The undergraduate and graduate programs in entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis have been recognized as among the top 10 in the United States for the second year in a row by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine survey of more than 2,000 schools.
The annual ranking reveals the nation’s top 25 undergraduate and top 25 graduate programs for entrepreneurship. Washington University’s undergraduate program was ranked No. 6, up three spots from last year’s ranking, and the graduate program ranked No. 6, up four spots from last year.
The rankings are published in the October issue of Entrepreneur magazine, which hit newsstands Sept. 20 and is available online.
“Our students are creating sustainable ventures themselves and also connecting with community entrepreneurs through a number of co-curricular programs,” says Ken Harrington, managing director of the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
“These entrepreneurial, creative people at the idea stage develop their entrepreneurial skills and start to form relationships that will help them take action to advance their ideas and contribute to the innovation ecosystem,” Harrington says. “Washington University recognizes, nurtures and supports an environment of innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Schools were evaluated based on key criteria in the areas of teaching entrepreneurship business fundamentals in the classroom, staffing departments with successful entrepreneurs, excellence in mentorship, providing experiential or entrepreneurial opportunities outside of the classroom, as well as non-traditional, distinguishable aspects of their programs.
In addition to coursework, a wide variety of experiential learning opportunities are offered through all seven of WUSTL’s schools, such as IdeaBounce, internships, consulting projects and two business plan competitions where students network with investors and community mentors to create successful ventures.