Financial Times Ranks University of Maryland Business Schools Custom Executive Education Among Worlds Best

College Park, Md. May 15, 2006 The custom executive education programs at the University of Marylands Robert H. Smith School of Business scored No. 14 among all U.S. programs and ranked No. 22 globally in the Financial Times Executive Education 2006 rankings, published today. The Smith Schools custom executive programs scored high in several categories in the influential rankings including No. 4 globally for value for the money and No. 3 globally for preparation, which measures how companies feel their ideas were integrated into a program and the effectiveness in which a schools latest research was integrated.

The Smith School also placed highly in future use, where companies measure the likelihood they would use the school again, or return to the school if doing the program again. The School ranked No. 6 among executive education programs globally on this measure.

The Smith School launched its highly successful executive education program in 2001 and this is the first year that the school has been measured in the Financial Times rankings. The Smith School employs a distinctive approach to designing customized management programs for organizations seeking to enhance the capabilities of high-potential business professionals and leverage new economy business practices. The schools custom programs provide a multi-disciplinary curriculum that addresses the impact of technology on organizational effectiveness and value creation. Smith School custom executive education clients include leading multinational companies including: Lockheed Martin, Black and Decker, Sprint Nextel, Home Depot, Hughes Network Systems and Northrop Grumman.

Our executive education programs are of the same high caliber as our top-ranked MBA and undergraduate programs and the results from the Financial Times reflect that, said Howard Frank, dean of the Smith School. What is also clear is the high degree of satisfaction that our corporate clients and participants feel on the return on their investment, the schools involvement in creating a program that is custom-tailored to their needs and the highest compliment that they cant wait to come back!

The Financial Times survey follows a survey of executive education programs from The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that ranked the Smith Schools custom executive programs No. 5 in the U.S. and No. 8 globally. The EIU is the business information arm of The Economist Group, which publishes The Economist.

The Financial Times custom ranking is compiled from responses to two types of surveys; a corporate client questionnaire compiled from telephone interviews of top corporate custom program purchasers for each school and an online survey of statistical data which is completed by each participating business school. The data from the client questionnaire are used to compile the first 11 criteria in the table which make up 80 per cent of the schools final score.

About the Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research for the digital economy. One of 13 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, Executive MBA, PhD, and Executive Education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in four continents including North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. More information about the Robert H. Smith School of Business can be found at www.rhsmith.umd.edu.