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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 Graduate 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 University of Houston1. University of Houston (#1 Southwest)
Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship
Houston, TX
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 38
Tuition: $10,856 (in-state); $26,096 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 785
What Sets Us Apart
- A focus on the total person. Personal mentors; major curriculum includes dreams, values, life plans, leadership training, retreats to bond the class, and more.
- Integrated, lockstep curriculum. This allows us to manage the curriculum as a whole.
- Experiential learning. Students don’t just learn entrepreneurship, they actively do it, including developing business plans for IP tech, planning/operating pop-up food stands in Wolffest, and launching their own businesses.
- The breadth of coverage. We enroll students from almost every major on campus with offerings that serve business, STEM, arts, communication, and more.
- Community engagement. More than 600 mentors. Off-campus activities at co-working spaces, banks, and law firms. Social outreach through SURE program and Empowering Women Out of Prison. Partnering with Rice University. The city of Houston is a major asset that brings enrichment, networking, and business opportunities.
- Diversity. One of the most diverse universities in the nation: 37% Hispanic, 24% Asian American, 19% Caucasian, 11% African American, and 9% multiracial or not known, reflecting the international mosaic that is Houston.
- Accessibility. Low tuition makes us accessible to a broad range of students; 100% of ENTR Majors received a scholarship from WCE for 2022–23.
Courtesy of The University of Texas at Austin2. The University of Texas at Austin (#2 Southwest)
The University of Texas at Austin
Harkey Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies
Austin, TX
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 54
Tuition: $11,758 (in-state); $41,070 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 635
What Sets Us Apart
UT Austin’s programs, which span 125+ centers and institutes and include clubs and student organizations, offer hands-on experiences like tangible projects, internships, and over 40 business competitions for practical entrepreneurial insight. In Austin’s vibrant ecosystem of over 3,500 companies, students connect with mentors, investors, and peers, fostering unique networking and insights. Learning paths are customizable, reflecting tech, social impact, or traditional interests. Cross-disciplinary teamwork leverages UT Austin’s diversity, mirroring startup dynamics. Over 90% of our 50+ faculty have bought, sold, and/or run businesses, allowing them to blend entrepreneurship wisdom with mentoring and actionable guidance. Communication skills are honed, aiding compelling pitches. Global perspective is cultivated through international exposure, broadening horizons. Innovation hubs offer guided venture refinement, enhancing learning and success potential. Students may also access the invaluable mentoring and connections of an extensive alumni network of entrepreneurs, showcased through our Longhorn 100 program and its database of over 1000 registered businesses (and growing). UT Austin’s program marries theory, practice, connections, innovation, and global insight.
Courtesy of Babson College3. Babson College (#1 Northeast / #1 Under 10K Enrollment)
The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship
Babson Park, MA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 44
Tuition: $55,714
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 259
What Sets Us Apart
Babson teaches Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® across all disciplines. Our students learn by building, operating, and dissolving a business over the course of two semesters. The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship is the hub for resources, including the Butler Launch Pad which offers co-working space, mentors, workshops, competitions, experts and seed funding. Our application-based Summer Accelerator, a 10-week intensive accelerator 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 women entrepreneurs and offers both WIN Lab, an application-based 12-week accelerator for female founders and Black WEL, a 6-month virtual action tank, both of which focus on the entrepreneur becoming a CEO. Social Innovation Lab connects a global, interdisciplinary community of students and mentors dedicated to building social impact ventures. 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 prototypes.
Courtesy of The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor4. The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (#1 Midwest)
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
CFE+CSED+MDP+Tauber (College of Engineering)
Ann Arbor, MI
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 269
Tuition: $17,454 (in-state); $56,941 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 362
What Sets Us Apart
The University is a powerhouse of entrepreneurship, renowned for its dynamic and accessible programs. With offerings spanning 19 schools/colleges, we cater to students at every stage of entrepreneurial interest and expertise. There’s the iconic EHour, where renowned alumni share their wisdom, as well as immersive fellowship programs that span an entire year. Options like Zell Laurie Institute’s Entrepreneurial Studies at the Ross Business School, the Center For Entrepreneurship’s Perot Jain TechLab Series, and the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program (housed within the College of Engineering) provide intensive mentorship and training that empower and equip students with the necessary skills to turn ideas into successful ventures.
Fostering entrepreneurial success has been woven into our fabric since 1927 when the nation’s first small business management course was introduced. Since then, our startup ecosystem has expanded into diverse disciplines such as the College of Literature, Science, and Arts and their Program in Entrepreneurship; the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance; the School of Information; and ten other schools. Our vast network comprises 15 centers/programs, 30+ student organizations, rousing pitch competitions, game-changing accelerators, eye-opening immersion treks, thrilling internships, and a kaleidoscope of community events. This growth demonstrates the university’s dedication to providing entrepreneurial opportunities to all students.
Courtesy of University of Maryland5. University of Maryland (#1 Mid-Atlantic)
Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
College Park, MD
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 59
Tuition: $9,695 (in-state); $37,931 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 439
What Sets Us Apart
- UMD’s entrepreneurship programs were featured in two Chronicle of Higher Education cover stories: “Now Everyone’s an Entrepreneur” 2015) and “Can Design Thinking Transform Higher Ed?” (2017). UMD is embedding lean startup and design thinking into the core curriculum for every UMD student.
- UMD’s two signature Intro to Entrepreneurship courses together enroll over 4,000 students each year. These online/hybrid courses allow students to easily learn about entrepreneurship and complete key UMD gen ed requirements and also serve as a gateway to a Minor in Technology Entrepreneurship, enrolling approximately 00 students from 11 out of the 12 undergraduate colleges.
- Southern Management Leadership Program has provided full scholarships for 16 years to community college transfer students to help them become entrepreneurial leaders. Cohorts are mostly first-generation college students and come from low-income and immigrant families. Unrestricted majors further enhance diversity in the program.
- Hinman CEOs program: Launched in 1999, featured on CNN, and replicated at 70 universities, this first-of-its-kind hybrid residence/incubator entrepreneurship program has 25% of its students run revenue-generating companies.
- Dingman Center: This award-winning hub, established in 1985, creates an inclusive environment to educate, empower and equip students with skills to be an entrepreneur and provides the resources to make their ideas a reality.
Courtesy of Tecnológico de Monterrey6. Tecnológico de Monterrey (#1 International)
Institute for Entrepreneurship Eugenio Garza Lagüera
Monterrey, Mexico
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 133
Tuition: Varies
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 1,306
What Sets Us Apart
TEC21: UNDERGRADUATE COMPETENCY-BASED ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATIONAL MODEL. Using semester-long challenges, across the curricula approach, intensive technology use, mentorship-like teaching, real-life experiences, and customized curricula design, the ‘Tec21’ model develops competencies explicitly identified for entrepreneurship: opportunity identification, resourcefulness, resilience, and overcoming fear of failure, —for any activity, not only business. See more here.
MANY KINDS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP — 2 ENTREPRENEURSHIP MAJORS AND 7 MINORS. One major focused on entrepreneurship of all kinds and another on technology+engineering entrepreneurship; 3 new minors/concentrations: Entrepreneurial Action, Entrepreneurship Internship, Innovating and Launching New Businesses.
UNIQUE AND POWERFUL LOCAL AND GLOBAL NEW VENTURE DEVELOPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE AND ECOSYSTEM. Unrivaled nationwide system of incubators, coworkings, and tech parks. Networking capabilities in Silicon Valley, Israel, and China. Students learn in real-life innovation labs.
INTERNATIONAL APPROACH. More than 100 elite competitions like Hult Prize, IBMC, Babson, GSEA; multinational programs like GESS. Full undergraduate programs are offered in English for global students.
GLOBALLY EXPERIENCED FACULTY AND MENTORS IN TEACHING AND DOING ENTREPRENEURSHIP. All faculty, regardless of major, are trained in teaching and stimulating entrepreneurship regardless of majors. More than 1000 mentors are alumni and national business leaders.
Courtesy of Miami University7. Miami University (#2 Midwest)
John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship
Oxford, OH
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 53
Tuition: $16,545 (in-state); $38,761 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 184
What Sets Us Apart
Miami University’s innovative entrepreneurship programming, past winner of the NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, is the top entrepreneurship program in the world. Our world-class teacher-scholars have helped the program rank among the Top 10 public schools for undergraduate entrepreneurship studies for 15 consecutive years in The Princeton Review® and Entrepreneur Magazine’s annual survey. Our programming combines rigorous academic scholarship and research with immersive, practice-based learning opportunities for startup and venture capital students, social entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, and creativity. Distinguishing features include small class sizes and teacher-scholars with founder experience delivering personalized learning; an interdisciplinary focus engaging 4,000+ students annually across campus; immersive, practice-based learning opportunities in every class; co-curricular program; and integration with ecosystem builders like the United Nations, Techstars, USASBE, and GCEC. What began as one entrepreneurship course in 1992 today includes 50+ courses; 12 co-curricular programs; the John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship; three Entrepreneurship Centers (the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, the Center for Social Entrepreneurship, and the Center for L.I.F.E.); two student-led investment funds; a funded internship program; a startup accelerator program; World Creativity & Innovation Week/Day (WCIW/D); and many others.
Courtesy of Washington University in St. Louis8. Washington University in St. Louis (#3 Midwest / #2 Under 10K Enrollment)
Washington University in St. Louis
Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation & Entrepreneurship
St. Louis, MO
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 56
Tuition: $61,750
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 181
What Sets Us Apart
Washington University in St. Louis remains committed to 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. Undergrad students can easily take classes and major or minor in other schools, emphasizing the importance of an interdisciplinary approach. Entrepreneurship classes are highly experiential, collaborative, and encourage students to test their concepts. Most courses connect to the St. Louis community, expanding a student’s network, 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, a year-long fellowship, student-owned business opportunities, mentors, entrepreneurship competitions, and links to the St. Louis entrepreneurial ecosystem. Most notably, the majority of opportunities are open to all undergrad and graduate students, faculty, staff, postdocs, 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 Washington9. University of Washington (#1 West)
Arthur W. Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship
Seattle, WA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 52
Tuition: $11,189 (in-state); $39,687 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 299
What Sets Us Apart
University of Washington undergraduate students begin a collaborative journey with entrepreneurship as soon as they step on campus. Motivated first-year students can immediately apply for the highly competitive and diverse 4-year Lavin Entrepreneurship Program, where more than 40 different majors are represented. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors apply for the Entrepreneurship Minor on a rolling basis each quarter and open themselves up to ten uniquely focused courses, including the standout “Creating a Company” courses where they launch companies, attempt to earn revenue and pitch for funding. The Engineering Innovation in Health program brings together undergrad and graduate students for medical device development and innovation. Undergrads work with graduate students and massively scalable, seed-stage, science-based companies in Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) courses. CDL-Seattle is the third US-based offering and is hosted in the Foster School of Business. UW features several Living Learning Communities (LLC) for engineering and business undergraduates that focus specifically on innovation. A dozen on-campus Registered Student Organizations (RSO) partner with the Buerk Center. For example, DubHacks worked with staff to create a student-run startup incubator called DubHacks Next that runs in concert with the Jones + Foster Accelerator so students can grow their ideas in and out of school. Undergraduates also have access to nearly a half-dozen makerspaces.
Courtesy of DePaul University10. DePaul University (#4 Midwest)
Coleman Entrepreneurship Center
Chicago, IL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 40
Tuition: $42,189
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 235
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. The 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, accelerator, and research to women in entrepreneurship. We also have our new social impact programs, including our Social Impact Incubator to help entrepreneurs in underserved areas of Chicago.
Courtesy of Northeastern University11. Northeastern University (#2 Northeast)
Boston, MA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 41
Tuition: $59,100
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 565
What Sets Us Apart
Northeastern is a global leader in experiential education, and this is exemplified by unique entrepreneurship offerings that embrace the importance of experiential learning both inside and outside the classroom.
Mosaic is a University-wide umbrella organization that supports the 14 student-led entrepreneurship groups across the Global University System. The 14 organizations engage students from every college at the University with a focus on supporting entrepreneurship across disciplines, educating future entrepreneurs, and supporting a venture’s growth through design, legal, marketing, engineering, and investment services. Each year over 3,000 students and over 250 venture concepts are engaged in this range of activities with over 230 holding managerial positions.
Northeastern is known around the world for our co-op program. While many associate this program with working at large companies, over 200 students annually co-op at startups or venture capital firms. These six-month full-time roles allow students to apply their classroom learning to the real world. Furthermore, through our Venture Co-Op program, nine students annually are funded to work full-time on their own venture for 6 months, allowing them to develop and grow their businesses while still a student.
Courtesy of Iowa State University12. Iowa State University (#5 Midwest)
Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship
Ames, IA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 95
Tuition: $8,042 (in-state); $23,230 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 737
What Sets Us Apart
All 30,000 students at Iowa State have access to entrepreneurship courses, cocurricular programs, clubs and competitions, venture coaching, and resources. ISU’s motto: Entrepreneurship is for Everyone/START SOMETHING! Every semester, 1,000 students from majors across campus enroll in the Introduction to Entrepreneurship course; all business students are required to take the course. Undergraduates pursuing the minor can choose from 95 entrepreneurship course electives, and those working on a venture can enroll in a year-long master of entrepreneurship to grow their business. 3,000 students participate outside the classroom. An eight-day spring pitch competition involving all seven colleges is oversubscribed; many join the summer accelerator. The Student Innovation Center serves as a campus hub with nine makerspaces, collaborative project resources, and a student-run coffee shop and retail store. Internships, speakers, competitions, and workshops enhance the students’ academic experience. Several mentoring programs connect students to experienced entrepreneurs, professional services and potential investors. Entrepreneur Center programs serve veterans, women, underserved groups, technologists, creatives, and innovators of all kinds, including on-site entrepreneurship training for international students in several countries. The combination of curricular, co-curricular, and community engagement opportunities makes the entrepreneurial student experience unique and meaningful.
Courtesy of Michigan State University13. Michigan State University (#6 Midwest)
Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
East Lansing, MI
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 43
Tuition: $16,531 (in-state); $42,427 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 677
What Sets Us Apart
The entrepreneurship program at Michigan State University provides opportunities for entrepreneurial students beyond the classroom. The Venture Creation program provides both early and later-stage student entrepreneurs with resources to move their ideas forward. Staff interns provide student entrepreneurs with services such as application development, graphic design, and marketing. Student entrepreneurs regularly participate in pitch competitions and showcases both at MSU and across the country, winning thousands of dollars in undiluted funds to support their businesses. Student entrepreneurs also receive internal grant funding toward building their businesses for activities such as legal services, prototype creation, and promotion. For students who aren’t as far along on their entrepreneurial journey, MSU encourages exploring entrepreneurship through high-impact events like 2Day Venture and the Innovate State Speaker Series. Beyond these unique programs, MSU offers students a co-working space (accessible 24/7), an on-campus commercial kitchen, and an annual business pitch competition, the Burgess New Venture Challenge, that provides $50,000 in funding and attracts MSU alums from the strong ecosystem created by the program’s long history.
Courtesy of Syracuse University14. 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: 34
Tuition: $58,440
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 210
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, professors of practice have substantial entrepreneurial experience, and one staff member just 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 with entrepreneurs from the community via internships, consulting projects, specialized courses, community engagement, etc. We work with over 2,000 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. Such achievements have gotten our students national media exposure in outlets like Newsweek and AdWeek.
Courtesy of University of Tampa15. The University of Tampa (#1 South / #3 Under 10K Enrollment)
John P. Lowth Entrepreneurship Center
Tampa, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 10
Tuition: $30,036
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 392
What Sets Us Apart
The distinguishing features of UT’s undergraduate entrepreneurship offerings revolve around our holistic approach to fostering entrepreneurial skills. We emphasize a blend of theoretical knowledge and real-world experience that enhances a student’s ability to think creatively, recognize opportunities, and navigate complex problems.
Our curriculum integrates a competency model derived from successful entrepreneurs, bridging the gap between academic theories and real-world entrepreneurial experiences. This model enables students to apply their learning beyond the classroom, preparing them to adapt and thrive in dynamic business environments. It fosters creative thinking, opportunity identification, and innovative problem-solving abilities.
Our program also stands out due to its rigorous assessment and continuous improvement processes. We employ both summative and formative evaluations to gauge student learning and program effectiveness. This commitment to continuous improvement, guided by comprehensive data, underscores our dedication to entrepreneurial education excellence.
Moreover, we take pride in the intricate connectivity of our curricular and cocurricular programs, which are intended to reinforce and supplement one another. This design instills a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurship, making our program distinctively robust and integrative. Over the past seven years, we’ve been refining our model, ensuring our program stays at the forefront of entrepreneurial education.
Courtesy of The University of Iowa16. The University of Iowa (#7 Midwest)
John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (Iowa JPEC)
Iowa City, IA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 34
Tuition: $10,964 (in-state); $32,927 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 376
What Sets Us Apart
Campus-wide, interdisciplinary academic programs: students from 93 majors take entrepreneurship courses that are 100% dedicated to entrepreneurship. Iowa offers multiple experiential-learning based opportunities for students including: Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy—advanced entrepreneurial leadership program to develop future CEO’s and C-level leaders; Startup Incubator/Summer Accelerator—venture development programs for students including dedicated physical space, training, mentoring, advanced prototyping and software development services, marketing and branding support, and access to early stage capital; Innovation Challenge—multiple campus-wide ideation, pitch, and business model competitions; Internships—connecting top Iowa entrepreneurial students with state of Iowa and alumni-owned ventures; Entrepreneurial Ventures Consulting—team-based strategic business consulting services for Iowan, alumni, and African entrepreneurial ventures; Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute—annual entrepreneurship program created and led by Iowa for students from five state of Iowa institutions; Venture Mentoring Service—partnership with MIT to provide advanced mentoring to student entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurial Treks—experiences for students to engage with successful entrepreneurs and venture investors including the Roth Conference in California; and multiple short programs to foster entrepreneurship including IdeaStorm, Startup Games, Game Changer, Hackathons, and Side Hustle workshops.
Courtesy of Georgia Institute of Technology17. Georgia Institute of Technology (#2 South)
Georgia Institute of Technology
CREATE-X
Atlanta, GA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 34
Tuition: $10,258 (in-state); $31,370 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 125
What Sets Us Apart
CREATE-X, the pre-eminent platform for undergraduate entrepreneurship education at Georgia Tech, is unique because it allows students to learn, build solutions for the market, and launch companies even while they are in school. CREATE-X consists of a LEARN-MAKE-LAUNCH pathway that allows students to enter, exit, and re-enter at many different points depending on their specific needs.
In LEARN, students have the opportunity to learn startup vocabulary and processes; to identify market need; to develop an idea that addresses that need; and, to build an enthusiastic team interested in pursuing that idea.
The MAKE component helps students develop concrete ideas for the creation of prototypes or other proof-of-concept activities that are designed to validate the ideas developed during the LEARN phase. In addition to invention, design, assessment, modification, and testing, MAKE also incorporates structured processes such as customer discovery and validation to objectively establish the potential value of any idea.
The LAUNCH component encompasses seed funding, further customer discovery, and advanced prototyping. The LAUNCH approach leverages much of what is emerging organically among the student body in both entrepreneurship and interdisciplinary design.
Courtesy of Purdue University18. Purdue University (#8 Midwest)
Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship
West Lafayette, IN
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 61
Tuition: $9,208 (in-state); $28,010 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 187
What Sets Us Apart
Purdue is a pioneer in scalable, cross-campus entrepreneurship education. Distinguishing features include:
- Size—Enrolls 3000 students from all 180+ majors each year, into 55 entrepreneurship fundamentals and capstone courses. High participation from STEM disciplines.
- Flexibility—Offers a modular format that aligns with academic programs and offers unique “track” and experiential options. Fundamentals courses focus on student interests (e.g., for-profit versus social ventures), and capstone courses on various career tracks (e.g., venture development, consulting, and leadership).
- Career preparation—A one-credit/online professional development course is available to prepare all students for internships and recruiting activities. A gender, diversity, and leadership course offered since 2008 demonstrates a commitment to fostering inclusivity and belonging.
- Two living/learning communities—A second community focused on data science and entrepreneurship was launched in 2023. The original entrepreneurial community is one of the longest-running in the country (since 2005).
- Awards-Model Program—USASBE 2020; Top 5 for Exceptional Activities Across Disciplines—GCEC 2018; and Excellence in Curriculum Innovation in Entrepreneurship—Deshpande Foundation 2017. The director has received awards for curriculum innovation, research, and diversity activities.
Courtesy of The University of Miami19. The University of Miami (#3 South)
The Launch Pad
Coral Gables, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 66
Tuition: $58,102
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 58
What Sets Us Apart
With faculty across the campus teaching entrepreneurship, our undergraduate students are exposed to the principles of value creation and building a solution in their areas of study. Our distinguishing aspects concentrate on the engagement of these faculty members across events and cocurricular programming and support to maintain the level of interdisciplinary conversations and collaborations with our students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This also translates to partnerships among and between faculty to continue to build new offerings—both curricular and co-curricular. In 2023, a new major in Innovation, Technology, and Design was launched based on years of faculty interaction across four schools and colleges. Many of the Business School’s events focused on entrepreneurship are widely attended by students from the engineering, communication, law, and music programs. The cross-disciplinary conversations in the classroom and the diverse perspectives of our international students layer the course content with applied takeaways that impact product design and strategy.
Courtesy of Drexel University20. Drexel University (#2 Mid-Atlantic)
Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship
Philadelphia, PA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 46
Tuition: $56,595
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 39
What Sets Us Apart
Our BA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, available in 3, 4, and 5-year options, is designed to prepare students for entrepreneurial thinking and action across professional and personal domains. Students are prepared for diverse avenues: innovating within established companies, working in small or growing ventures, and starting new ventures. Students learn and apply critical entrepreneurial skills and nurture their entrepreneurial mindset. The curriculum spotlights specialized courses, notably the seed funding for business initiation that comes from “Launch It!” and the experiential learning from setbacks that comes from “Ready, Set, Fail.”
Our degree, BS in Sustainability and Innovation, aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals, prompting students to address complex intersecting challenges in society, commerce, and the environment. This curriculum is enhanced with courses in art, science, and business.
Both programs require a minor, encouraging personal exploration that broadens perspectives for future endeavors. The program’s core attributes include resilience, opportunity recognition, self-sufficiency, and effective communication. Our Entrepreneurship Co-Op program provides students with growth opportunities which are backed by faculty mentors, and up to $19,000 in scholarships per student. Drexel’s location, adjacent to Philly’s Innovation Neighborhood, provides easy access to the city’s robust entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Courtesy of Florida State University21. Florida State University (#4 South)
Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship
Tallahassee, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 122
Tuition: $4,640 (in-state); $19,806 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 278
What Sets Us Apart
Jim Moran College is the first stand-alone College of Entrepreneurship at a public university in the US. With 3 unique undergraduate majors—Commercial Entrepreneurship, Retail Entrepreneurship, and STEM Entrepreneurship—and 10 unique minors offered to all FSU students, there are opportunities for students to learn and express their entrepreneurial vision. Our majors enable JMC to have complete creative control to deliver a uniquely appropriate experience to student entrepreneurs. JMC has 6 hands-on laboratories for product development, omnichannel merchandising, and two labs in which to conduct textile testing. These opportunities allow students to explore entrepreneurship education beyond the course offerings of typical colleges of business or engineering.
JMC employs full-time faculty who have had or currently own their own businesses. JMC focuses on interdisciplinary teaching by “Entrepreneurs in Residence” (EIR) housed in nearly every college at FSU. EIRs further foster entrepreneurship throughout the JMC & across the university; serving as a multidisciplinary resource is a force multiplier for collaborative problem-solving. The EIR in College of Law offers a law clinic that pairs entrepreneurs with upper-level law students to mentor & guide entrepreneurs with their business law questions/concerns. The EIR in English mentors students who are interested in the publishing industry, as she owned a publishing company. EIRs create unique and in-depth mentoring for students in the JMC and FSU.
Courtesy of The University of St. Thomas22. The University of St. Thomas (#9 Midwest / #4 Under 10K Enrollment)
Schulze School of Entrepreneurship
St. Paul, MN
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 50
Tuition: $49,830
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 101
What Sets Us Apart
- The Schulze Innovation Scholarship provides 4-year, full-tuition scholarships and entrepreneurial leadership programming for 40 Entrepreneurship majors each year.
- Award-winning curriculum (USASBE Model Program winner, 2-time USASBE Innovation in Entrepreneurship Education winner) emphasizes ethics and values, lean startup and business model innovation, experiential learning, and fieldwork.
- Students across the university participate in year-round workshops, mentoring, and competitions that begin with the Freshman Innovation Immersion in August and advance through increasingly challenging contests, including the national E-Fest competition and the multinational Fowler Global Social Innovation School. Our five student competitions, with associated developmental workshops and mentoring, give away over $400,000 in scholarship and cash awards each year.
- Students and alumni ready to launch their ventures can participate in our summer accelerator, offered with nationally ranked accelerator, gener8tor, and can draw upon on-site services including Small Business Development Center, LegalCorps, Schulze Innovation Seed Fund, pre-seed grants, Family Business Center, subsidized startup internships, and our vast pool of mentors.
- We are bringing our mission of “entrepreneurship for the common good” to our community with the new Community Entrepreneurship Program, supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs in launching and growing their ventures.
Courtesy of University of Utah23. University of Utah (#2 West)
Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute
Salt Lake City, UT
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 28
Tuition: $9,103 (in-state); $31,861 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 223
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.
The opportunities we provide students to learn and explore entrepreneurship include academics, competitions, grants, workshops, prototype assistance, networking, mentoring, and more. All of our programs are free for all students at the University of Utah. Beyond these programs, we provide our students with unique experiences by being student leaders. These students provide much of our programming and gain valuable project-management experience and leadership skills.
The one-of-a-kind Lassonde Studios mixes a 20,000-square-foot creative space on the main floor with 400 residences above and has received worldwide attention, including features in the New York Times and Architectural Digest.
Our support doesn’t end at graduation. As of fall 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 Florida Atlantic University24. Florida Atlantic University (#5 South)
Adams Center for Entrepreneurship
Boca Raton, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 12
Tuition: $5,986 (in-state); $21,543 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 117
What Sets Us Apart
At Florida Atlantic University, we provide one of the most diverse undergraduate student bodies in the country with the tools needed to explore all phases of the entrepreneurial process. Our offerings begin with support for exploration, experimentation, and ideation of new opportunities and business models during the earliest phases of the entrepreneurial journey. Students in our program experience South Florida’s rich, diverse, and growing entrepreneurial ecosystem through mentorship, networking, and coursework that includes matching student-consulting teams with local start-ups. In our program, students turn viable ideas into new businesses and are assisted in acquiring funding, establishing full operations, and growing their ventures. Our 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 there, students can further position their ventures for success and high growth regionally, nationally, and globally.
Courtesy of Loyola Marymount University25. Loyola Marymount University (#3 West / #5 Under 10K Enrollment)
Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship
Los Angeles, CA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 21
Tuition: $49,550
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 35
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 on the world.
- Our Location (Silicon Beach): We are located in the center of one of the most vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems (e.g., YouTube, Beyond Meat, SpaceX) that offers immense opportunities for internships, jobs, projects, funding, and partnerships.
- Our (family-like) atmosphere: Our faculty and staff members are incredibly dedicated to students’ success. We form and 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), General Finance Corporation (sold for $1B), and Kairos VC (No 1. in the sciences). There are many other stories of success. Others become entrepreneurial leaders in established companies and their communities.
- Our Innovative Curricula: We are all about experiential learning with an emphasis on real-world applications. We also offer a spectacular cocurricular program that includes The Hilton Lecture Series, The Dinner with A Winner, Startup Weekend, New Idea Pitch competition, and the Incubator Showcase.
Courtesy of Belmont University26. Belmont University (#6 South / #6 Under 10K Enrollment)
Belmont University Thomas F. Cone Sr. Center for Entrepreneurship
Nashville, TN
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 34
Tuition: $53,520
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 107
What Sets Us Apart
The Jack C. Massey College of Business (MCB) was founded by a nationally acclaimed entrepreneur who is the only person to take 3 companies public at the NYSE. The mission of the MCB is to educate entrepreneurial and ethical future business leaders. It is unique to require ETP courses at the undergraduate level. Also, Belmont created the first Social Entrepreneurship major in the country, which focuses on creating sustainable social enterprises. We provide a clear path to equip our students through ideation, launch, and development. After receiving a $2 million endowment, the Center has been able to fund new initiatives to support our alumni and student entrepreneurs including grants, business-building partnerships, and resources. Since launching the ETP major in 2003, it has become the largest major in the business school. Experiential learning is at the heart of everything we teach in the MCB, but it is especially relevant within the ETP program. The robust offerings we’ve developed for our student entrepreneurs include our Hatchery, Accelerator, Endowed Grant Fund, Workshop Series, Alumni Mentor network, E-Village, and Business Pitch and Plan Competitions. Our robust mentor network includes over 150 alumni and local entrepreneurs. Through our innovative curricula, Center for ETP co-curricular programming, emphasis on experiential learning, mentor network, and endowments, we offer students the tools and resources to become successful entrepreneurs.
Courtesy of Texas Christian University27. Texas Christian University (#3 Southwest)
TCU Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fort Worth, TX
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 106
Tuition: $57,130
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 93
What Sets Us Apart
TCU’s entrepreneurship program is unique in that we offer a strong academic experience in entrepreneurship with a major as well as a cross-campus minor in entrepreneurship. We also have one of the premier institutes for entrepreneurship in the country that acts as a sandbox for students all across campus to try out what they have learned in the classroom. The Institute for Entrepreneurship is the only school in GCEC (Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers) history to ever win back to back to back awards for its cross-campus entrepreneurship programming. This cocurricular programming includes CREATE powered by the Shaddock fund (a cross-campus accelerator), the Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures Competition (the largest and most prominent undergraduate business plan competition in the nation), the TCU Elevator Pitch Competition, the Entrepreneurial Intern Scholars Program, the Horned Frog Investment Network, the Jane and Pat Bolin Innovation Forum, the Innovative Teachers Guild (an initiative to train faculty throughout the university to meaningfully incorporate entrepreneurship into their courses), and Neeley NIL (designed to help student-athletes take advantage of the ever-changing world of Name Image Likeness).
Courtesy of The University of Texas at Dallas28. 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: 21
Tuition: $16,412 (in-state); $44,812 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 204
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 University of Dayton29. University of Dayton (#10 Midwest / #7 Under 10K Enrollment)
L. William Crotty Center for Entrepreneurship
Dayton, OH
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 35
Tuition: $46,170
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 132
What Sets Us Apart
UD students are immersed in every aspect of entrepreneurship. The program is housed at the university’s innovation hub in the city’s urban core, a space where multiple academic units work alongside 130+ startups. All entrepreneurship programming is run out of this space, including the first course where students pitch an idea, form teams, and receive a $5,000 investment to run their business over the course of the academic year. These businesses are created with the guidance of UD faculty, and the 350 experienced entrepreneurs in the hub. All of the core courses in entrepreneurship utilize this space to connect students with entrepreneurs. These experiences are also offered outside the classroom. Through Flyer Enterprises, students are running a $2.7 million business with 13 divisions on and off campus. Flyer Consulting has another group supporting and lending to local non-profits and startups, many through our neighborhood incubator in an underserved community. Other students are managing a $1 million seed fund through Flyer Angels. Engineering, design, and business students are paid as interns to do hands-on projects for entrepreneurs through our Stitt Scholars program. At UD students have an opportunity to start a business, manage a business, invest in startups, lend to underrepresented entrepreneurs, raise capital for their ideas, and serve as an intern with myriad local startups. This vast array of experiences is what distinguishes a UD entrepreneurship education.
Courtesy of University of Arizona30. University of Arizona (#5 Southwest)
McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship
Tucson, AZ
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 37
Tuition: $11,210 (in-state); $35,628 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 26
What Sets Us Apart
A number of distinctive features characterize the University of Arizona’s McGuire Center. Our commitment to experiential education and a focus on live intellectual property. McGuire’s hallmark program, New Venture Development, provides students with an immersive year-long experience in which they take a concept from idea to execution. Challenging students to understand their customers and deliver customer-centered solutions is not just an academic exercise. Dedicated business mentors work with teams full-time throughout the year, bringing students through rigorous customer and product validation activities. A critical component of this process is our Hearst Experiential Learning grants, which fund student research, prototyping, and other validation activities. McGuire also provides students with a robust makerspace, including resources for 3D printing and VR programming. McGuire elective courses and cocurricular events all contain experiential aspects, including the development of actionable business plans and active participation in microbusiness marketplaces, hackathons, and startup weekends. Furthermore, the McGuire Center’s specialized mentors encourage students to emphasize social entrepreneurship and solve global problems. All of the offerings are designed to cultivate the entrepreneurial mindset and equip students to recognize problems and deliver solutions.
Courtesy of University of Delaware31. University of Delaware (#3 Mid-Atlantic)
Horn Entrepreneurship – Venture Development Center
Newark, DE
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 38
Tuition: $14,040 (in-state); $37,680 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 197
What Sets Us Apart
Horn Entrepreneurship offers relevant and accessible programming to all University of Delaware students, including programming threads pertaining to entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and technology commercialization. This includes a unique set of 7 undergraduate certificates (i.e., entrepreneurial leadership; design and creative making; social innovation and entrepreneurship; eco-entrepreneurship; technology innovation & entrepreneurship; innovation and entrepreneurship for health; and food systems innovation and entrepreneurship). In addition, Horn emphasizes community building, maintaining an entrepreneurial culture and creating synergies between academic, enrichment, and venture support programming, all of which are operated by a single unit: Horn Entrepreneurship. This includes more than 50 programs and events that are intended to enhance students’ available means for making an impact through entrepreneurship, including skill enhancement, networking, and access to resources. Select examples include Delaware Innovation Fellows—a four-year, selective enrichment program for creative, innovative and entrepreneurial students in any major—and Summer Founders—a pre-accelerator program providing students with stipends to enable them to work full-time on their ventures while benefiting from regular educational programming, active mentorship, and external/investor feedback and guidance.
Courtesy of Saint Louis University32. Saint Louis University (#11 Midwest / #8 Under 10K Enrollment)
Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship
St. Louis, MO
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 134
Tuition: $49,800
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 33
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—134 classes with entrepreneurship content across 19 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, which is used in over 250 US schools), and 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.
33. The Pennsylvania State University (#4 Mid-Atlantic)
The Pennsylvania State University
Penn State has 25+ entrepreneurship centers across our 24 campus locations
University Park, PA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 50
Tuition: $18,368 (in-state); $35,946 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 34
What Sets Us Apart
Penn State’s Entrepreneurship is an exceptional program that is recognized as a top model in the nation. Ranked among the top 3 programs in the Northeast, Penn State undergraduates strive to turn their ideas into viable businesses, reimagine organizations, become their own bosses, and effect change in the marketplace in the world. Allowing each of 76,000 undergraduate students from 24 campuses to take a course, the program has led over 8,500 Penn State undergraduates from 133 majors in at least one entrepreneurship course. The program is customized at each Penn State campus to serve the unique needs of students from different areas so that they can build networks with regional entrepreneurs and connect with business support services.
Courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison34. University of Wisconsin-Madison (#12 Midwest)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship
Madison, WI
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 18
Tuition: $9,273 (in-state); $40,612 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 0
What Sets Us Apart
UW-Madison has a successful history of graduating students who become leaders in business, academic and social entrepreneurship. The university programs and activities that support and encourage entrepreneurial thinking are spread across many schools and colleges, resulting in broad participation by students from many departments. UW-Madison is consistently ranked among the top 10 institutions in NSF (National Science Foundation) research expenditures and is highly ranked for academics across a wide range of programs. This diversity and strong academic reputation attracts a student population from across the world that is eager to learn, connect, and change the world. Evidence of the successful outcomes that derive from this campus culture of leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation includes the UW being one of the top 20 institutions for graduates who become Fortune 500 CEOs, launch venture-backed startups, and volunteer for the Peace Corp. The UW entrepreneurship program has been recognized for its quality by the Kauffman Foundation, Pitchbook, Entrepreneur Magazine/Princeton Review, Financial Times, and USASBE in recent years. Our students learn real-world entrepreneurship from top-notch faculty and successful entrepreneurs; they put those lessons to use via campus competitions, consulting projects with small companies, and start-ups. These activities have helped make our program one of the most popular in the entire University.
Courtesy of Erasmus University Rotterdam35. Erasmus University Rotterdam (#2 International)
Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, Erasmus Enterprise, Yes!Delft Rotterdam (3 institutes)
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 5
Tuition: varies
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 122
What Sets Us Apart
Our undergraduate offerings in entrepreneurship provide students with experiential courses in which they can practice their entrepreneurial skills, discover strategic entrepreneurship theories, and recognize and exploit business opportunities for existing firms (or brand-new ones that they build). Our aim is to provide high-quality training that allows students to experience the key steps of starting their own company. Students are exposed to a variety of entrepreneurial theories and practices that allow them to acquire the entrepreneurial skills needed for their careers (either within an existing organization or for a new venture).
Courtesy of Savannah College of Art and Design36. Savannah College of Art and Design (#7 South)
Savannah College of Art and Design
SCADpro
Savannah, GA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 24
Tuition: $35,190
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 123
What Sets Us Apart
SCAD is built on research, rigor, and relevance. The university’s research-based curriculum design reflects a recognition that entrepreneurship is critical to professional success across all art and design disciplines. SCAD added a new business core into the general education curriculum required of every SCAD student.
The well-researched, intentional, and continual evolution of SCAD degree programs, with promising careers in mind, is just one reason SCAD enrollment has risen nearly 10% in the last two years.
SCAD has originated programs to support and fund alumni entrepreneurship. SCADpro Fund invests in new ventures to scale fast and solve business challenges through design innovation. To date, SCAD has invested $2.9M across 13 alumni-led companies. Our first Fund company investment, Liist, was also our first exit to Google within the first three years. Collectively, the remaining 12 companies have raised a total of $136M in capital, generating more than $100M in revenue. SCAD Alumni Atelier, conceived and endowed by SCAD president and founder Paula Wallace, offers the time, space, and resources for alumni to imagine and create a new body of work in disciplines that range from fibers to fashion to industrial design to animation. SCAD Alumni Atelier has served a total of 155 ateliers since 2015 with over $1M in funds and investments.
Courtesy of East Carolina University37. East Carolina University (#8 South)
Crisp Small Business Resource Center
Greenville, NC
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 23
Tuition: $4,452 (in-state); $20,729 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 221
What Sets Us Apart
In the Miller School of Entrepreneurship, we focus our efforts on engaged student learning and rural regional transformation. Our core purpose is to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in our students and demonstrate the viability of entrepreneurship as a key element of regional economic development. Based on this work we were recognized as the winner of the 2021 USASBE Best Emerging Program Award. We won the Emerging Center Award from GCEC in 2021. Our faculty is focused on sponsored research (~$3.25M) and thought leadership in the areas of rural entrepreneurship, small business development, and entrepreneurship education. We provide impactful internships for our students and award-winning consulting projects for regional business clients. In addition, our endowed Crisp Center provides resources and best practices to help students convert knowledge into actionable ideas and new ventures. Our students are also involved in a grant-funded program (RISE29) with the goal of developing a national model on how to use entrepreneurship as an effective economic development strategy in a rural setting. The RISE29 program won the 2020 USASBE Excellence in Cocurricular Innovation Award and this work is transforming our region through new venture growth, job creation, and small business support. Additionally, we operate the Isley Innovation Hub (15,000-square-foot facility) to connect our campus and serve as a catalyst for entrepreneurship and innovation through multidisciplinary efforts.
Courtesy of University of South Florida38. University of South Florida (#9 South)
Nault Center for Entrepreneurship
Tampa, FL
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 49
Tuition: $4,559 (in-state); $15,473 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 98
What Sets Us Apart
Our undergraduate offerings are distinct in several aspects: 1) we designed expressly interdisciplinary majors and minors that draw students from all colleges across the University of South Florida; 2) we offer several extracurricular opportunities where students can take an internship at a startup, large company, accelerator, or one of our own incubators on the USF campus (available to both domestic and international students from all colleges); and 3) our program provides students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience pitching in several pitch competitions with different foci. We pioneered a very experiential and immersive competition that unfolds over one full academic year based on the commercialization of a new product. HUSTLE is specifically geared toward undergraduate students not only from the entrepreneurship program but also from other business disciplines. 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 report monthly to a board of directors about the progress they made. The team with the highest revenues won $75K, the runner-up team won $25K and the third team won $10K. We strongly believe this is the most beneficial format to run a competition. And lastly, 4) we offer our entrepreneurship students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with entrepreneurial ventures in a foreign country (Costa Rica).
Courtesy of Boston University39. Boston University (#4 Northeast)
Innovate@BU
Boston, MA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 23
Tuition: $61,050
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 36
What Sets Us Apart
Our students can pursue their interest in entrepreneurship in a flexible way that suits their schedule and fuels their passion. They can take a wide breadth of for-credit entrepreneurship classes, whatever their chosen major. Our minor in innovation and entrepreneurship is available to all undergraduate students and allows them to choose from over 70 courses as they put together a course of study that matches their interests. We also have courses in “new venture creation” and “design thinking” in our general education program (The Hub). You get Hub units in these courses, which students now need to graduate. Lastly, we have a thriving 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 custom-build innovation space on campus close to EPIC, a 15,000-square-foot makerspace. Both these facilities are open to all students on campus. Our Entrepreneurship Program is about creating leaders who view entrepreneurship as a means for solving big problems. We equally value social, non-profit, and for-profit ventures. We encourage our students to think big and to make an impact in the world.
Courtesy of Rowan University40. Rowan University (#5 Northeast)
Rowan Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Glassboro, NJ
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 22
Tuition: $10,715 (in-state); $20,108 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 78
What Sets Us Apart
Entrepreneurship is one of Rowan’s core values and we view it very much as an interdisciplinary, bridge-not-silo effort. We stress student-centeredness, inclusivity, engagement, accountability, resilience, quality, and transparency. We are committed to benefiting our local and state communities by making every effort to partner with and invest in regional businesses and organizations that contribute in meaningful ways to furthering our mission; preparing an educated citizenry and skilled workforce; enhancing public health and quality of life; and developing innovative products, services, and ideas.
Courtesy of University of Connecticut41. University of Connecticut (#6 Northeast)
Peter J. Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Storrs, CT
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 57
Tuition: $13,798 (in-state); $36,466 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 29
What Sets Us Apart
At UConn, we’ve taken an innovative leap that bridges the worlds of business and science. Our entrepreneurial initiatives are not confined within academic silos; instead, we’ve worked to integrate the analytical prowess of scientists with the strategic acumen of business students. This synergy forms the backbone of our diverse programs and results in a holistic entrepreneurial landscape unlike any other. Central to our philosophy is the recognition that entrepreneurship is much bigger than what we traditionally study in the West—it’s also a driving force for progress in developing economies. We’re not just teaching our students to navigate Western markets; we’re preparing them for the nuances of emerging markets, understanding that these economies hold unique challenges and unprecedented opportunities. By directly studying emerging-market entrepreneurs and integrating knowledge from developing countries into our curriculum, we aim to produce global leaders equipped to catalyze growth, not just locally, but on an international scale.
UConn’s commitment extends beyond classroom learning. Our engagement with traditionally underrepresented groups in the entrepreneurial space continues to set us apart. By drawing on the combined strengths of business and science disciplines and our pioneering focus on developing economies, UConn has firmly positioned itself as a groundbreaking institution in the entrepreneurial academic sphere.
Courtesy of Baylor University42. Baylor University (#6 Southwest)
John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship
Waco, TX
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 35
Tuition: $54,844
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: N/A
What Sets Us Apart
Baylor offers great depth and breadth in its program. It offers majors, minors, certificate programs, and many co-curricular programs to meet the needs of our students. Events such as the New Venture Competition, OSO Launch, our Student Incubator, the Baylor Angel Network, and the Lab2Market Collaborative provide entrepreneurship training and expertise to students and practicing entrepreneurs. Baylor professors have experience starting and running businesses and those experiences are shared with students. Guest speakers and mentors are an integral part of the program as they share their wisdom with students.
Students engage in a variety of curricular and co-curricular experiential activities designed to stimulate ideas, scrutinize those ideas with colleagues, and research their feasibility by getting out in the field and talking to potential customers and suppliers. As students progress through the curriculum these experiences focus attention on aspects of opportunities and actions that are critical for success.
Baylor became a Carnegie R1 institution in 2022 and we strive to integrate cutting-edge research findings with the classroom. We also embrace an interdisciplinary approach including partnerships not only with STEM fields but also with the liberal arts via our new Entrepreneurship and the Fine Arts certificate program.
This year we are rolling out a two-track system for majors in which seniors will choose an “Entrepreneurship” track or a “Corporate Innovation” track.
Courtesy of Texas Tech University43. Texas Tech University (#7 Southwest)
Texas Tech Innovation Hub at Research Park and Alderson-Griffin Center for Family Business & Entrepreneurship
Lubbock, TX
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 24
Tuition: $8,934 (in-state); $21,174 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 9
What Sets Us Apart
Texas Tech University is dedicated to educating the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs by cultivating a culture of innovation across its system. The multidisciplinary approach brings together faculty, researchers, and students who would normally not collaborate. These “creative collisions” lead to extraordinary innovations that have a wide range of applications resulting in commercialization related to entrepreneurial discovery and opportunities. One example would be our Faculty C-Startup program, which unites faculty from a variety of academic backgrounds with the intention of creating a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship on campus. The faculty members become the Innovation Hub’s Faculty Ambassadors and share best practices for developing companies in their and their students’ chosen fields. Earlier this year, the Innovation Hub was recognized for this innovative program at the 2023 InBIA conference where we shared how faculty are implementing new teaching techniques that students can utilize in their future careers.
Courtesy of State University of New York – University at Buffalo44. State University of New York – University at Buffalo (#7 Northeast)
State University of New York – University at Buffalo
Blackstone Launchpad
Buffalo, NY
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 5
Tuition: $7,070 (in-state); $24,990 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 188
What Sets Us Apart
We focus on experiential learning and developing the personal capabilities of the student entrepreneur. This approach builds confidence and a student’s ability to manage ambiguity. Our program immerses students directly into real businesses and asks them to solve actual problems faced by ventures.
Our experiential offerings include:
- Visits to Silicon Valley to develop hands-on experience, learn leading techniques in premier ecosystems and expose students to diverse communities.
- The UB Blackstone Launchpad delivers workshops, hackathons, and competitions to expose thousands of UB students to a wide range of new venture challenges and skill development.
- Interdisciplinary curriculum that combines business education with other fields such as technology, engineering, design, and social sciences. This broadens students’ perspectives and equips them with a well-rounded skillset to tackle complex problems.
- Our pitch competitions offer funding opportunities for student ventures. These events not only provide financial support but also help students gain exposure to potential investors and customers.
- Alumni engagement events play an essential role in inspiring our students. Our programs maintain strong alumni engagement to foster a sense of community and ongoing mentorship.
- Social impact and sustainability programs emphasize social entrepreneurship practices, empowering students to create ventures that address pressing societal and environmental challenges.
Courtesy of The University of Oklahoma45. The University of Oklahoma (#8 Southwest)
Tom Love Center for Entrepreneurship
Norman, OK
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 24
Tuition: $4,920 (in-state); $21,488 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 25
What Sets Us Apart
The rigorous 3-course New Venture Development (NVD) sequence is pivotal for building entrepreneurial thinking and skills. The content includes ideation and opportunity recognition (NVD I), customer discovery and feasibility (NVD II), and implementation and launch (NVD III). After NVD I, students select one of four NVD II tracks—Technology Innovation, Market Innovation, Corporate Innovation, or Social Innovation. The courses are highly experiential and iterative, consistent with a lean startup approach, with the aim of adapting and refining concepts and promoting actual launches. Students are back together in NVD III and work in small groups guided by local entrepreneur mentors. This approach creates multi-semester student cohorts leading to lasting relationships and strong team dynamics. The undergraduate program offers students a wide range of resources and experiences to support their entrepreneurial journey including proof-of-concept funding and access to the Tom Love Innovation Hub, a 20,000 square foot space equipped with 3D printing and digital fabrication and advanced VR technologies, and hi-tech collaborative learning spaces. Electives and coaching are offered by entrepreneurial mentors, highly experienced adjuncts, and world-class faculty. Our faculty was ranked #2 out of 325 schools in the 2022 TCU Global University Entrepreneurship Research Productivity Rankings. The combination of curriculum, resources, and world-class faculty is what distinguishes our program.
Courtesy of Florida International University46. Florida International University (#10 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: 53
Tuition: $6,168 (in-state); $18,566 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 40
What Sets Us Apart
FIU’s undergraduate offerings in entrepreneurship are varied and deep. The breadth of offerings spans incubators, centers, and departments in six schools, colleges, and divisions where offerings at most universities are concentrated in the College of Business. While the College of Business offers an entrepreneur certificate program that provides undergraduates from any major at FIU with the opportunity to complement their major field of study with an additional concentration in entrepreneurship, having programs in our Chaplin School of Hospitality and College of Communication, Architecture + the Arts allows students access to entrepreneurship programming with industry-specific depth and expertise. Further, students have access to the StartUP FIU, Blackstone LaunchPad, and the SBDC, which are not bound to curricular constraints and were designed to help individuals start and scale their companies. Students who want to start companies get a rigorous, real-world environment through bootcamp-style instruction, industry advisors, entrepreneurship mentorship, and access to sales channels and capital. Although not tallied in this survey, our 1-credit FIU experience course for all incoming freshmen (~1,500 students annually) was redesigned with StartUP FIU to infuse entrepreneurship concepts, such as technology and design thinking, to give all FIU students a framework for 21st-century critical thinking and problem-solving.
Courtesy of New Jersey Institute of Technology47. New Jersey Institute of Technology (#8 Northeast / #9 Under 10K Enrollment)
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, NJ
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 23
Tuition: $14,448 (in-state); $30,160 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 17
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 sq. ft) 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 sq. ft), 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 entrepreneurship students.
Courtesy of Temple University48. Temple University (#5 Mid-Atlantic)
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute
Philadelphia, PA
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 27
Tuition: $20,171 (in-state); $35,032 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 45
What Sets Us Apart
Entrepreneurship is in our DNA. Temple’s entrepreneurial founder, Russell Conwell, envisioned a school serving self-determined youth who seek to improve their lives through education; More recently we have highlighted entrepreneurship among our core commitments: “To be a leader in encouraging entrepreneurship across all disciplines, so students can create their own success, regardless of economic conditions.”
Our Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute serves all 17 Schools/Colleges including undergrads/grads/alumni/faculty/staff/partners and impacts tens of thousands of students every year.
Temple is integrated into Philly’s urban setting. Our programs connect to the community, our students/alumni have a massive positive impact in the region (from job creation to solving social issues), and our SBDC supports Philly/PA small businesses.
We provide extensive accelerator programs and early-stage funding/support. The 1810 Accelerator, a 9,000 sq. ft co-working/accelerator space, opened in 2019. We also run multiple funding/support programs (Be Your Own Boss Bowl, Lori Hermelin Bush Seed Fund, SmarTemple Innovation Fund, Temple Ventures w/ Ben Franklin, Blackstone Launchpad). We have a very successful Social Innovation Competition, where students are encouraged to develop business ideas that have social impact, whether they are nonprofit or multi-bottom-line. And we run an extremely popular freelancing series that encourages students to turn their passion into profit.
Courtesy of University of Minnesota49. University of Minnesota (#13 Midwest)
The Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship
Minneapolis, MN
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 17
Tuition: $14,006 (in-state); $33,246 (out-of-state)
Companies Started by Graduates Over the Last 5 Years: 44
What Sets Us Apart
We offer a broad range of experiential courses and programs led by a mix of academic researchers and experienced practitioners that enable students to gain practical experience and connections with the entrepreneurial community. Our courses empower students to design new products, commercialize University technology, support corporate innovation, solve grand social challenges, and launch and operate real businesses (both within and outside their classes). In 2019, we supported 25 undergraduate students to raise $1 million for a student-owned venture capital fund that is connected to an experiential course and has placed investments in 24 startups around the country. Our 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. Our Gopher Angels investor network provides invaluable connections with leading entrepreneurs and investors. Our WE* initiative organizes events, conferences, and mentoring to encourage more women to pursue entrepreneurship. Our internship programs place more than 60 undergraduate students each year with local startups. More than $150K of seed funding is available each year for student-founded companies, which are supported in our 6,500 sq. ft Toaster Innovation Hub. As one of the only land-grant research universities located in the heart of a major metropolitan area, our students are continuously connected with a vibrant entrepreneurial community.
Courtesy of University of Oregon50. University of Oregon (#4 West)
Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship
Eugene, OR
Number of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered: 24
Tuition: $10,440 (in-state); $34,335 (out-of-state)
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.
- 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.
