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Can you learn to be an entrepreneur? It’s a common question in entrepreneurship circles. After all, an entrepreneur is a little of everything—a visionary, hustler, builder, and boss. Can you learn that stuff in a classroom? The answer is yes and no: You don’t have to go to school for it, but doing so can help accelerate your growth and provide you with the fundamentals for entrepreneurial success. Not all elements of entrepreneurship can be found in a book, of course, which is why the best colleges and universities have robust programs that support students’ startups and help build the kind of networks that last a lifetime.
Related: Top 50 Best Undergraduate Programs for Entrepreneurs in 2024
So which are the best schools? Entrepreneur has partnered with The Princeton Review for 18 years to answer that question—ranking the top undergraduate and graduate programs for entrepreneurs. This year’s survey considered hundreds of colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe, and evaluated them on a multitude of factors—including their programming, their available mentors, and their graduates’ success rates in the business world. Read on to see which schools made the grade. (To read more about our methodology, pick up the Dec. 2023 issue of Entrepreneur.)
Courtesy of Rice University1. Rice University (#1 Southwest)
Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Houston, TX
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 19
Tuition: $66,000
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 291
What Sets Us Apart
Rice Innovation Fellows supports grad students with education, dedicated space, personalized mentorship and non-dilutive funding to transition research from the lab to the real world. Tech Commercialization Lab pairs MBAs with PhDs to create multidisciplinary teams translating cutting-edge technologies into commercial products. Lilie Launchpad provides equity-free funding, development workshops, community/social events, and 1:1 mentorship. Napier Rice Launch Challenge provides over $165K in equity-free funding across two separate competitions. Summer Venture Studio immersive accelerator program provides student ventures with $15K each and mentorship. Venture Capital E-Lab course provides VC experience, meaningful connections, and network by working in proximity with a partner VC firm. Owlspark provides Rice-affiliated startups resources, funding, and space to launch companies/technologies. It has served 63 startups and over 159 entrepreneurs (48% are still active, and have raised over $24M). BlueLaunch is tailored for the non-tech small business entrepreneur. Rice Alliance hosts the Texas Life Science and Energy Tech Venture Forums, two of the largest energy and life science venture capital conferences in the region. Rice Business Plan Competition is one of the world’s richest and largest business plan competitions, with more than 269 past competitors in business today or successfully exited having raised nearly $5.5 billion in capital and over $7.6 billion in exit dollars.
Courtesy of University of Michigan2. University of Michigan (#1 Midwest)
Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies + Center for Entrepreneurship
Ann Arbor, MI
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 82
Tuition: $68,196 (in-state); $73,196 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 503
What Sets Us Apart
An entrepreneurial vision began at the University of Michigan in 1927 with the launch of the first family business class. Since this initial offering, the entrepreneurial curriculum at U-M has grown to include courses in opportunity recognition, commercializing a concept, holistic thinking, team development, venture capital, and more. The courses and programs bridge the gap between academia and real-world entrepreneurship by providing immersive opportunities for students to apply their skills in practical settings.
Graduate students experience each step of venture creation. From participating in one of six student-led funds to supporting the launch of a company within our Desai Accelerator program, U-M offers a sample of entrepreneurship for everyone.
While not all students pursue an entrepreneurial career path, U-M recognizes entrepreneurship as a foundational skill set. Our courses cover a broad range of topics, including family business, intrapreneurship, entrepreneurship through acquisition, and new venture creation, inspiring creativity and innovation in students from diverse academic backgrounds.
In addition to our top-ranked programs in business, healthcare, technology, and engineering, U-M offers graduate students the opportunity to work on groundbreaking research projects at an institution with over $1.7 billion in research funding. This combination of academic excellence and real-world experience makes U-M an ideal destination for students exploring entrepreneurship.
Courtesy of Babson College3. Babson College (#1 Northeast)
The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship
Babson Park, MA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 42
Tuition: $71,564
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 394
What Sets Us Apart
Babson teaches Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® across all disciplines. Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship is the hub for resources, including the Butler Launch Pad which offers co-working spaces, mentors, workshops, competitions, experts, and seed funding.
Our application-based Summer Accelerator, a 10-week intensive provides advisors, mentors, and programming worth over $200K of in-kind services, to accelerate students launching and growing their businesses.
Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL) empowers and develops women and people of color entrepreneurs, and offers both WIN Lab, an application-based 12-week accelerator for female founders centered on milestone planning, competency building, and connections, and Black Women’s EL, a 6-month virtual action tank.
Social Innovation Lab connects a global, interdisciplinary community of students and mentors dedicated to building social impact ventures. All programs may be taken either for credit or for experience. Institute for Family Entrepreneurship fosters entrepreneurship in family businesses and offers a 4-year Amplifier Program for students to work with classmates from other family businesses and connect with parents and owners of family firms, with the goal of launching entrepreneurial ventures in their family businesses.
Our 10,000-square-foot Weissman Foundry offers a collaboration space, media lab, wood shop, kitchen, and performance space where students can create ideas and prototype.
Courtesy of Washington University in St. Louis4. Washington University in St. Louis (#2 Midwest)
Washington University in St. Louis
Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation & Entrepreneurship
St. Louis, MO
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 55
Tuition: $65,219
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 153
What Sets Us Apart
Washington University in St. Louis encourages creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship at all levels and across all disciplines. This distinguishes it from its peer institutions that limit entrepreneurship education to the business school or other academic units. Olin Business School students can take classes in other schools, emphasizing the importance of an interdisciplinary approach. Most courses connect students to the St. Louis community, expanding students’ networks, such as the addition of The League. This class brings in successful entrepreneurs to guide student founders (who are devoting most of their non-class time to launching their ventures). Complementing WashU’s rigorous academics, the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship acts as a hub for co-curricular entrepreneurship activities. The center provides hands-on workshops, graduate fellowships through a partnership with The Graduate Center (open to PhDs in science and humanities and social work students), mentors, grant writing assistance, entrepreneurship competitions, and partnerships with the St. Louis entrepreneurial ecosystem. Most notably, the majority of opportunities are open to ALL undergrad and graduate students, faculty, staff, postdocs, medical students, and alumni. It is this blend of curricular and cocurricular, campus and community, and creativity and entrepreneurship—unlimited by discipline or school—that distinguishes our entrepreneurial offerings.
Courtesy of University of California–Los Angeles5. University of California–Los Angeles (#1 West)
University of California–Los Angeles
Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Los Angeles, CA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 37
Tuition: $71,071 (in-state); $71,071 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 216
What Sets Us Apart
UCLA Anderson has been recognized as a leader in entrepreneurial education for several decades. We offer a wide and deep curriculum that provides our students with management skills suited to an entrepreneurial setting and helps them to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Our elective offerings cut across the functional areas of management and multiple disciplines. We also offer courses tailored to our location in Los Angeles and industries in our economy, in sectors such as consumer tech, media and entertainment, real estate, social impact, private equity, and health tech.
Courtesy of The University of Texas at Austin6. The University of Texas at Austin (#2 Southwest)
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 62
Tuition: $52,550 (in-state); $58,270 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 95
What Sets Us Apart
The biggest advantage is the size and variety of offerings that the flagship university of University of Texas at Austin can offer. 62 formal classes across 19 departments specifically focus on entrepreneurship. The ensuing cross-fertilization between MBAs and PhD students in science, engineering, and computer science produces powerful and creative new ideas. We also have an award-winning incubator, world-famous competitions, student organizations, and mentorship programs that are campus-wide and well-connected to the business community.
Our MSTC Program prepares tech and business professionals for moving technologies from concept to market. Candidates learn to evaluate emerging technologies, identify customers and marketing strategies, develop broad, flexible business plans, build a management team to drive the new venture, devise approaches for securing funding, and manage intellectual property.
The completion of our new 500,000-square-foot Rowling Hall brings together in one space the main powerhouse entrepreneurship programs at the University: the full-time MBA, the MS in Tech Commercialization and the Texas Venture Labs.
The city of Austin offers strong advantages. Startups account for a larger share of business in Austin than in nearly all major US metros and Austin ranks 5th for new business per 1,000 population. Austin is at or near the top of similar lists by Crowdspring, Business.org, and Forbes’ ranking of cities creating the most tech jobs in the country for the past several years.
Courtesy of University of Washington7. University of Washington (#2 West)
Arthur W. Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship
Seattle, WA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 71
Tuition: $37,392 (in-state); $55,074 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 395
What Sets Us Apart
Graduate students pursuing or interested in entrepreneurship quickly discover a robust slate of programming and opportunity at the University of Washington. Graduate students work next to undergraduate students in the Creative Destruction Lab multi-quarter course to help massively scalable, seed-stage, science-based companies. CDL-Seattle is just the third US offering and is hosted in the Foster School of Business. Graduate students choose post-career opportunities like the 12-month Master of Science in Entrepreneurship to launch their own idea or something new. The Technology Entrepreneurship Certificate offers students a chance to work with UW inventors on their market-ready applications and can apply for fellowships in UW technology ventures or local angel funds. The multi-day digital health workshop and consumer product workshops connect students to real-world professionals to develop their ideas. The Engineering Innovation in Health program brings together undergrads, graduate students, post-docs, and more to provide experience in medical device development and innovation. The Institute of Protein Design (IPD) offers graduate and PhD students a chance to become founders on revolutionary technologies. Collectively, IPD spinouts have raised more than $1 billion dollars, fueling Seattle’s biotech boom. Graduate students can also harness real-world startup investment experience in the 3-quarter Angel Investing course where real money is invested and earned.
Courtesy of University of Virginia8. University of Virginia (#1 Mid-Atlantic)
Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Technology
Charlottesville, VA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 34
Tuition: $68,794 (in-state); $71,112 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 174
What Sets Us Apart
Darden is distinguished by a long-held commitment to developing world-class entrepreneurs and entrepreneurially minded leaders, evidenced by:
- Robust Endowment for Entrepreneurship: A $158+ million endowment is solely dedicated to entrepreneurship and innovation and administered by the Batten Institute.
- Largest Pool of Entrepreneurial Scholarships: The prestigious Batten Scholarships offer full and partial-tuition scholarships to dozens of Darden MBAs annually (25+ are typically full rides).
- Renowned Faculty: Teaching excellence is a hallmark of Darden, and instructors in entrepreneurship and innovation comprise over 25% of all faculty. Darden faculty in fact helped create the discipline of entrepreneurship in business academia.
- Abundance of Courses: Darden has nearly 30 graduate courses directly related to entrepreneurship touching 4 in 5 students. Students also benefit from workshops, bootcamps and field experiences via our 10+ staff
- Venture Acceleration: From “Startup Academy” to our paid Summer i.Lab Incubator (with follow-on non-dilutive funds), Darden students have plentiful opportunities to nurture their ventures from idea to reality.
- Sponsored Internships: The Darden Venture Fund Fellows and Batten Venture Internships support dozens of students in kickstarting careers with high-growth startups and VCs.
- On-Site InnovationLab: Darden operates UVA’s flagship iLab, a 10,000-square-foot facility with a maker space that supports a variety of venture creation programs.
Courtesy of University of South Florida9. University of South Florida (#1 South)
Nault Center for Entrepreneurship
Tampa, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 121
Tuition: $8,500 (in-state); $16,435 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 157
What Sets Us Apart
Our graduate offerings are distinct in several aspects:
- We designed an interdisciplinary 30-credit program with two engineering courses and other courses that have a strong STEM character since the focus of the graduate program is technology entrepreneurship.
- We offer several opportunities where students can take an internship at a startup, large company, accelerator, or one of our own incubators on the USF campus.
- Our program offers students the opportunity to gain experience pitching in several pitch competitions with different foci; we pioneered a very experiential competition that unfolds over one full academic year based on the commercialization of a new product. Student teams compete to head up three teams that each obtain $250K startup capital and place the product in different venues around the Tampa Bay region and beyond. Teams had to report monthly to a board of directors the progress they made. The team with the highest revenues won $ 75K, the runner-up team won $ 25K, and the third-place team won $10K.
- We offer students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with new ventures in a foreign country. Last year, we took 23 students to Costa Rica.
- Our graduate program is tightly integrated with our Student Innovation Incubator and we strongly encourage our students to try out their ideas and with the help of mentors assess whether the idea can be shaped into a viable business.
Courtesy of Northeastern University10. Northeastern University (#2 Northeast)
NU Center for Entrepreneurship Education
Boston, MA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 67
Tuition: $44,280
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 252
What Sets Us Apart
NU is known for its experiential education and so the courses tie theory with practice. The courses take advantage of the strong entrepreneurship ecosystem we have on campus and the multiple sister schools we have around the world. The courses are populated by students all across campus, as entrepreneurship is tied into their curricula. This cross-disciplinary environment is bolstered by students and faculty. We have faculty in 23 departments teaching entrepreneurship. Our faculty teaching the courses are research-productive, so they are developing courses from their research. This allows us to provide great breadth and depth in offerings. A hallmark of NU is its emphasis on experiential learning and its co-op program. NU is consistently rated by the Princeton Review as the number one co-op school in the country. This is reflected in teaching approaches as the culture at NU is to mix the classroom with experiential activities. NU has one of the most active entrepreneurship ecosystems in the country. Princeton Review rated NU the 4th most entrepreneurial campus. Our students are required to work with startups through the student-run accelerator, IDEA, or to create their own companies. The FT MBA requires a 6 month co-op, where students are working full-time with companies in their fields. Students are therefore learning both theory and practice.
Courtesy of Erasmus University Rotterdam11. Erasmus University Rotterdam (#1 International)
Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, Erasmus Enterprise, Yes!Delft Rotterdam (3 institutes)
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 37
Tuition: $58,276
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 120
What Sets Us Apart
The Master in Strategic Entrepreneurship provides students the entrepreneurial competencies and skills, and the strategic entrepreneurship theories to discover, recognize, and exploit business opportunities for existing firms or by building a new one. Our aim is to provide high-quality training that allows students to start their own companies or have entrepreneurial jobs within established firms. One important aspect of our offering is to train for both entrepreneurship and corporate entrepreneurship. Students are exposed to a variety of entrepreneurial challenges that allow them to acquire entrepreneurial skills needed for their careers (either within an existing organization or for a new venture).
Courtesy of The University of Oklahoma12. University of Oklahoma (#3 Southwest)
Tom Love Center for Entrepreneurship
Oklahoma City, OK
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 25
Tuition: $33,307 (in-state); $52,898 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 37
What Sets Us Apart
All MBA students in the Rainbolt Graduate School of Business select a specialty area. Entrepreneurship is one of the most popular specialties. All Entrepreneurship students submit proposals to the statewide business plan competition, the Love’s Cup, and other plan and pitch events. To prepare, students take courses in lean startup and business canvas principles and receive mentoring from practicing entrepreneurs, industry experts, and world-class entrepreneurial faculty. Along each step of the entrepreneurial journey, as students ideate, research, develop and launch ventures, students are engaged in experiential programming, internships, and networking with the entrepreneurial community. Students have access to and are supported in using cutting-edge 3D printing, digital fabrication, and advanced VR technologies in the Tom Love Innovation Hub where we provide collaborative learning spaces. Regular courses are supplemented by 1-credit hour courses in Strategic Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship, Family Business and Entrepreneurial Law. The MBA program requires all students to study abroad and trips are now focused on innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe and Asia. Overall, we offer a highly favorable environment for graduate entrepreneurship students to achieve their business launch, company renewal, and economic development goals.
Courtesy of University of Maryland13. University of Maryland (#2 Mid-Atlantic)
Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
College Park, MD
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 30
Tuition: $43,470 (in-state); $52,380 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 89
What Sets Us Apart
- UMD’s entrepreneurship programs were featured in two Chronicle of Higher Education cover stories: “Now Everyone’s an Entrepreneur” (2015), “Can Design Thinking Transform Higher Ed?” (2017). UMD is embedding lean startup and design thinking into the core curriculum for every UMD student.
- Master of Professional Studies in Technology Entrepreneurship (mte.umd.edu): Launched in 2014, this 15-month, 30-credit exclusively online program focuses on launching and leading innovative startups and corporate ventures. Being 100% online means 1) maximum geographic flexibility with 30% of students outside the US, and 2) maximum time flexibility for working professionals. In typical years, the program graduates 30+ students annually.
- National Science Foundation Innovation Hub: UMD is 1 of only 10 leading universities in the US in NSF’s lab-to-market I-Corps innovation hub program.
- Dingman Center (est. 1986): This award-winning hub creates an inclusive environment to educate, empower, and equip students with the skills to be an entrepreneur and the resources to make their ideas a reality.
- I-Corps Venture Internship and FedTech: With UMD’s $750M in annual research and its close proximity to 87 federal labs, the UMD’s I-Corps Venture Internship and partnership with FedTech offers grad students opportunities to explore the commercialization of promising technologies from UMD and federal labs like NASA.
Courtesy of University of Utah14. University of Utah (#3 West)
Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute
Salt Lake City, UT
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 27
Tuition: $34,000 (in-state); $34,500 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 139
What Sets Us Apart
One of our unmatched qualities is the ability for students to get an exceptional academic experience learning entrepreneurship inside of the classroom and then immediately apply what they have learned through our wide array of programs and offerings outside of the classroom. This allows thousands of students to bring their educations to life and start their entrepreneurial journeys while still enrolled in college. No other university provides the same depth and variety of entrepreneurial learning and experiences as we do at the University of Utah.
The opportunities we provide students to learn and explore entrepreneurship include academics, competitions, grants, workshops, prototype assistance, networking, mentoring, and more. All of our extracurricular programs are free for all students at the University of Utah.
Students have access to Lassonde Studios, a one-of-a-kind building that mixes a 20,000-square-foot creative space on the main floor with 400 residences above and which has received worldwide attention, including features in the New York Times and Architectural Digest.
Our support doesn’t end at graduation. Starting in the fall of 2022, all students at the University of Utah are welcome to join our new alumni program, called Lassonde for Life. This program provides free, lifelong entrepreneurial support to all alumni through workshops, networking opportunities, resources, and more.
Courtesy of The University of Texas at Dallas15. The University of Texas at Dallas (#4 Southwest)
The University of Texas at Dallas
Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Richardson, TX
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 32
Tuition: $15,309 (in-state); $29,820 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 99
What Sets Us Apart
- Experiential learning on launching startups, commercializing IP, and partnering with corporations. We partner with organizations such as the DOD and AT&T to bring real-world problems to students to develop new technologies and innovations. Our venture capital courses place students in venture capital firms for a semester, conducting due diligence with the partners.
- We work with all students across campus, including the rapidly growing BioEngineering & Sciences program. One student spinout CerSci Therapeutics was acquired for what will be $900M (based on milestones), proving our academic and resource support model for any UTD grad student.
- We host multiple events for students to meet and learn from prominent business leaders.
Courtesy of The University of Tampa16. The University of Tampa (#2 South)
John P. Lowth Entrepreneurship Center
Tampa, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 10
Tuition: $16,392
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 185
What Sets Us Apart
UT’s Master of Science in Entrepreneurship (MSE) offers distinguishing features like experiential learning, allowing students to work on their projects or with companies in UT’s incubator and accelerator programs. This real-world application of concepts is vital for pragmatic business understanding. Additionally, the program offers a customized learning approach, tailored to each student’s objectives. Our affiliation with the acclaimed Lowth Entrepreneurship Center provides access to expert advisors and a thriving entrepreneurial community. Students can utilize assignments to prepare business plans and investor presentations, presenting a practical advantage in the real world.
Courtesy of Saint Louis University17. Saint Louis University (#3 Midwest)
Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship
St. Louis, MO
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 104
Tuition: $52,035
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 103
What Sets Us Apart
We have dense graduate academic offerings: entrepreneurship majors in business, campus-wide minors and supporting areas in entrepreneurship open to all, and 104 classes with entrepreneurship content across 20 departments. We support entrepreneurship in all its forms with a nationally recognized entrepreneurship center, student business and medical technology accelerators, two makerspaces, an NSF I-Corps site, a shared-use kitchen and student-led cafe, a student-led entrepreneurship legal clinic, and two on-campus incubator spaces. We strive for innovation in action from our collection of competitions (elevator pitch, hackathon, etc.), to the textbook we have developed that showcases our approach (Entrepreneurial Small Business from McGraw-Hill) and that is used in over 250 US schools, to innovative pedagogy such as classes co-taught by standing faculty (many with entrepreneurial experience) and local practicing entrepreneurs and experts. We have tight and deep integration with one of America’s top-ranked startup cities (see WSJ, Kauffman, etc.). Our team members are prominent players in national entrepreneurship efforts like the Chaifetz Fellows Network, Kern Engineering Entrepreneurship Network, and the Experiential Classroom.
Courtesy of University of Notre Dame18. University of Notre Dame (#4 Midwest)
The IDEA Center
South Bend, IN
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 55
Tuition: $61,000
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 81
What Sets Us Apart
Notre Dame’s graduate entrepreneurship programs are distinguished by their commitment to values embodied in the university’s mission of being a “force for good in the world.”
ND has a global network of eleven campuses including Dublin, Jerusalem, Beijing and Mumbai. The ESTEEM Program and IDEA Center are leveraging these to recruit startups to South Bend, Indiana, so they can tap into campus resources as a launchpad for their US market entry while gaining access to an alumni network of 150,000+ members. Local resources include a technology de-risking team, mentoring, funding, prototyping, lab/office space, and more, and provide hands-on learning opportunities for students.
A hallmark of ESTEEM is the eleven-month long experiential capstone project. In 2023, 6 of the 58 capstone projects are with European companies. Through these projects, ESTEEM is developing local economies while also providing global networking and partnering opportunities for students and founders. The Migrant Impact Network, serving the humanitarian needs of 100 million forcibly displaced people, began as an ESTEEM capstone project. ND signed an MOU with the PorterShed, a leading incubator in Ireland, and is also working with its Jerusalem campus to offer developer training to Palestinians. Discussions are underway in London.
The ESTEEM Program exemplifies the university’s dedication to fostering global citizenship, promoting innovation, and delivering practical, hands-on learning experiences.
Courtesy of University of California San Diego19. University of California San Diego (#4 West)
University of California San Diego
Sullivan Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
La Jolla, CA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 19
Tuition: $53,122 (in-state); $62,274 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 62
What Sets Us Apart
The Rady School of Management’s MBA program is distinguished by its emphasis on entrepreneurship throughout the entire program. The program’s core courses and electives are built around innovation and entrepreneurship, providing students with a strong foundation in startup business planning, new product development, venture funding, the commercialization of technologies, among many others. In addition, all MBA students are required to take the capstone Lab to Market course sequence. Lab to Market’s three-course sequence begins in the classroom and moves into a project-based environment. Students perform market research and validation, feasibility studies, develop a business case and then a business plan and a go-to market strategy. Working in teams, students generate business ideas, evaluate ideas from companies, and gain exposure to commercialization opportunities. Teams work closely with the Rady School’s robust network of external advisors and coaches as they develop their business strategies. The Lab to Market course is not a classroom simulation, rather a real conduit for students to design and launch a startup company.
Courtesy of DePaul University20. DePaul University (#5 Midwest)
Coleman Entrepreneurship Center
Chicago, IL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 51
Tuition: $67,000
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 88
What Sets Us Apart
DePaul University sits in the heart of Chicago’s business district and was ranked in the top 25 “most innovative schools” in 2016 by US News & World Report. DePaul has offered academic programs in entrepreneurship since 1982. The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center (CEC) launched in 2003 and provides experiential programs to complement our strong academic record. The CEC opened a $1 million, 5,000-square-foot center in 2016. As the hub of entrepreneurship at DePaul, the CEC connects students/alumni with the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Chicago. CEC programs are designed to be relevant for students/alumni from every college no matter which industry they enter. The CEC empowers students, alumni and community members to build sustainable businesses. Executive Director of the CEC, Bruce Leech (DePaul MBA 1981), founded a $90 million business. He brings strong experiential components to the CEC, connecting the CEC with the entrepreneur community through memberships at 1871, the premier business incubator in the US, and 2112, an incubator for music, film, and creative tech. In 2019, Maija Renko PhD. joined as the Coleman Endowed Chair and brings years of entrepreneurial research to our curriculum. In 2019, we launched the first Women in Entrepreneurship Institute to provide programs, accelerators and research to women in entrepreneurship. We also have our new social impact programs, including our Social Impact Incubator to help entrepreneurship in under-served areas of Chicago.
Courtesy of Syracuse University21. Syracuse University (#3 Northeast)
Blackstone Launchpad powered by TechStars; Couri Hatchery; Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship; Institute for an Entrepreneurial Society
Syracuse, NY
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 39
Tuition: $48,654
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 97
What Sets Us Apart
We have a dedicated department of Entrepreneurship, reflecting SU’s commitment to entrepreneurship as a key aspect of its strategic plan. We instill an entrepreneurial mindset in all students, and they have access to many professors who specialize in researching and teaching entrepreneurship. Tenured faculty publish in leading journals and professors of practice have substantial entrepreneurial experience. A faculty member received the 2023 Mentor Award by the Academy of Management.
Our curriculum allows students to focus on different tracks: new venture creation, social entrepreneurship, family business, and corporate entrepreneurship, so students can take courses designed around their interests. We also offer courses in conjunction with other schools on campus, allowing access to skillsets and resources outside the business school.
We take experiential learning seriously and our students work with companies in both for-profit and social settings. We help them take what they learn inside the classroom and put it into action. We pair them up with entrepreneurs from the community via internships, consulting projects, specialized courses, community engagement, etc. We work with over 2000 entrepreneurs per year in our Women’s Business Center, South Side Innovation Center, and more. Our Blackstone Launchpad has had tremendous success with student startups given robust mentoring and coaching activities. This led to students receiving national media exposure (Newsweek, AdWeek, & others).
Courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison22. University of Wisconsin-Madison (#6 Midwest)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship
Madison, WI
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 24
Tuition: $26,265 (in-state); $49,913 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 17
What Sets Us Apart
A distinguishing attribute of our graduate program is the significant amount of applied learning that takes place as the students work with local small businesses to develop growth strategies, explore commercialization opportunities for university research, or launch businesses based on their own ideas. The combination of academic excellence with practical application has resulted in significant recognition over the years. In addition to The Princeton Review/Entrepreneur Magazine having named us as one of the top programs, we were ranked #6 in the US for Entrepreneurship education by the Financial Times, named “Model Entrepreneurship MBA Program” by USASBE, given an Excellence in Entrepreneurship Teaching Innovation by GCEC, and awarded a $5M Kauffman Campus grant. In addition, UW-Madison is consistently ranked among the top ten institutions in NSF research funding. These awards are just a few examples of the UW-Madison campus’ successful history of business, academic and social entrepreneurship. The UW works closely with the community and early-stage investors to make student participation integral to the vibrant university start-up ecosystem.
Courtesy of Boston University23. Boston University (#4 Northeast)
Innovate@BU
Boston, MA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 29
Tuition: $61,050
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 26
What Sets Us Apart
A graduate student at BU who is interested in entrepreneurship has a variety of classes available to them both in their school and in other schools. This leads to a rich classroom environment with students from diverse backgrounds working on projects together. Outside the classroom, we have robust experiential extracurricular programs designed specifically for graduate students. These include the VCIC venture capital competition and the G51 program, which gives students the opportunity to do due diligence on “live” deals. We also have the Catalyst program, which teaches students how to undertake customer discovery on technologies that have been discovered in BU’s research labs. On completion of this experiential program, the student obtains a micro-credential in Customer discovery. We also have a thriving university-wide co-curricular program that allows students to create their own ventures or work on their own projects. This is through the Innovate@BU initiative, which is now six years old. A wide variety of programming is held in the BUild Lab, a customer-build innovation space on campus that is closely located to EPIC, a 15,000-square-foot maker space. Both of these facilities are open to all students on campus.
Courtesy of Arizona State University24. Arizona State University (#5 Southwest)
W. P. Carey Center for Entrepreneurship
Tempe, AZ
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 40
Tuition: $28,720 (in-state); $48,400 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 24
What Sets Us Apart
- Online (in 2024), and face-to-face Master’s program
- A 9-month STEM (starting 2024) STEM-certified dual intrapreneur/entrpreneur track
- Business and design “killer” combo with world-class faculty
- Highly desired degree from #1 ranked university in innovation, and #3 in entrepreneurship
- An ASU ecosystem that has generated over $1 billion in funding across 1,000 start-ups
- Top 10 schools for US patents, and partnership with government labs to monetize existing patents
- Partnership with US government program that allows students to work on existing patents, and build business model to monetize them, including the grandfathering of the IP technology license.
- J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute, ranked no.3 in Kaufman Entrepreneurship growth index, has disbursed over $60 million+ in start-up funding
- Skysong Innovation to protect IP created by entrepreneurs
- Venture Devils and local angel funding ecosystem gives out $450K every year to promising start-ups
- Study-abroad program coming in 2024 that allows for a global perspective
- Dedicated mentor and advisory board for students
Courtesy of Drexel University25. Drexel University (#3 Mid-Atlantic)
Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship
Philadelphia, PA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 34
Tuition: $63,994
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 15
What Sets Us Apart
The Close School’s MS in Entrepreneurship and Innovation is designed for recent graduates and working professionals looking to develop and build on their understanding of and experience with entrepreneurship and innovation. The major focuses on developing the entrepreneurial mindset and the skills associated with new venture creation and corporate innovation, and the minor is designed to enrich students’ academic discipline-based programming with applied coursework. The MS prepares students to innovate within established companies, work for small/growing ventures, start a new venture, and/or seek self-employment. Personally, students learn and apply an approach to building entrepreneurial skills and nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset. The Close curriculum is designed around these skills, including:
The Lean Launch, which positions students to start a real business; Learning from Failure, which creates the conditions for students to learn from failure and appreciate risks that come with launch and growth; and Entrepreneurship Essentials, which builds skills and competencies that entrepreneurs need in a fast-moving job market.
Schuylkill Yards, a 14-acre “innovation neighborhood” located between Drexel and Philly’s Amtrak station includes 5 million square feet of entrepreneurial space; teaching and research facilities; corporate offices; and residential, retail, and cultural venues, embedding the Charles D. Close School within part of an even more extensive entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Courtesy of University of Oregon26. University of Oregon (#5 West)
Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship
Eugene, OR
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 18
Tuition: $30,492 (in-state); $42,498 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 17
What Sets Us Apart
- Programs are co-created with student leaders. We believe that an entrepreneurship program should be entrepreneurial, and students are considered co-founders and leaders of all of our programs.
- Proximity to Silicon Valley. We bring tech founders and investors up from the Bay Area on a regular basis, and every year bring our students to SF and Seattle for on-site visits and events. I spent 10 years leading entrepreneurial programs at Michigan in Ann Arbor prior to coming to Oregon, and we’ve been able to productively engage more SF-based stakeholders this year than any of the years I was at Michigan.
- Connectivity with cutting-edge biotechnology. The Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact is a $1B initiative to advance bioengineering and applied science research. Students from the Knight Campus participate side by side with business students to develop commercialization plans for deep tech.
- Collaborative community building across many disciplines. Our programs serve students across the entire UO campus and we encourage multidisciplinary team formation whenever possible.
- Opportunities to work directly with faculty members on IP-based innovations.
Courtesy of Loyola Marymount University27. Loyola Marymount University (#6 West)
Fred Kiener Center for Entrepreneurship
Los Angeles, CA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 21
Tuition: $41,000
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 12
What Sets Us Apart
- Our Mission: We have been teaching entrepreneurship with a focus on ethics and social responsibility since 1972 before it was a hip thing to do. Our students/graduates are values-centered and possess moral courage. They build businesses that have a purpose and leave a positive impact.
- Our Innovative Curriculum: We have 2 MS programs that are unique, one focused on Sustainable Innovation and the other on global entrepreneurial experiences. We also have top-notch modules in our MBA program. There’s also a spectacular cocurricular program that includes The Hilton Lecture Series, Dinner With a Winner, Startup Weekend, New Idea Pitch Competition, Incubator Showcase, and more.
- Our Location (Silicon Beach): We are located in the center of one of the most vibrant ecosystems for entrepreneurial activity (e.g., YouTube and SpaceX) that offer immense opportunities for internships, jobs, projects, and funding
- Our (family-like) atmosphere: Our faculty and staff members are incredibly dedicated to student success. We maintain a close family-like atmosphere between students, alumni, and faculty that is unlike any other school.
- Our Track Record: We have a track record of developing successful entrepreneurs. Our graduates go on to found companies like Dave.com (IPO’d at $4B), Liquid IV (sold for ~$500M), and General Finance Corp (sold for $1B). There are many other successful businesses. Others become entrepreneurial leaders in established companies and their communities.
Courtesy of University of Connecticut28. University of Connecticut (#5 Northeast)
Peter J. Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Storrs, CT
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 29
Tuition: $16,300 (in-state); $38,212 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 16
What Sets Us Apart
Leaders experienced in industry and entrepreneurship guide UConn offerings, which provide opportunities to work on innovative startup projects and with experienced industrial researchers and entrepreneurs. Cross-disciplinary courses promote diverse startup teams and experiential learning. Law students, through an IP clinic, work with startups on patent and commercialization issues. At the Business school, graduate offerings tackle fundamental problems faced by entrepreneurs, inspire and support a robust entrepreneurial culture; often times, working to assist the commercialization efforts of our students in engineering or sciences. Unique research programs related to entrepreneurship expose students to innovative concepts and companies. Those include MURI Programs, GANN Fellowship Program, Industrial Affiliates Program, Electrical Insulation Research Center, GOALI Projects, and the many industry-sponsored centers at our Innovation Partnership Building including a proof of concept center for SMEs.
A new feature of our graduate entrepreneurship experience is the Daigle Labs Foundry, which assists STEM startup founders with organizational development, customer acquisition, and supply chain development. In its first year, our graduate startup founders have recorded millions of dollars in new sales, allowing them to scale faster through direct revenue growth.
Courtesy of Florida International University29. Florida International University (#3 South)
Florida International University
StartUP FIU, Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center, Small Business Development Center at FIU, and FIU CARTA Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator, Blackstone LaunchPad at FIU
Miami, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 52
Tuition: $34,000 (in-state); $39,000 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 36
What Sets Us Apart
Graduate entrepreneurship offerings across multiple disciplines at FIU are characterized by hands-on experiential learning that simulates real-world scenarios, either through an industry experience or an FlU technology-based startup. Graduate students with technical expertise thrive at StartUP FIU because of its strategic focus on research translation. Students participate in rigorous boot camps as well as hands-on founder training and are better prepared to launch their own companies or win external competitions. The College of Businesses has entrepreneurship and innovation specializations in three Professional MBA programs with a heavy emphasis on readings, case studies and group projects. Additionally, the master’s in engineering management program broadens and deepens the students’ understanding of engineering and technology development and design, and includes courses on manufacturing process design, production systems, technology policies and strategies, technology entrepreneurship, and business plan development. The Chaplin School’s long-established graduate internship program assigns students a mentor from a hospitality business that they are then required to work with for one semester. The Ratcliffe Arts + Design Incubator at the College of Communication, Architecture + the Arts (CARTA), is exclusively available to graduate students, giving them access to mentorship from successful artists, performers, and designers.
Courtesy of Seattle University30. Seattle University (#7 West)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center
Seattle, WA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 15
Tuition: $15,300
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 20
What Sets Us Apart
Our graduate offerings in entrepreneurship are experiential and real-world in nature. Participants gain experience, mentoring, access to social and financial capital in launching and growing their real-world ventures.
Courtesy of New Jersey Institute of Technology31. New Jersey Institute of Technology (#6 Northeast)
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, NJ
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 19
Tuition: $18,500 (in-state); $27,340 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 36
What Sets Us Apart
The New Jersey Institute of Technology is a research university focused on technological innovation. This focus is shared by all the colleges at NJIT and distinguishes NJIT from other universities. The entrepreneurship program offered by NJIT’s Martin Tuchman School of Management (MTSM) also shares in this multidisciplinary focus on technological innovation and exposes students to three unique resources. First, NJIT hosts VentureLink, the largest new venture incubator in New Jersey (110,000 square feet) with 90 companies. Entrepreneurship students work in this ecosystem as part of their experiential learning and establish startups there. Second, NJIT hosts the largest and best-equipped makerspace in the state (25,000 square feet), with student-centered intellectual property rights. Third, NJIT is a site for the National Science Foundation I-Corps program, which promotes and funds entrepreneurship among university students and faculty. MTSM and the I-Corps program also prepare students for federal Small Business Innovation Research funding, which provides non-dilutive funding for entrepreneurs with technological innovations that address opportunities with societal significance. MTSM seeks to instill such visionary and impactful skills in its students through the entrepreneurship concentrations in its Masters of Science (MS), Masters in Business Administration (MBA), and PhD degree programs.
Courtesy of University of Arkansas, Fayetteville32. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (#4 South)
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fayetteville, AR
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 15
Tuition: $15,757 (in-state); $37,276 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 39
What Sets Us Apart
Our graduate program is distinguished by pairing hands-on curricula with a deep ecosystem of ancillary mentoring, funding, and support mechanisms for student-led ventures. Students have swept the awards in the scalable ventures track of the statewide business plan competition (AR Governor’s Cup) the last three years and have a record number of wins at international competitions (in 2022–23, teams took 1st place at Ivey BP Competition, 2nd–4th place Stu Clark NV Championship, and placed at many other international competitions)
Features of our graduate program:
- Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP), a UA accelerator supporting startups in the outdoor sector that offers seed money and specialized training. Student startup UNCL (Universal Network-Controlled Lock) simultaneously pursued ENTR curricula while participating in GORP 2022–2023, securing $45K+ in nondilutive funding.
- Graduate ENTR Fellows program, which provides a fellowship and tuition to graduate students across disciplines committed to pursuing tech-based ENTR.
- New Venture Development Mentor Network, a unique community that spans the globe, including alumni founders, business leaders, and investors who volunteer to visit Northwest Arkansas for an intensive mentor weekend supporting graduate teams.
- Startup Village, an incubator that offers office space, consultation, community support for UA-affiliated companies.
- Heartland Challenge, an international high-growth startup comp designed to simulate the process of raising venture capital.
Courtesy of Temple University33. Temple University (#4 Mid-Atlantic)
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute
Philadephia, PA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 22
Tuition: Varies
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 31
What Sets Us Apart
- Committed: TU’s entrepreneurial founder, Russell Conwell, envisioned a school serving self-determined youth who seek to improve their lives through education; TU is committed “to be a leader in encouraging entrepreneurship across all disciplines, so students can create their own success, regardless of economic conditions.”
- Scope & Breadth: We serve all 17 schools/colleges including undergrads/grads/alumni/faculty/staff/partners and impact tens of thousands of students every semester.
- Urban: Temple is integral to Philly’s urban educational environment: TU students come from the region (community college and urban high-school students are a large percentage of applicants) and TU grads tend to stay in the region. We also run Temple U’s SBDC to support Philly and PA small businesses.
- Accelerator / Early-Stage Funding: our 1810 Accelerator—a 9,000-square-foot co-working & accelerator space—opened in 2019 with extensive accelerator programs. We also run several other funding/support programs (e.g., Be Your Own Boss Bowl, Lori Hermelin Bush Seed Fund, SmarTemple Innovation Fund, Temple Ventures w/ Ben Franklin TP, Blackstone Launchpad).
- Philly Ecosystem Keystone: TU is a founding member of the Philadelphia Regional Entrepreneurship Education Consortium (PREEC), runs one of the region’s most significant angel venture groups/programs (MADV), and our Executive Director is ranked among the 100 most influential people in Philly’s regional business.
Courtesy of Clemson University34. Clemson University (#5 South)
Greenville, SC
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 16
Tuition: $20,198 (in-state); $33,190 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 61
What Sets Us Apart
The Clemson MBA in Entrepreneurship & Innovation is designed to bring your ideas to fruition, whether you want to start your own company, innovate at your current job, or address societal needs via the not-for-profit sector.
Students gain the essential business knowledge provided in the corporate program with added emphasis on topics specific to the needs of start-ups, including venture finance, intellectual property, and entrepreneurial strategy.
All MBAe classes are taught by distinguished Clemson professors, successful entrepreneurs, and business leaders who illustrate real-life examples of how to take innovative ideas to market. In addition, students have multiple opportunities to interact with local and national entrepreneurs and business leaders at networking events, including the Innovative Leadership Series and special programming developed through the Phyfer Innovation Hub.
The MBAe program culminates with a business capstone course, and pitch competition called the EnterPrize Awards. During this intensive course, students can pitch their ideas to an audience of business owners, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs over multiple sessions and receive feedback that allows them to refine and perfect their presentations. The ability to convey ideas quickly and effectively is valuable for entrepreneurs and executives alike. The EnterPrize Awards are designed to give students ample opportunity to practice and develop this essential skill.
Courtesy of University of Minnesota35. University of Minnesota (#7 Midwest)
Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship
Minneapolis, MN
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 13
Tuition: $41,240 (in-state); $54,000 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 33
What Sets Us Apart
We offer a broad range of experiential courses/programs led by a mix of leading academic researchers and experienced practitioners that enable students to gain practical experience and connections with the entrepreneurial community. Our courses enable students to design new products, commercialize University technology, support corporate innovation, and launch/operate real businesses (both within and outside their classes). Students are able to leverage these resources and connections to test and develop new ventures during their graduate school experience.
As one of the only land-grant research universities located in the heart of a major metropolitan area, our graduate students from across campus are continuously connected with the business community. Despite events pivoting to online over the past year, more than 400 speakers, mentors, and judges frequent our campus each year to advise and inspire our students. MN Cup is the largest statewide new venture competition in the country, awarding $5 million in cash prizes and supporting more than 23,000 entrepreneurs since 2005. Gopher Angels investor network provides invaluable connections with leading entrepreneurs and investors. Grow North initiative connects students and alumni with emerging food/agricultural startups and MN-based Fortune 500 corporations. MBA Fellowships support students’ efforts to launch new social ventures, with more than $150K of seed funding available each year to student-founded companies.
Courtesy of The George Washington University36. The George Washington University (#5 Mid-Atlantic)
The George Washington University
Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence
Washington, DC
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 10
Tuition: $52,785
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 26
What Sets Us Apart
Women’s Leadership: GW’s Business School has the highest proportion of women MBAs in the US. The school is the home to the nationally award-winning women’s entrepreneurship curriculum. GWSB’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership course is the winner of a US Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education Award together with the faculty-led ed tech and women’s research initiative: The Hot Mommas Project, which is currently the world’s largest women’s case study library. Outside of the classroom, student leadership opportunities exist through the WEL Fellowship and WEL Council in which student leaders act as leaders and ambassadors in women’s entrepreneurship and interact with mentors from the professional business community.
Courtesy of University of Florida37. University of Florida (#6 South)
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center
Gainesville, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 23
Tuition: $12,737 (in-state); $30,130 (out-of-state)
What Sets Us Apart
The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center was created to teach, coach, and inspire students to be entrepreneurial in their lives. The Center provides students with the tools and experiences necessary to creatively pursue new opportunities and innovations in the startup, social, and corporate venture arenas.
Through courses, degree programs, and complementary activities such as speakers and workshops, the Center currently serves more than 2,000 students per year. Partnering with other colleges at the University, the Center delivers introductory and specialized courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level and offers every graduate student at the University of Florida the option to earn a graduate minor in entrepreneurship. In addition, the Jeff Gold Experiential Learning Laboratory—which houses the GatorNest program, the Gator Hatchery student incubator, and the IdeaGators Co-Working Space—provides students the opportunity to experience real-life entrepreneurship while still in school. Cocurricular programs that include consulting disadvantaged entrepreneurs in South Africa and our community partnerships in Gainesville, FL, as well as the $40,000 Big Idea Competition, provide additional opportunities to “learn and do,” helping students create an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset.
Courtesy of California State University San Bernardino38. California State University San Bernardino (#8 West)
California State University San Bernardino
Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE)
San Bernardino, CA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 14
Tuition: $27,000 (in-state); $39,000 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 0
What Sets Us Apart
The entire experience is fully intensive around entrepreneurship. All 11 courses are entrepreneurship-focused for a deep dive into learning/experiencing entrepreneurship. The focus is to acquire the entrepreneurial mindset and create innovative, growth-oriented ventures. Our pathway approach helps students acquire the entrepreneurial competencies needed to bring venture concepts to life over the course of the 16-month program. As an example:
- Semester 1—Students explore new ventures through ideation, problem-solving, and improvisation projects to develop new venture concepts. In addition, they work on a live commercialization project to understand how to bring emerging technologies to market, in partnership with entities such as the US Navy and NASA. Students participate in our fast pitch competition, developing and getting feedback on their emerging venture concepts and competing for prize money.
- Semester 2—students do the customer discovery process, build their business/financial model, and hone their pitch in preparation for the campus innovation challenge competition and external pitch competitions.
- Semester 3—as the culminating experience, students finalize a new venture launch plan and present their opportunity to the Tech Coast Angels. From student feedback, the Entrepreneurial Improvisation & Creativity course, which focuses on developing skills in creativity, problem-solving, concise communication and thinking on your feet, has been a game changer.
Courtesy of University of Louisville39. University of Louisville (#7 South)
Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship
Louisville, KY
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 17
Tuition: $32,000 (in-state); $32,000 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 10
What Sets Us Apart
We have one of the very few PhD programs in the world that is concentrated and dedicated to Entrepreneurship. We also have a cohort-based IMBA (Innovation MBA), which is an MBA program with a curriculum committed to entrepreneurship. All students in this program create an investor-ready and viable business plan to be presented at the Cardinal Challenge competition.
Courtesy of Concordia University40. Concordia University (#2 International)
District 3 Innovation Centre The National Bank Initiative in Entrepreneurship and Family Business Centre for Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership Dobson Practicum Bob and Raye Briscoe Centre in Business Ownership Studies KPMG-JMSB
Montreal, Canada
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 13
Tuition: $2,300 (in-state); $6,650 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 34
What Sets Us Apart
With research centers like the National Bank Initiative in Entrepreneurship and Family Business, the Centre for Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership, the Bob and Raye Briscoe Centre in Business Ownership Studies, the KPMG Entrepreneurial Indices and the hands-on support from the Dobson Practicum and the District 3 Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the John Molson School of Business is the ideal place for students with an interest in entrepreneurship. Mentorship programs, entrepreneurs-in-residence, speakers’ series, scholarships, and fellowships bring practical relevance to the academic excellence of our faculty. Experiential learning in the form of the Small Business Consulting Bureau, the Surgical Innovation course, or consulting for non-profit local ventures in the MBA Community Service Initiative are other features that are unique to the John Molson MBA program.
Courtesy of American University41. American University (#6 Mid-Atlantic)
Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship (name changing from AU Center for Innovation 10/2023)
Washington, DC
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 10
Tuition: $44,394
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 43
What Sets Us Apart
careers as entrepreneurs and founders and remain active in local and regional startup programs and organizations. Our entrepreneurship offering is a highly connected, cross-campus program, which includes and activates students from diverse academic disciplines who bring a broad range of perspectives and experiences to solving the world’s most pressing problems. Our center, curriculum, and programs closely integrate classroom teaching with experiential learning opportunities. The result is a broad range of student ventures working on issues that span the economy and maximize social impact: hunger relief, accessibility, clean energy, biotechnology, SaaS software applications, mobile applications, real estate platforms, clean water filtration, educational programming, and so much more. The 35 ventures currently participating in our business incubator interact with each other and with faculty directors and mentors, with quarterly milestones required and reviewed. We offer direct support and small financial grants to each venture.
Courtesy of Florida Atlantic University42. Florida Atlantic University (#8 South)
Adams Center for Entrepreneurship
Boca Raton, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 12
Tuition: $5,467 (in-state); $16,695 (out-of-state)
What Sets Us Apart
The distinguishing aspects of our graduate offerings in entrepreneurship include four MBA programs (traditional, online, professional. and executive) and a graduate MS finance program that assists students in pursuing careers as entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors. We also offer traditional and executive PhD programs that emphasize entrepreneurship research or related scholarship in business. For graduate students interested in starting a venture, our offerings begin with support for exploration, experimentation, and ideation of business models during the earliest phases of the entrepreneurial journey in technology, biotechnology, and other fields. We provide connection to South Florida’s rich, diverse and growing entrepreneurial ecosystem through mentorship, networking and coursework. Such coursework includes matching student consulting teams with local start-ups and global companies in our new master’s program in International Business. In the classroom and outside it, our students turn viable ideas into businesses and are assisted in acquiring funding, establishing operations and growing their ventures through our local and global networks. Students seamlessly move from coursework to investigating and launching new ventures. In the process, they receive mentoring, seed funding and potential placement in FAU’s incubator/accelerator. From the accelerator, students can position their ventures for success and high growth regionally, nationally, and globally.
Courtesy of Wright State University43. Wright State University (#8 Midwest)
Wright State Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE)
Dayton, OH
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 3
Tuition: $16,454 (in-state); $26,442 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 5
What Sets Us Apart
Our New Venture Creation concentration requires business plan development for new venture ideas and a focus on technology startups. Students cover advanced topics in innovation and entrepreneurship to help increase their skills and further their career goals. Student study the economics of innovation, including the technological change, economic growth, globalization, and longwave cycles that affect innovation in business and organization. Students in the program also take courses on technology-based ventures and entrepreneurship.
Courtesy of Nova Southeastern University44. Nova Southeastern University (#9 South)
Alan B Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 7
Tuition: Varies
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 8
What Sets Us Apart
Our graduate program recognizes that entrepreneurship goes beyond the world of start-ups and extends into the development and implementation of new projects and products in established corporations, nonprofit institutions, and government. We focus on developing the capabilities and skills required for displaying an entrepreneurial mindset as a business owner or as a corporate business leader. The program is tailored to professionals dealing with business decisions on a day-to-day basis and therefore concentrates on creating value for students who are launching their own business projects or ascending the corporate ladder as difference makers in their organizations. The curriculum covers a wide range of content that is relevant to starting, launching, and scaling a new business while simultaneously offering solutions to small, medium enterprises (SMEs), and big enterprises in the areas of project capital financing, innovation management, product development, and market validation. Our students substantially improve their business networks during their studies. They learn state-of-the-art business practices by integrating their work experience into their courses. In addition, they have access to our Allan B. Levan NSU Broward Center of Innovation, enjoy an opportunity to pitch for funding and learn from faculty with experience in start-ups, SMEs, and corporate entrepreneurship. These attributes make our program unique and appealing to young professionals.
Courtesy of University of Vermont45. University of Vermont (#7 Northeast)
Burlington, VT
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 5
Tuition: $30,735 (in-state); $52,245 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 35
What Sets Us Apart
The Sustainable Innovation MBA aims to develop the next generation of leaders who will build, disrupt, innovate, and reinvent sustainable businesses and enterprises in a world that demands it. The Sustainable Innovation MBA program is a one-year, 45-credit AACSB accredited program with a 7-credit summer Practicum Project serving as the “capstone” to integrate and apply all the knowledge, capabilities, and tools garnered in the first nine months to a practical challenge in an actual venture or corporate innovation setting. Students may also use their practicum project to launch their own business. Students also have access to the Innovators in Residence Speaker Series, which serves several purposes. The first is to give students interesting examples of the kind of innovation that we are preparing them for. The second is to introduce the students to entrepreneurs/innovators that we think are role models of the type of professionals that we hope the students will evolve into. The third is to help students develop ideas and contacts for their career development and job search.
Courtesy of State University of New York – Stony Brook University46. State University of New York – Stony Brook University (#8 Northeast)
State University of New York – Stony Brook University
Innovation Center, Center for Entrepreneurial Finance, Small Business Development Center
Stony Brook, NY
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 9
Tuition: Varies
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 5
What Sets Us Apart
Our graduate offerings in entrepreneurship are unique due to the interdisciplinary nature and experiential learning approach of our courses, mentorship experiences, and competitions. MBAs and all other SBU graduate students find entrepreneurial support and opportunities in the Small Business Development Center, Center for Entrepreneurial Finance, and Innovation Center. Entrepreneurial students find support for their startup aspirations and can further develop in-depth understanding in various different areas, such as biotech and artificial intelligence, via related research centers across campus. These programs offer various opportunities for students to gain mentorship experiences across various industries. Students who wish to develop or pitch their business ideas can compete in our Hackathon and business plan and pitch competitions.
Courtesy of Regent University47. Regent University (#7 Mid-Atlantic)
Regent Center for Entrepreneurship
Virginia Beach, VA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 14
Tuition: $18,765 (in-state); $18,765 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 0
What Sets Us Apart
Regent’s Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership Social Entrepreneurship equips you for such a role. Offered exclusively online, it explores how relevant entrepreneurial business models can prepare you to advance as a social entrepreneur, a leader in social-purpose organizations, a philanthropist, or a director of volunteers in the social sector.
Be equipped to ideate, establish, and lead a new business venture through an ACBSP-accredited Master of Business Administration (MBA) Entrepreneurship program. This program emphasizes the value of innovation, adaptability, research, and planning to expand a business—all from a Christian worldview. It is taught by a distinguished faculty and is designed to prepare you to own and operate a business.
Your career, your vision, your way. Regent’s Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) in Entrepreneurial Leadership will prepare you to transform systems and teams. This executive doctoral program will ground you in the theory and practical components of communication, team building, and structure essential to organizational success—all from a Christian perspective.
Explore entrepreneurship in the global marketplace and leadership dynamics through Regent’s PhD in Organizational Leadership – Entrepreneurial Leadership program. We’ll equip you to influence and invigorate organizations around the world as a scholar, teacher, or business leader. Our PhD in Entrepreneurial Leadership is a research-based terminal degree.
Courtesy of Tulane University48. Tulane University (#10 South)
Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, The Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking, Tulane University Innovation Institute
New Orleans, LA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 11
Tuition: $53,833
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 10
What Sets Us Apart
Our graduate offerings stand out by embodying the essence of entrepreneurship—solving intricate problems and fostering collaborative growth. We understand that no startup founder thrives in isolation, and that’s why we cultivate a supportive community for undergraduate students.
The Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation acts as a hub uniting mentors, investors, and students to unravel challenges and foster business creation. The student venture incubator is a launching pad for innovation, where access to Innovators-in-Residence, legal support, peer insights, and pitch contests are at students’ fingertips.
The Taylor Center for Social Impact & Design Thinking’s Changemaker Institute enriches our offerings further. This institute nurtures social ventures through growth, mentorship, and the development of social entrepreneurial skills. It equips students with tools to grasp the intricate nuances of the issues they tackle.
The Tulane University Innovation Institute (TUII) propels innovation by bridging academia and industry. TUII is committed to helping student innovators further develop their ideas, launch startups, and attract the resources that will fuel innovation in the Gulf South and strengthen the area’s economy. TUII’s resources include proof of concept and pre-seed startup investment funds, as well as due diligence, development, and commercialization support from mentors and other business, scientific, and investment experts.
Courtesy of Eastern Michigan University49. Eastern Michigan University (#9 Midwest)
Center for Entrepreneurship
Ypsilanti, MI
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 6
Tuition: $17,199 (in-state); $29,583 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 12
What Sets Us Apart
Our graduate offerings in entrepreneurship are available in several flexible formats such as online and hybrid. Our students have the chance to work with local entrepreneurs through interactions with our Center for Entrepreneurship and our local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and students have a field study course where they work on a unique problem with small business owners. Students also have access to successful entrepreneurship mentors from the surrounding community. The new Executive Certificate in Entrepreneurship is a unique eight-week Certificate program delivered in a hybrid format. The program features a unique mix of exposure to academics, industry experts, mentors, professional coaches and startup investors and includes a venture challenge for cash awards at the end of the 8-week session.
Courtesy of California State University, Fresno50. California State University, Fresno (#9 West)
California State University, Fresno
The Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Fresno, CA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 6
Tuition: $13,000 (in-state); $20,400 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 0
What Sets Us Apart
Our graduate courses in entrepreneurship prioritize experiential learning. Our students don’t just study entrepreneurship; they live it. They engage in real-world projects, often working with startups, to learn the process by which ideas are developed, screened, and tested. In addition to projects, our curriculum is designed with real-world applicability in mind. Students learn practical skills such as business planning, marketing, and financial management, ensuring they are ready to hit the ground running. Furthermore, we foster a tight-knit entrepreneurial community. Biannual networking events with our alumni and current students, along with partnerships with local businesses, create a supportive system that extends beyond graduation. Finally, for those interested in the academic side of entrepreneurship, our program offers robust research opportunities. Students can collaborate with faculty from the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on cutting-edge research projects, contributing to the field’s advancement.
