fields because of the opportunities they offer to make a difference in the world of business.

The graduate programs are demanding and rigorous. Faculty and staff work hard to prepare students for leadership positions along their chosen career paths. Faculty members keep in close contact with industry leaders and continually scan the business and technological horizon to bring contemporary perspectives to the classroom. Classroom training is supported by world-class facilities, including modern instructional technologies, as well as the School’s extensive research database resources. McIntire offers a specialized business education on the leading edge. Yet, the most distinguishing feature of the graduate programs is the close, lasting relationships between students and faculty. These relationships are in keeping with Thomas Jefferson’s original concept of the University. Mr. Jefferson felt that the immediate exchange of ideas represented the most effective way to transmit knowledge to the rising generation of leaders. Excellence in teaching is the rule at McIntire.

History

The University of Virginia was one of the first institutions in the United States to introduce the subject matter of economics into its curriculum. Since the University’s first session in 1825, courses of study in this field have been available.

It was not until 1906 that the School of Economics was established as a separate unit within the College of Arts & Sciences. In 1920, a division of business administration was created in the James Wilson School of Economics. In 1921, a donation from alumnus Paul Goodloe McIntire made it possible to establish the McIntire School of Commerce and Business Administration. For the next 31 years the McIntire School operated as a distinct division of the College of Arts & Sciences, but its work was closely integrated with the James Wilson School of Economics. In 1952, the University’s Board of Visitors approved the establishment of the McIntire School as a professional school to be administered as a separate unit of the University, distinct from the College of Arts & Sciences.

The McIntire School was elected to membership in the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1925. In 1981, the school became accredited to offer programs at the graduate level as well as the undergraduate level. Accreditation is offered only to those schools that meet the strict academic standards and program requirements prescribed by the AACSB. In 1982, the school became one of the initial 13 schools in the nation to have both its undergraduate and graduate accounting programs accredited under new AACSB standards for the separate accreditation of accounting programs. All McIntire programs received accreditation by the AACSB in 1994.