Ahead of the Curve

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If you think business ownership might be in your future, what better time to get started than your undergraduate years?

With the Princeton Review, Entrepreneur magazine compiled a list of the top 25 undergraduate programs for entrepreneurship in the country. Here's a closer look at the top 10 schools that will help you develop the skills you need to lead your own business someday.

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Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts
No. of entrepreneurship courses: 39
Enrolled students: 1,776
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 95 percent

Babson believes both business and liberal arts coursework are fundamental to the cultivation of entrepreneurial skills and attitudes. This approach emphasizes field-based learning, incorporates the subjects and skills needed for a diverse business education, and provides flexibility to support individual learning needs.

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Location: Houston
No. of entrepreneurship courses: 37
Enrolled students: 1,688
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 100 percent

The University of Houston believes that the classroom educational process must be complemented by application of the classroom work through interaction with numerous real-world entrepreneurial problems. Therefore, each student has a personal mentor and participates in roundtable discussions in his or her particular industry led by proven entrepreneurs. In addition, members of the Houston business community speak in classes once per week.

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Location: Philadelphia
No. of entrepreneurship courses: 28
Enrolled students: 102
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 100 percent

Undergraduates are provided with opportunities to participate in Drexel University's Cooperative Education. More than 1,500 companies in 27 states and 12 countries take part in the program. Also, in 2001, Drexel University's LeBow College of Business opened the Laurence A. Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship in Technology. The Baiada Center hosts entrepreneurship classes, serves as a full-service incubator for innovative companies, and is partnering with Drexel's Technology Commercialization Office to help bring discoveries to market.

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Location: Tucson, Arizona
No. of entrepreneurship courses: 28
Enrolled students: 55
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 74 percent

The McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship offers The Mock Law Firm. This course brings law students together under the leadership of law faculty and prominent corporate attorneys to organize a mock law firm serving new startups and corporate growth. The firm's client pool is McGuire Entrepreneurship Teams. This gives entrepreneurship students a better understanding of legal implications, ranging from relationship management through contracting to intellectual property issues.

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Location: Dayton, Ohio
No. of entrepreneurship courses: 23
Enrolled students: 350
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 62 percent

Students can't simply "declare" their major in entrepreneurship. Instead, they have to show they're worthy of admission to the major by describing their behaviors, backgrounds and interests as they relate to entrepreneurship. The admissions process also includes an interview component for students applying to the major. Students are sometimes interviewed multiple times before a decision is made. Part of the admission criteria is stand-up skills and interpersonal savvy since successful new ventures are typically created and run by a network of individuals that have to work together.

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Location: Orange, California
No. of entrepreneurship courses: 8
Enrolled students: 86
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 100 percent

Chapman University is a national leader in entertainment entrepreneurship study--boosted by alumni contacts, proximity to Hollywood, TV broadcasting, Disneyland and the tourism industry in Southern California. Also, Chapman is developing a research focus in international entrepreneurship, including residential study and trips to Mexico, Europe and Asia.

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Location: Chicago
No. of entrepreneurship courses: 7
Enrolled students: 4,999
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 100 percent

DePaul boasts incubator activity in several locations as well as community development organizations. Also, its urban location provides exposure to inner-city entrepreneurship. Not surprisingly, DePaul has one of the most diverse student bodies in the U.S. 

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Location: Philadelphia
No. of entrepreneurship courses: 14
Enrolled students: 195
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 90 percent

Located in a financially distressed area of urban Philadelphia, Temple's intense focus on entrepreneurship is interwoven with its mission for urban renewal and economic development. For this reason, Temple has been chosen as the home for a number of unique programs, such as Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures, Temple Small Business Development Center and BioLaunch 611+ Keystone Innovation Zone. Other programs of note include the Temple University Council on Entrepreneurship, Philadelphia Entrepreneur Idol and the Turnaround Management Case Competition.

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Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota
No. of entrepreneurship courses: 10
Enrolled students: 160
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 100 percent

The University of North Dakota's "Entrepreneurship 2.0" program focuses on helping students develop an entrepreneurial mindset. The school advocates hands-on experiential understanding in the areas of creativity, discovery and opportunity recognition. Students build on this by learning about resource acquisition, customer relationships and venture growth.

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Location: Los Angeles
No. of entrepreneurship courses: 13
Enrolled students: 120
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 75 percent

Like entrepreneurs, Loyola Marymount University describes itself as small but powerful. Not as large as other surrounding schools, Loyola emphasizes its ability to focus on niches others ignore. The university may not be as well funded as other schools, yet with a very entrepreneurial spirit it makes every dollar work overtime.