OSU's Online Master's in Entrepreneurship receives recognition as No. 1 in the nation
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Online Master’s in Entrepreneurship program offered by the School of Entrepreneurship
in the Spears School of Business is the best in the United States, according to rankings
published this week.
Oklahoma State University’s Master’s in Entrepreneurship online program is No. 1 in the nation in the rankings of the 10 Best Online MBA Entrepreneurship Programs as named by TheBestSchools.org, a website devoted to empowering students with information to assist them in selecting the best school and degree programs.
“The (Oklahoma State) online Master in Entrepreneurship program covers the nature of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial process. The program combines core content with a strong commitment to experimental learning. It enhances student competencies in areas such as risk management, opportunity recognition, resource leveraging, business planning, and innovation,” according to TheBestSchools.org release in describing why OSU’s program was selected No. 1.
The OSU program finished ahead of such schools as No. 2 Suffolk University (Boston), No. 3 Regent University (Virginia Beach, Va.), No. 4 Post University (Waterbury, Conn.), and No. 5 Northeastern University (Boston).
“Considering the breadth and strength of the competition, this No. 1 ranking is a tremendous achievement for our program. It reflects the quality of our entrepreneurship faculty and curriculum, as well as the Spears School’s commitment to distance education,” said Larry Crosby, dean of the Spears School.
“As an AACSB-accredited business school, we assure the equivalence of our online and onsite graduate programs. Both channels adhere to the same high standards of instruction. What excites me most about the online program is its reach to budding entrepreneurs anywhere they might live. Access is the core of OSU’s land-grant mission. Just imagine how this online program in entrepreneurship can contribute to the economic prosperity and social well being of people around the world. There is a tremendous thirst out there for entrepreneurial thinking, knowledge, and skills,” said Crosby.
The 10 Best Online MBA Entrepreneurship rankings are based on the quality of the program, the types of courses offered, the faculty, rankings, awards, and reputation, including the school’s reputation for effectively providing online degree programs.
“Our Online Master's in Entrepreneurship program has gotten off to such a strong start largely as a result of the quality of our students, which come from across the country. We have highly motivated students who are eager to strengthen their entrepreneurial mindsets and sharpen their business startup skills,” said Bruce Barringer, interim head of the School of Entrepreneurship.
This recognition comes on the heels of January’s announcement in which the School of Entrepreneurship’s doctoral program was selected as the National Model Ph.D. Program in Entrepreneurship by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, which is known nationally as the premier association for entrepreneurship educators.
Receiving national recognition is nothing new for the Spears School’s entrepreneurship program, consisting of the academic-focused School of Entrepreneurship and the outreach-focused Riata Center for Entrepreneurship. In the past 18 months, the Spears School’s entrepreneurship program has received numerous national awards:
- For the second consecutive year, the School of Entrepreneurship was one of only a handful of schools to have both its undergraduate and graduate programs recognized in 2012 as being among the best in the U.S., according to the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. OSU is ranked No. 14 in the graduate program rankings of the nation’s top schools and its undergraduate program achieved a No. 22 ranking. More than 2,000 programs were reviewed in the 10th annual survey that ranks the top entrepreneurship programs in the nation.
- The Riata Center was recognized in October with one of its most prestigious honors when it was selected to receive the NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurship Excellence Award, presented by NASDAQ in association with the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC).
- In addition to being selected as the National Model Ph.D. Program in Entrepreneurship in 2013, the School of Entrepreneurship was recognized in 2012 as the National Model Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program, an award that is considered one of the most prestigious honors given by the USASBE.
- The Women Entrepreneurs Inspire Conference, presented each spring by the Riata Center, was named a 2012 Program Making a Difference by the Journal Record as part of its Woman of the Year Awards.