Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship programs have been ranked No. 3 and No. 6, respectively, in The Princeton Review’s annual list.
The two entrepreneurship programs have both been ranked in the top ten nationally for eight-consecutive years, one of only two universities with that distinction over the same period.
“BYU is known for training exceptional students who build large numbers of successful startups and tech ventures each year,” says Scott Petersen, Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology executive director. “BYU Marriott faculty and staff, along with our generous donors, are committed to developing world-class leaders in entrepreneurship and innovation who have outstanding character.”
Throughout the last five years, BYU undergraduate and graduate students have combined to start 676 companies and have collectively raised $1.3 billion in funding. Approximately fifteen percent of BYU students takes at least one course in innovation or entrepreneurship. Ninety percent of the entrepreneurship faculty started, bought or has run a successful business, and 219 individual mentors worked with students through an officially sponsored school program this past year.
The Rollins Center provides students interested in entrepreneurship the opportunity for mentored experiences in competitions and workshops both on- and off-campus. The center annually sponsors the International Business Model Competition, the first and largest business model competition in the world, and hosts many other events that support BYU student entrepreneurs, including the Miller Competition Series and Student Entrepreneur of the Year competition.
The Princeton Review evaluated BYU and other national universities based on a wide range of institutional data, including each school’s level of commitment to entrepreneurship inside and outside the classroom; the percentage of faculty, students and alumni actively and successfully involved in entrepreneurial endeavors; the number of mentorship programs available to students; and the amount of funding for scholarships and grants awarded for entrepreneurial studies and projects.
The BYU Marriott School of Business prepares men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Named for benefactors J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott, the school is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. BYU Marriott has four graduate and ten undergraduate programs with an enrollment of approximately 3,300 students.
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Writer: Jordan Christiansen