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: Houston
Enrolled students: 1,893
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: Babson Park, Massachusetts
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: Philadelphia
Enrolled students: 218
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: Dayton, Ohio
Enrolled students: 300
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: Tucson, Arizona
Enrolled students: 100
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 84 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: Philadelphia
Enrolled students: 259
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: Chicago
Enrolled students: 125
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: Norman, Oklahoma
Enrolled students: 240
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 75 percent

The curriculum includes five distinct steps: A program in which students create and run their own business; an 18-month, three-course sequence to create a second business; entrepreneur-led courses; experiential learning, including field studies and study abroad programs; and the Governor's Cup, a competitive event in which students prepare a business plan and present their concept to judges, angel investors, venture capitalists and private-equity investors for the chance to win money and support.

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Location: Los Angeles
Enrolled students: 797
Faculty who are entrepreneurs: 93 percent

The Entrepreneur Majors Program takes an applied approach where students develop a business concept, test it via a feasibility analysis and write a comprehensive business plan. Students build upon a strong foundation of business knowledge acquired in business school courses and focus their knowledge on pre-startup, startup and early-growth stages of entrepreneurship. The hands-on program teaches students how to gather needed resources for starting and growing a company.

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Location: Orange, California
Enrolled students: 94
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.