Get excited to go back to school with our 6th annual ranking of top graduate and undergraduate colleges for entrepreneurship.
1.
University of Houston
2.
Babson College
3.
Drexel University
4.
University of Dayton
5.
University of Arizona
6.
Temple University
7.
DePaul University
8.
University of Oklahoma
9.
University of Southern California
10.
Chapman University
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1.
Babson College
2.
DePaul University
3.
University of Southern California
4.
The University of Arizona
5.
University of South Florida
6.
University of Illinois, Chicago
7.
University of California, Los Angeles
8.
Drexel University
9.
Chapman University
10.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Entrepreneur Top Colleges Slideshows
College Days
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Making the Grade
The Princeton Review, a leading provider of educational services, solicited survey data from more than 2,300 undergraduate and graduate schools about their offerings in entrepreneurship. The questions used in the final ranking covered three basic areas: Academics & Requirements, Students & Faculty, and Outside the Classroom.
Under Academics & Requirements, we asked schools if they offer an entrepreneurship major and/or minor, what types of courses they offer (e.g., e-business, social entrepreneurship, international entrepreneurship, etc.), and whether other types of academic opportunities are required of students (e.g., internships, experiential learning, consulting for small-business owners, etc.).
Under Students & Faculty, we asked schools what percentage of their total student body was formally enrolled in their entrepreneurship program for the 2007–2008 academic year, what percentage of their total student body was enrolled in an entrepreneurship-related course for the 2007–2008 academic year, what percentage of formally enrolled entrepreneurship students in the most recent graduating class had launched a business since graduating, what percentage of those students are still in business, and what percentage of the entrepreneurship faculty had started, bought, or run a successful business.
Under Outside the Classroom, we asked schools whether they have partnerships with other schools that allow those schools to take advantage of their entrepreneurship program, how many officially recognized clubs/ organizations they offer specifically for entrepreneurship students, the annual budget for those clubs/organizations, how many noncurriculum-based activities and/or competitions they offer in the area of entrepreneurship, the annual budget for those activities and/or competitions, how many officially sponsored mentorship programs they offer specifically for entrepreneurship students, whether they offer entrepreneurship scholarships, and the total dollar amount of those scholarships.
The questions were refined and the results validated with the help of an advisory board comprised of professionals in the area of entrepreneurship education. Each year, we endeavor to incorporate the full spectrum of feedback when revising our methodology and survey instruments. The individuals who participated in our board proved exceptional in the assist-ance they provided.
The survey was conducted from December 2007 through June 2008 by Ben Zelevansky, director of data collection, and David Soto, director of content development. Additional assistance was provided by Joe Praino and Jeremy Seltzer at The Princeton Review, and Kristen Henning, Jake Kilroy, Nichole L. Torres and Emily Weisburg at Entrepreneur.
Honorable Mentions
They may not have made the list, but these stellar schools are all standouts.
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Harvard: A prominent business center, the Harvard Business School pioneered the Case Method, where students are asked to solve real-life business problems.
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University
of Illinois
, Urbana-Champaign: Introduced more than 40 new courses in entrepreneurship in the past four years; recently established the Entrepreneurs Without Borders program to expand entrepreneurship education internationally.
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Kennesaw
State University
: Aims to extend entrepreneurship beyond business school, inviting all students, faculty and alumni to submit ideas to the Concept 2 Reality Competition to facilitate a business launch.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology: The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program at MIT focuses on networking with CEOs, alumni, students, faculty and venture capitalists through university-sponsored events.
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University
of Minnesota
, Twin Cities: Student groups receive up to $15,000 to start businesses, which have collectively generated more than $200,000 in revenue over the past three years.
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University
of Pennsylvania
: Home to the famous Wharton Business Plan Competition, The Wharton School boasts the Goergen Entrepreneurial Management Program, offering more than 20 courses to 2,000 students.
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Saint Louis
University
: Students can earn an MBA from an AACSB accredited university in 12 months.
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Stanford: The Stanford Graduate School of Business co-sponsors Entrepreneurship Week with Stanford’s School of Engineering, involving students from all over campus.
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Texas
Christian University
: Focuses on inspiring students to start businesses with programs such as Dinner With a CEO, a Distinguished Speakers Series and the TCU Elevator Pitch Competition.
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Wake
Forest University
: Home to the Babcock Demon Incubator, providing support to new ventures for approximately 12 months.