The University of Houston-Victoria School of Business Administration recently was named the No. 1 Greatest Opportunity for Minority Students by The Princeton Review.

“This is the kind of honor that truly makes a university stand out,” business school Dean Farhang Niroomand said. “I want to thank all the faculty and staff who have worked so hard to make the School of Business Administration a place where everyone feels welcome and can learn.”

In the book “The Best 301 Business Schools: 2010 Edition,” The Princeton Review collected the opinions of more than 19,000 students at the best Master of Business Administration programs in the world accredited by AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. They also gathered statistical information about many more schools.

While the programs were not listed in hierarchical order, the top 10 schools were ranked in various areas, including “Best Classroom Experience,” “Most Competitive Students” and “Best Campus Facilities.”

For the Greatest Opportunity for Minority Students, the publishers looked at the percent of minority students and the percent of minority faculty members. They also examined students’ assessments of resources for minority students, how supportive the culture is to minority students, and whether fellow students are ethnically diverse.

Niroomand noted the business school, and UHV as a whole, is very cosmopolitan. The diverse group of learners in the school includes students from China who attend classes in Katy as part of an international agreement.

The business school includes 18 percent black students, 14 percent Hispanic, 22 percent Asian and 14 percent international, according to fall statistics.

The UHV faculty has representatives from Belarus, Canada, China, Colombia, India, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Russia.

These attributes, along with general academic excellence, led The Princeton Review to consider UHV among the best business schools, a senior official said.

“We are pleased to recommend UHV to readers of our book and users of our site, www.PrincetonReview.com, as one of the best institutions they could attend to earn an MBA,” said Robert Franek, senior vice president of publishing.

“Efficiency and convenience define the University of Houston-Victoria MBA,” according to the book. “No matter what your previous preparation or current time restraints, you can get a quality education from this regional college.”

Hong “Lisa” Fee, a native of China, said it was the open and welcoming environment that led her to come to UHV after trying to find her way at other schools.

“I feel this school treats every student equally, and the professors are willing to help the students,” she said.

Other schools just didn’t feel as open to her, she said.

“I didn’t know who I should talk to, who I could talk to,” Fee said. “I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out, but I couldn’t. But at UHV, it’s very easy to talk to people, whether it’s your professor or counselor.”

When she has questions, her professors usually reply promptly, she said.

“Even if they don’t understand my question, they are very patient,” Fee said.

It is experiences like Fee’s that have led many students to recommend UHV to their friends. It is also one of the reasons UHV President Tim Hudson credited with the university’s enrollment growth, especially in the School of Business Administration.

Graduate enrollment in the business school grew by 18 percent in 2009 compared with the fall of 2008, while total business enrollment grew 27 percent. Enrollment at UHV has grown by almost 50 percent since 2005. The university has one of the fastest growth rates in the state for fall of 2009, 16.6 percent, according to provisional numbers.

The School of Business Administration also has received numerous other recognitions. The Princeton Review rated the school No. 10 on the Most Family Friendly list in 2009. Also in 2009, GetEducated.com rated the school’s Bachelor of Business Administration as the No. 7 Online Bachelor’s Degree in Business Best Buy, and the Global MBA and the Strategic MBA as the No. 2 and No. 11 AACSB-accredited Distance MBA Best Buys, respectively. In addition, Fortune Small Business Magazine rated the school one of the top-five Best Online Entrepreneurial School in 2007.

“UHV prides itself on being a place where anyone can achieve their dreams of a better life through education,” Hudson said. “The diversity of backgrounds and experiences among the people at UHV is truly a strength that allows us to better enable students to succeed.”

For more information about the University of Houston-Victoria, visit www.uhv.edu.