Extra Credit
Big Major on Campus
Entrepreneurship education has clearly arrived on the academic
scene, as endowed professorships, research funding, scholarships,
and even entire departments of entrepreneurship multiply on
campuses across the nation. Behind the proliferation of
technology-transfer programs, multidisciplinary curricula and
swelling enrollments is another perhaps more profound but less
visible trend: a change in the esteem in which entrepreneurship is
held. The boom in entrepreneurship education in the last decade, to a
considerable degree, reflected universities' pursuit of
donations from entrepreneurial alumni. While that allure lasted,
entrepreneurship education was on probation in the view of many
academics. But now that the dotcom dollars have dried up,
entrepreneurship is still around and has become a significant and
lasting component for literally hundreds of higher education
institutions. Behind that is yet another change: a shift in regarding
entrepreneurship education less as a business school subject, or
how-to instruction on starting a business, and more as a way of
approaching behavior. Interest in entrepreneurial processes is
permeating universities and corporations, where starting an
enterprise isn't necessarily the desired end result. Content Continues Below
"Our purpose is to develop or uncover in students their own
entrepreneurial perspective," says Kuratko. "We're
trying to make them understand they have a creative and innovative
side that can be used and applied at the proper time in their
lives. For our economy to excel in the 21st century, we need
entrepreneurial thinkers. That's what we're preparing our
young people to be." Changing of the Guard Harvard Business School and the University of
Pennsylvania's Wharton School are recognized as among the best
sources of business education in the United States, if not the
world. So it was no surprise when Entrepreneur's 2003
rankings placed both schools' entrepreneurship education
programs in the top tier. This year, however, both were replaced in
the top tier by other programs. Given that neither school made
significant changes to its entrepreneurship offerings, what's
the explanation? In a word: focus.
"This list is not 'top business schools' overall,
including finance, international business, marketing and
such," reminds David Newton, whose company, Santa Barbara,
California-based TechKnowledge Point, compiled data for the 2003
and 2004 rankings. "This ranking is only entrepreneurship. We
measure more than 60 separate program dimensions, and schools like
Arizona, DePaul, Maryland and others have made entrepreneurship
their flagship effort. They now have some of the best course
offerings, faculty, special initiatives and opportunities for
venturing." Newton also says rankings move based on a change of relatively
few points in a school's score, or in that of other schools.
"The reality is, Harvard and Wharton are still in the top 50
schools in the United States," he says. "But the rankings
do place them within a given [tier of schools] in the top 50 that
are most similar to them in terms of entrepreneurship." To view the 2nd Annual Top Entrepreneurial Colleges and
Universities listing, click here.
Mark Henricks is Entrepreneur's Smart
Moves" columnist.
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