McIntire School of Commerce

The McIntire School of Commerce allows students to combine a world-class business program with an outstanding two-year foundation in liberal arts at the University.  Through the innovative Integrated Core Experience, a continuously updated curriculum that integrates the most current and relevant business skills and perspectives, third-year students in the school’s top-ranked B.S. in Commerce Program acquire a comprehensive understanding of business.  During their fourth year of study at McIntire, students attain specialized expertise in one or more of the school’s five areas of concentration: accounting, finance, information technology, management, and marketing.  Students may also choose to pursue up to two of six tracks in the areas of business analytics, entrepreneurship, global commerce, quantitative finance, real estate, and strategic brand consulting & communication (previously advertising and digital media - title change pending final approval). Carefully crafted to cross and integrate disciplines, the tracks serve to valuably augment students’ concentration coursework. 

Long regarded among the elite in its field, the McIntire School’s undergraduate program has been consistently ranked among the nation’s top business programs for nearly two decades. In the nine consecutive years (2006-2014) that the Bloomberg Businessweek ranked American undergraduate business programs, the School’s B.S. in Commerce is the only program to been ranked either first or second each year. More recently, since 2017, McIntire’s undergraduate program has been ranked consistently in the top three U.S. programs on business education website Poets & Quants. McIntire’s favorable job outcomes across all of its programs are among the best in the nation.

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 re-accreditation by the AACSB in 2019.

The School Today

The McIntire School is a separate division of the University in the same sense as are the schools of Architecture, Batten, Darden, Education, Engineering, Law, and Medicine. The McIntire School confers the Bachelor of Science in Commerce and offers Master of Science degrees in Accounting, Commerce, Global Commerce, and Management of Information Technology. The bachelor’s degree is conferred after a four-year program of studies in which the first two years are spent in another college or university in courses approved by the McIntire School.

There are approximately 715 undergraduate students and 275 graduate students enrolled in the school and 85 full-time faculty members. With few exceptions, students find average class enrollments to be approximately 40 to 45 students per section. Many opportunities for student-faculty interaction ensure that the student at the McIntire School will receive highly individualized instruction.

McIntire graduates pursue a variety of challenging and rewarding career opportunities throughout the World. McIntire alumni enter such fields as accounting, finance, information technology, and marketing. They are employed in roles in such diverse work settings as investment and corporate banking, public accounting, analytics, advertising, retailing, consulting, government, and real estate. The positions and responsibilities commanded by graduating McIntire students consistently rank at the top for the nation’s leading undergraduate schools of business.

Endowed Chairs: Being named to an endowed chair or professorship is among the highest honors that can be obtained in academic life. The McIntire School has two types of endowed professorships: Emerging Scholar Chairs and Eminent Scholar Chairs.  Emerging Scholar Chairs are term chairs bestowed to faculty who are earlier in their careers but have nonetheless gained a national reputation as one of the future thought leaders in their field. Eminent Scholar Chairs are bestowed without term as one of the future thought leaders in their field. Eminent Scholar Chairs are bestowed without term to faculty who have risen to the pinnacle of their field, and enjoy a reputation as one of the world’s leading experts in their area of study. The availability of endowed chairs and professorships makes it possible for the McIntire School to attract and retain the foremost teaching and research faculty across the disciplines of commerce. McIntire currently has over 25 endowed professorships.

Research Programs: Ongoing research is an important way for faculty members to keep abreast of the latest developments in their disciplines and contribute to the advancement of knowledge. Faculty research is supported through the funding of summer research grants and periodic leaves. Other forms of support include the establishment of research professorships (outlined above), as well as research opportunities through the Center for the Management of Information Technology, the Center for Investors and Financial Markets, the Gallant Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Commerce, the Center for Business Analytics, and the PricewaterhouseCoopers Center for Innovation in Professional Services.