OSU’s entrepreneurship undergrad program recognized as one of the top 25 in the nation

Friday, November 17, 2017

Oklahoma State University’s School of Entrepreneurship is being recognized as one of the top schools in the nation, with 2018 representing the school’s third time since 2013 in rankings published by The Princeton Review and featured in the December issue of Entrepreneur magazine.

The School of Entrepreneurship is ranked 24th on the list of Top 25 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies for 2018. OSU is one of only 13 public schools to be ranked among more than 300 schools considered by The Princeton Review.

“I’m gratified by our top 25 ranking,” said Bruce Barringer, head of the OSU School of Entrepreneurship. “It’s a testament to our faculty, alumni and especially our students.  I’m also happy for our students. They can now confidently say that they’re part of a nationally ranked program.”

The Spears School’s entrepreneurship program started in 2008 and quickly made a name for itself across the nation. The OSU School of Entrepreneurship debuted in the Top 25 in the 2012 rankings, and has continued to be honored for its outstanding educational opportunities. Over the last five years, OSU entrepreneurship students have started 58 companies and have collectively raised nearly $4.5 million in funding.

The rankings are drawn from surveys issued to all the schools considered, with questions focused on each school’s level of commitment to entrepreneurship studies, inside and outside the classroom. More than 40 data points were analyzed for the tally in determining the rankings.

Among the topics included: the percentage of faculty, students and alumni actively involved in entrepreneurship endeavors; the number and reach of mentorship programs; scholarships and grants for entrepreneurship studies; and the level of support for school-sponsored business plan competitions.

“These colleges and business schools have superb entrepreneurship programs,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's Editor-in-Chief. “We highly recommend them to any applicant aspiring to launch a business. Their faculties are truly engaged in entrepreneurism. Their courses are rich with in-class and out-of-class experiential components, and the financial and networking support their students and programs receive via donors and alumni is extraordinary.”

The OSU entrepreneurship program has received national recognition from several organizations in recent years for its excellence in a number of areas:

• OSU’s Master’s in Entrepreneurship online programs is 1 in the listing of the best Affordable Online Master’s in Entrepreneurship (AffordableColleges.com);
• Master’s in Entrepreneurship online program is No. 1 nationally overall (SuccessfulStudent.org and OnlineColleges.com);
• The Master’s of Entrepreneurship program is ranked No. 1 nationally among the 20 Best Online MBA Entrepreneurship programs (TheBestSchools.org);
• The School of Entrepreneurship program received the 2013 National Model Ph.D. Program Award, given annually to one university in the nation (United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship and Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers);
• The Riata Center for Entrepreneurship, the school’s outreach program, was the recipient of the 2012 NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurship Excellence Award (Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers);

This is the 12th year that Entrepreneur has partnered with The Princeton Review to publish this list. The company also reports school rankings in several other categories in its annual books The Best 382 Colleges and Colleges That Pay You Back.

“We publish this ranking every year to help entrepreneurs find the best learning-focused environments,” says Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur  magazine. “The list is an excellent resource, and I hope everyone interested in undergraduate or graduate programs spends some time with it. The schools on this list can help prepare students for exciting, entrepreneurial futures.”

The lists for the top entrepreneurship programs are posted on The Princeton Review’s website. Entrepreneur magazine also has a posting of the list.