Woodbury University Named 'Best Graduate School' in 2017 Los Angeles Daily News Readers Choice Awards

    LOS ANGELES, CA, August 23, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Readers of The Los Angeles Daily News have named Woodbury University "Best Graduate School" in the newspaper's 2017 Readers Choice Awards, the university announced today. The Readers Choice 2017 special section will publish on August 25, with distribution to some 300,000 readers throughout the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys.

"Back by popular demand, our annual Readers Choice Awards remains a coveted and highly anticipated list, showcasing the wide variety of people, places and things that our readers have chosen as the best of the best in 2017," the newspaper wrote. "As in the past, votes were tallied from ballots which ran both in our newspaper and online. We received an overwhelming response from both readers and advertisers, leading to our biggest and best year ever."

"Because the Daily News Readers Choice Award reflects the sentiments of those in our community, this is an especially meaningful honor," said David Steele-Figueredo, President of Woodbury University. "Our graduate degree programs in business and architecture enable our students to turn jobs into professions, and turn professions into careers. With a Woodbury graduate education, students are able to sustain and advance themselves while retaining quality of life."

"Although the two programs are quite different, the common thread is flexibility," he said. "Woodbury graduate students are taught by some of today's top working professionals, who truly are training tomorrow's top professionals. Both programs deliver an experiential, advanced degree while recognizing that many students are themselves immersed in the working world." At Woodbury, students develop as professionals mindful of both personal and social responsibility, a fundamental element of the university's mission and identity.

The MBA program at Woodbury is designed to prepare students for the next stage of their careers, shaping leaders who possess a distinctive, highly informed view of the business world. Woodbury's MBA is among the oldest business programs in the West -- an intensive 36-credit curriculum, with one-year and two-year program-completion options, structured around seven-week sessions, with evening and weekend classes available. Woodbury's School of Business is among the 5 percent of business schools globally accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The GMAT or GRE exams are not required to enter the program, which is distinguished by a rotating team of executives-in-residence, world-class faculty and a range of civic engagement experiences, all aimed at preparing students for superb business performance. Consultancy and socially-conscious business practices are embedded into the management foundations of the program.

Woodbury's MBA program offers two concentration options: Leadership-Global Strategy and Accounting-Finance. Students may also select a general degree with a free choice of electives. Regardless of their choice, Woodbury's MBA students get exposed to entrepreneurial, ethical, and change-prepared skills.

Woodbury's 15:1 student/faculty ratio creates a highly personalized setting where MBA students receive the mentoring required to achieve career success. From Burbank to Bangalore, commerce is now international, multicultural, and challenging in fascinating ways. Woodbury reflects this diversity and equips students to harness the power of multiple perspectives. Students emerge from the MBA program with a sound knowledge base in accounting, finance, marketing, leadership and strategy, along with the networking skills that are so vital in today's economy. And Woodbury's School of Business goes beyond, embracing sustainability and social responsibility as core principles for both business education and business behavior.

Woodbury's School of Architecture supports students in building a strong foundation for professional practice while investigating the nature of practice itself. Within the School of Architecture, five distinct graduate programs are available on the Los Angeles and/or San Diego campuses: Architecture, Interior Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Master of Science in Architecture and Master of Science in Architecture in Real Estate Development. All programs in the School of Architecture are committed to holistically bringing criticality to practice.

Through a range of initiatives, institutes, and unique learning opportunities, School of Architecture faculty are optimistically teaching students that architectural design truly can address some of the world's most significant challenges.

Graduate students participate in fieldwork, research projects and/or teaching assistantships that provide an up-close and personal exposure to the practice. Woodbury's NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture is among the first four graduate programs nationwide to be accepted for participation in the National Council of Architectural Registration Board's (NCARB) Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL) initiative. The School of Architecture has developed a consortium of professional offices in Southern California to place student candidates as part of this program. The professional Master of Architecture degree requires 63 graduate credits plus a pre-professional degree for the two-year program, and 93 graduate credits, plus a non-pre-professional degree for the three-year program.

Woodbury's architecture faculty is comprised of architects, designers, academics and policy makers practicing in Los Angeles, San Diego and Tijuana. This award-winning, internationally recognized group works closely with students, imparting the skills needed to push the limits of practice and explore disciplinary possibilities, both theoretical and professional. Architecture education ultimately speculates about change; Woodbury prepares students to be agents of change and participate in the conversation about how the profession is going to evolve.

With headquarters in Woodland Hills, the Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper in the city and the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a unit of Denver-based Digital First Media.

About Woodbury University
Founded in 1884, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California. The university ranks 15th among the nation's "25 Colleges That Add the Most Value," according to Money Magazine, and is a 2017-18 College of Distinction. Woodbury was a finalist for the General Community Service Award, a part of the 2015 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll recognition program. With campuses in Burbank/Los Angeles and San Diego, the university offers bachelor's degrees from the School of Architecture, School of Business, School of Media, Culture & Design, and College of Liberal Arts, along with a Master of Business Administration, Master of Architecture, Master of Interior Architecture and Master of Science in Architecture. The San Diego campus offers Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture, Master of Interior Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees, as well as a Master of Science in Architecture, Real Estate Development. Visit woodbury.edu for more information.

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