Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management is one of the top 25 colleges for students looking to start their own business, according to rankings published by Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review.
The magazine's October issue ranks the Marriott School undergraduate program 18th in the annual survey, citing the Student Entrepreneur of the Year and the BYU Business Plan Competition as strong distinguishing features.
"We feel we have a world-class program, and we appreciate the recognition that Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review have given the school," says Bill Price, executive director of the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. "Our mentoring program lets students see how other successful entrepreneurs have built their businesses, and I think this has enabled students to thrive in their own ventures."
BYU's focus on entrepreneurship has received recognition from the magazine in previous years, placing in the top 25 from 2003 to 2007.
Stephen Liddle, academic director for the CET, says students deserve the recognition. "BYU students have a lot of energy, love to build and can be very creative." he says. "The center encourages students to set their sights high and develop businesses that can grow in a scalable way."
To calculate the rankings, The Princeton Review compiled information from 2,300 schools in three categories: academics and requirements, which includes information about degrees and courses offered; students and faculty, which considers how many students are enrolled in the program and how many students and faculty have launched their own businesses; and outside the classroom, which takes into account club activity and competitions.
Babson College placed first in the rankings for the undergraduate category, followed by the University of Houston and the University of Arizona. Babson also topped the list for graduate programs, with the University of Southern California coming in second and Drexel University coming in third.
The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.
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Writer: Dustin Cammack