Though national unemployment soars at nearly 10 percent, school officials predict Washington University’s Class of 2011 will actually have less difficulty finding jobs than did students graduating in previous years.

On Tuesday, Sir John Major, former U.K. prime minister, came to speak to Olin Business School MBA students in a session about leadership as part of the MBA “Creating Exceptional Value” course co-taught by former Emerson CEO Chuck Knight and Olin professor Anjan Thakor.

Despite the tough economic times facing the country, 92 percent of graduates from Olin Business School’s MBA program have managed to find jobs while their peers at other MBA programs have struggled.
This year, BusinessWeek Magazine ranked the MBA program at Olin as second in the country for career placement within three months of graduation, behind only Yale University’s School of Management.

The Republican primary race for Missouri state auditor between two Washington University faces, a professor and an MBA graduate, has heated up as one of them ramped up his campaign last week.