For young budding entrepreneurs approaching graduation this spring, or for those looking to go back for a post-graduate degree, finding the right program for your needs is very important. In their seventh annual joint effort last fall, Entrepreneur Magazine and The Princeton Review teamed up to rank the top 25 undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship programs in the United States. Only six programs managed to make the top 10 in both lists, securing their spots at the top of the best overall entrepreneurship programs.
#1. Babson College – Babson Park, MA
Finding themselves in the top spot of both top 25 lists is the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. Babson’s entrepreneurial programs boast the largest enrollment by far of any of the top schools with over 3,300 total enrolled students, and offers undergraduates a total of over $300,000 in scholarships.
#2. Drexel University – Philadelphia, PA
Drexel’s undergraduate program of the Laurence A. Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship is rated sixth best, but the university’s third-ranked graduate program at the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business has boosted them into the number two spot overall. Drexel offers the most money in scholarships out of the top six, providing $350,000 for both undergraduate and graduate students, and claims that 100% of their faculty are entrepreneurs themselves.
#3 (Tie). University of Arizona – Tucson, AZ
The entrepreneurial programs at the University of Arizona are the most exclusive clubs on this list, enrolling just 100 undergrads and 50 graduate students in it’s McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the Eller College of Management. With $120,000 available in scholarships and low enrollment figures, entrepreneurs at Arizona have an excellent chance at receiving financial aid.
#3 (Tie). Temple University – Philadelphia, PA
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute at Temple’s Fox School of Business ranked 5th and 6th for undergraduate and graduate programs respectively. The school enrolls over 600 students and offers a $29,500 prize in its buisness plan competition.
#5. University of Southern California – Los Angeles, CA
With the second largest enrollment in the top six, the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at USC’s Marshall School of Business is the home to over 2,000 young entrepreneurs. The undergraduate program is just 10th in the nation, but the school’s stellar graduate program is ranked 2nd, just below Babson College.
#6. DePaul University – Chicago, IL
Ranked 8th and 9th in undergraduate and graduate programs, the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at DePaul’s College of Commerce and the Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business rounds out the top six. The programs enroll just under 400 students and like Drexel, 100% of the faculty are themselves entrepreneurs.
Honorable Mention: The Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Houston has ranked in the top 2 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s undergraduate list since 2007.
Honorable Mention: The Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship at Tulane’s Freeman School of Business was ranked #4 in the top 25 graduate programs.
To see the complete lists of the top 25 undergraduate and graduate programs in entrepreneurship, visit Entrepreneur Magazine. If your favorite school isn’t on these lists and you want to see if they have entrepreneurship programs, be sure to look at this list of schools (including international institutions) offering entrepreneurial majors compiled by Saint Louis University.
Photo by Flickr user CarbonNYC.