top of the class
2 prestigious Houston colleges score No. 1 rankings for entrepreneurship
Houston remains the home of the best business and entrepreneurship programs in the country, according to an annual report.
Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine ranked Rice University as the No. 1 graduate entrepreneurship program in the United States for 2022, and just as in years prior, the University of Houston claimed the top spot on the undergraduate ranking. Both lists ranked the top 50 programs.
It's the third No. 1 ranking for Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University — and the sixth year in the top three and the 13th year in which it has ranked in the top 10 on this prestigious list. The program's graduates have raised more than $693 million in funding for their companies over the past five years, per the report.
"Our No. 1 ranking is a reflection of the work and effort of our entrepreneurship faculty and staff to continually expand our programs and impact on behalf of our student and faculty founders," says Peter Rodriguez, dean of the Jones Graduate School of Business, in a news release. "Our three-years-running spot at the top is a testament to the Rice faculty, the depth and breadth of resources that are available to entrepreneurs and innovators during their time at Rice and beyond, and the students who have capitalized on their time at Rice to learn and launch their ventures from campus to the community."
Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship in the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston — with its alumni reportedly launching 698 startups over the past five years — is similarly familiar with this ranking. Also repeating its No. 1 spot this year, UH has ranked in the top 10 since 2007 — usually claiming the No. 1 or No. 2 spots. However, this is the first time the program is ranked No. 1 three years in a row.
"As a forward-looking business school with 'The Future is Our Business' as a mandate, entrepreneurship is one of the disciplines that can really carry us forward," Dean and Cullen Distinguished Chair Professor Paul A. Pavlou says in a news release. "This consecutive Number 1 national ranking is a recognition that the Bauer College is the predominant force in entrepreneurship education. We need more entrepreneurial spirit in all of our students, and the Wolff Center is critical for instilling in them the ability to be innovative and creative as they enter a business world in transition and facing an unprecedented future."
While UH and Rice held onto their spots, several other Texas schools saw some movement on the lists. Other than UH, these Texas schools appeared on the list of the top 50 undergraduate entrepreneurship programs:
- The University of Texas at Austin, No. 4 (up from No. 24 last year)
- Baylor University, No. 9 (down from No. 7 last year)
- Texas Tech University, No. 12
- University of Texas at Dallas, No. 24 (down from No. 18 last year)
- Texas Christian University, No. 37 (down from No. 27 last year)
- Texas A&M University-College Station, No. 41 (down from No. 35 last year)
Aside from Rice, these Texas schools made the list of the top 50 graduate entrepreneurship programs:
- University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, No. 5 (up from No. 6 last year)
- University of Texas at Dallas, Naveen Jindal School of Management, No. 11 (down from No. 10 last year)
- Texas A&M University-College Station, Mays School of Business, No. 26 (same as last year)
The Princeton Review based its 2022 rankings on a survey of leaders at over 300 schools with entrepreneurship studies. More than 40 data points were factored in to develop the rankings, which were released online on November 16 and will be published in the December issue of Entrepreneur magazine.
"The value of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking continues to grow in our daily lives," says Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine, in the press release. "We're now seeing Americans start businesses at the fastest rate in a decade. By sharing this list, we want to continue to provide the much-needed information that people are looking for to forge their path to entrepreneurship. This list is a valuable reference tool for where future leaders can attain the knowledge, community and training grounds to succeed on that path."
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This article originally appeared on InnovationMap.
