Top 10 Undergraduate Programs 2009 The Princeton Review's annual ranking of entrepreneurship programs names 50 schools that have an edge--and one that beat them all.
Profound shifts in the economy are expected to lead even higher numbers of students into both graduate and undergrad programs in entrepreneurship over the coming year, according to Robert Franek, The Princeton Review 19s senior vice president and publisher. The top 10 undergrad programs in The Princeton Review 19s ranking have fulfilled three main criteria exceptionally well: teaching business fundamentals in the classroom, staffing their departments with successful entrepreneurs and providing experiential or entrepreneurial opportunities outside of the classroom. Here is the class of 2009.
Babson College
Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship
Wellesley, MA
Enrolled students: 1,559
babson.edu/eship
Student-led entrepreneurial clubs and activities encourage networking and starting business partnerships. Full-time MBA students learn how to take an entrepreneurial venture from conception to growing it domestically to globally.
University of Houston
The Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship
Houston
Enrolled students: 1,938
bauer.uh.edu/wce
Offers a major in entrepreneurship, a global business minor and a certificate in corporate entrepreneurship. The student application process for the entrepreneurship program begins at the start of students 19 junior year, when 35 students are chosen.
University of Arizona
McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship
Tucson, AZ
Enrolled students: 50
entrepreneurship.eller.arizona.edu
The Mentor-In-Residence Program offers full-time mentors on site, providing consistent guidance for each student. Specialty programs include those that combine business and law through its Mock Law Firm and the Land Grant program that allows entrepreneurs to understand real estate and agricultural entrepreneurial options.
Baylor University
Baylor Entrepreneurship Program
Waco, TX
Enrolled students: 250
baylor.edu/business/management
Encourages students to launch startups while still in school. Offers tracks in family business, technology entrepreneurship, franchising and social entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship majors are encouraged to develop a second major.
Temple University
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute
Philadelphia
Enrolled students: 396
fox.temple.edu/iei
The institute lets students innovate and create their entrepreneurial program by choosing from courses that stress idea generation, opportunity assessment and brand generation. Also offered are new certification programs in Entrepreneurship in Engineering and Entrepreneurial Thinking in Science and Technology.
Drexel University
Laurence A. Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship
Philadelphia
Enrolled students: 78
lebow.drexel.edu/Centers/Baiada
The Entrepreneurial Breakfast Series and Entrepreneur Conferences are networking opportunities for students, businesses and investors in a noncompetitive and informative environment. The MentorMatch program details students' goals, making the relationship more manageable for the mentor and fostering a sense of urgency in the student to gain assistance within a short time.
University of Dayton
L. William Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership
Dayton, OH
Enrolled students: 300
ent.udayton.edu
All entrepreneurship majors participate in a three-year lock-step program in which students take their required entrepreneurship courses together as a class, fostering collaboration and a network of entrepreneurs.
DePaul University
DePaul Entrepreneurship Program
Chicago
Enrolled students: 151
condor.depaul.edu/~entrepre
Offers courses in family business, global entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship in the arts, personal selling, entrepreneurship law, advertising and promotion and electronic commerce.
City University of New --Baruch College
Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship
New York
Enrolled students: 443
zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/faculty/management/programs/undergraduate/entrepreneurship
The program offers not-for-credit courses for entrepreneurs. Faculty and students from Baruch's Zicklin School of Business, Baruch's SBDC Business Advisors, alumni and volunteers are brought together to support the entrepreneurial endeavors of startups and established businesses and the college's constituents.
University of Southern California
Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
Los Angeles
Enrolled students: 1,342
marshall.usc.edu/entrepreneur
Entrepreneurial clubs, including e-Club, the largest undergraduate club in USC's business school, allow students to explore a variety of venues for entrepreneurship, including family-owned businesses and expansion ideas. Students learn the science behind business plans and technology and can earn a certificate in Technology Commercialization.
