The University of Houston was named the top undergraduate entrepreneurship program in the world by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine for the fifth straight year. The competitive cohort program consists of 25 to 40 students each year. Houston photo
We have a winner: In the latest ranking of undergraduate programs for young business founders, a familiar name has emerged triumphant.
For the fifth straight year, the University of Houston was named the top undergraduate program for entrepreneurship by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine, released today (November 7). The home of the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship topped 49 other schools — all but two of them in the United States — in the 18th year of the ranking. Rounding out the top five are the University of Texas-Austin’s Harkey Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies; Babson College’s Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship; the University of Michigan’s Center for Entrepreneurship, Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, and Minor in Entrepreneurship; and the University of Maryland’s Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
It would be hard for any school, anywhere, to match the success of the Wolff Center’s competitive cohort program: Between 2012 and 2022, graduates of the program, which yearly consists of 25 to 40 students, created 1,640 businesses and raised more than $400 million. Since 2018, according to the new ranking, Houston grads started 785 companies — more than all but one school, Tecnológico de Monterrey, one of two international schools in the ranking and the No. 6 program overall. See the bottom of the page for the complete 50-school ranking.
PRINCETON REVIEW/ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE 2024 BEST UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP – TOP 10
| 2023 Rank | University/College (Business School) | Entrepreneurship Center/School | Tuition | No. of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered | Companies Started by Grads In Last 5 Years |
| 1 | Houston (Bauer) | Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship | $10,856 (in-state); $26,096 (out-of-state) | 38 | 785 |
| 2 | Texas-Austin (McCombs) | Harkey Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies | $11,758 (in-state); $41,070 (out-of-state) | 54 | 635 |
| 3 | Babson (Olin) | The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship | $55,714 | 44 | 259 |
| 4 | Michigan (Ross) | Center for Entrepreneurship, Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, and Minor in Entrepreneurship | $17,454 (in-state); $56,941 (out-of-state) | 269 | 362 |
| 5 | Maryland (Smith) | Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship | $9,695 (in-state); $37,931 (out-of-state) | 59 | 439 |
| 6 | Tecnológico de Monterrey | Institute for Entrepreneurship Eugenio Garza Lagüera | Varies | 133 | 1,306 |
| 7 | Miami (Farmer) | John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship | $16,545 (in-state); $38,761 (out-of-state) | 53 | 184 |
| 8 | Washington (Olin) | Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation & Entrepreneurship | $61,750 | 56 | 181 |
| 9 | Washington (Foster) | Arthur W. Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship | $11,189 (in-state); $39,687 (out-of-state) | 52 | 299 |
| 10 | DePaul (Driehaus) | Coleman Entrepreneurship Center | $42,189 | 40 | 235 |
HOUSTON HAS BEEN IN THE RANKING’S TOP 10 FOR 16 STRAIGHT YEARS
The methodology of the new ranking is something of a mystery. According to a news release timed for the unveiling of the new ranking, the list is based on a survey The Princeton Review conducted in summer 2023 of administrators at nearly 300 schools, taking into account “more than 40 data points about the schools’ entrepreneurship programs, faculties, students, and alumni.” Entrepreneur states that the magazines “considered hundreds of colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe, and evaluated them on a multitude of factors — including their programming, their available mentors, and their graduates’ success rates in the business world” — and it promises that those who want to know more about the methodology will find what they’re looking for in the yet-be-published December issue of the magazine.
Released simultaneously with the undergraduate ranking was a 50-school list of graduate programs, topped by Rice University — another Texas school, and, like Houston, a five-peater at No. 1. For an entrepreneurship ranking of MBA programs with a transparent methodology, see Poets&Quants‘ recently released list.
On the undergraduate side, the University of Houston has ranked in the top 10 of the Princeton Review’s ranking every year since 2007, and topped the list eight times overall in the nearly two decades of the ranking. It exists in a well-regarded business ecosystem: Houston’s B-school, the C.T. Bauer College of Business, ranks No. 35 in the United States in the 2023 Poets&Quants ranking of the top undergraduate programs.
“We believe in entrepreneurship, we believe in free enterprise, and we’re in the number one city for entrepreneurship,” Wolff Center Executive Director Dave Cook says in a statement on the University of Houston website. “When we put students into this entrepreneurial mix, and we introduce and reinforce free enterprise values, our intent is to change students’ lives and to create the next generation of business leaders with the highest integrity who are going to go out and create their own cultures, their own companies and their own futures.”
‘WE ARE POISED TO REACH MORE ENTREPRENEURS’
The Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship was named for Houston philanthropists Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff in 2007. It received a $13 million gift from the Wolff Family Foundation in 2019, supplemented by a $2 million matching grant from the state of Texas, and recently received $5 million from the Wayne Duddlesten Foundation to create endowed scholarships for Wolff Center students. The center currently offers 38 entrepreneurship courses; tuition is listed as $10,856 for in-state residents and $26,096 for those not from Texas.
In the “What Sets Us Apart” section of the ranking, Houston boasts an “integrated, lockstep curriculum,” as well as a strong experiential learning component: “Students don’t just learn entrepreneurship, they actively do it, including developing business plans for IP tech, planning/operating pop-up food stands in Wolffest, and launching their own businesses.” The program also features more than 600 mentors; off-campus activities at co-working spaces, banks, and law firms; social outreach; and a partnership with Rice University. It is also diverse: The university is 37% Hispanic, 24% Asian American, and 11% African American, based in the “international mosaic that is Houston.”
In a statement November 7 responding to the release of the new ranking, Dean and Cullen Distinguished Chair Professor Paul A. Pavlou says Houston and the Wolff Center are just getting started.
“We are gratified to receive another No. 1 ranking, especially as we are poised to reach more potential entrepreneurs through the establishment of the Wayne B. Duddlesten Free Enterprise Institute,” Pavlou says. “The Wolff Center’s reign as an entrepreneurship dynasty has in large part been enabled by the generosity of our community. In addition to the Wolff family and the many business leaders who contribute their valuable time to mentor our students, a recent $5 million gift from the Wayne Duddlesten Foundation will further enrich and expand this formidable program.”
See below for the complete ranking of all 50 B-schools in the new Princeton Review/Entrepreneur magazine ranking of the top U.S. programs for entrepreneurship.
AND DON’T MISS POETS&QUANTS’ NEWLY PUBLISHED RANKING OF THE TOP MBA PROGRAMS FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN 2024
PRINCETON REVIEW/ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE’S TOP 50 BEST UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS FOR ENTREPRENEURS IN 2024
| 2023 Rank | University/College (Business School) | Entrepreneurship Center/School | Tuition | No. of Entrepreneurship Courses Offered | Companies Started by Grads In Last 5 Years |
| 1 | Houston (Bauer) | Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship | $10,856 (in-state); $26,096 (out-of-state) | 38 | 785 |
| 2 | Texas-Austin (McCombs) | Harkey Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies | $11,758 (in-state); $41,070 (out-of-state) | 54 | 635 |
| 3 | Babson (Olin) | The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship | $55,714 | 44 | 259 |
| 4 | Michigan (Ross) | Center for Entrepreneurship, Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, and Minor in Entrepreneurship | $17,454 (in-state); $56,941 (out-of-state) | 269 | 362 |
| 5 | Maryland (Smith) | Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship | $9,695 (in-state); $37,931 (out-of-state) | 59 | 439 |
| 6 | Tecnológico de Monterrey | Institute for Entrepreneurship Eugenio Garza Lagüera | Varies | 133 | 1,306 |
| 7 | Miami (Farmer) | John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship | $16,545 (in-state); $38,761 (out-of-state) | 53 | 184 |
| 8 | Washington (Olin) | Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation & Entrepreneurship | $61,750 | 56 | 181 |
| 9 | Washington (Foster) | Arthur W. Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship | $11,189 (in-state); $39,687 (out-of-state) | 52 | 299 |
| 10 | DePaul (Driehaus) | Coleman Entrepreneurship Center | $42,189 | 40 | 235 |
| 11 | Northeastern (D’Amore-McKim) | NA | $59,100 | 41 | 565 |
| 12 | Iowa State (Ivy) | Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship | $8,042 (in-state); $23,230 (out-of-state) | 95 | 737 |
| 13 | Michigan State (Broad) | Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation | $16,531 (in-state); $42,427 (out-of-state) | 43 | 677 |
| 14 | Syracuse (Whitman) | Blackstone Launchpad powered by TechStars; Couri Hatchery; Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship; Institute for an Entrepreneurial Society | $58,440 | 34 | 210 |
| 15 | Tampa (Sykes) | John P. Lowth Entrepreneurship Center | $30,036 | 10 | 392 |
| 16 | Iowa (Tippie) | John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (Iowa JPEC) | $10,964 (in-state); $32,927 (out-of-state) | 34 | 376 |
| 17 | Georgia Tech (Scheller) | CREATE-X | $10,258 (in-state); $31,370 (out-of-state) | 34 | 125 |
| 18 | Purdue (Daniels) | Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship | $9,208 (in-state); $28,010 (out-of-state) | 61 | 187 |
| 19 | Miami (Herbert) | The Launch Pad | $58,102 | 66 | 58 |
| 20 | Drexel (LeBow) | Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship | $56,595 | 46 | 39 |
| 21 | Florida State | Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship | $4,640 (in-state); $19,806 (out-of-state) | 122 | 278 |
| 22 | St. Thomas (Opus) | Schulze School of Entrepreneurship | $49,830 | 50 | 101 |
| 23 | Utah (Eccles) | Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute | $9,103 (in-state); $31,861 (out-of-state) | 28 | 223 |
| 24 | Florida Atlantic | Adams Center for Entrepreneurship | $5,986 (in-state); $21,543 (out-of-state) | 12 | 117 |
| 25 | Loyola Marymount | Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship | $49,550 | 21 | 35 |
| 26 | Belmont (Massey) | Belmont University Thomas F. Cone Sr. Center for Entrepreneurship | $53,520 | 34 | 107 |
| 27 | Texas Christian (Neeley) | TCU Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation | $57,130 | 106 | 93 |
| 28 | Texas-Dallas (Jindal) | Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship | $16,412 (in-state); $44,812 (out-of-state) | 21 | 204 |
| 29 | Dayton | L. William Crotty Center for Entrepreneurship | $46,170 | 35 | 132 |
| 30 | Arizona (Eller) | McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship | $11,210 (in-state); $35,628 (out-of-state) | 37 | 26 |
| 31 | Delaware (Lerner) | Horn Entrepreneurship – Venture Development Center | $14,040 (in-state); $37,680 (out-of-state) | 38 | 197 |
| 32 | Saint Louis (Chaifetz) | Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship | $49,800 | 134 | 33 |
| 33 | Penn State (Smeal) | 25+ entrepreneurship centers across our 24 campus locations | $18,368 (in-state); $35,946 (out-of-state) | 50 | 34 |
| 34 | Wisconsin-Madison | Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship | $9,273 (in-state); $40,612 (out-of-state) | 18 | 0 |
| 35 | Erasmus-Rotterdam | Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, Erasmus Enterprise, Yes!Delft Rotterdam (3 institutes) | Varies | 5 | 122 |
| 36 | Savannah College of Art & Design (De Sole) | SCADpro | $35,190 | 24 | 123 |
| 37 | East Carolina | Crisp Small Business Resource Center | $4,452 (in-state); $20,729 (out-of-state) | 23 | 221 |
| 38 | South Florida (Muma) | Nault Center for Entrepreneurship | $4,559 (in-state); $15,473 (out-of-state) | 49 | 98 |
| 39 | Boston (Questrom) | Innovate@BU | $61,050 | 23 | 36 |
| 40 | Rowan (Rohrer) | Rowan Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship | $10,715 (in-state); $20,108 (out-of-state) | 22 | 78 |
| 41 | Connecticut | Peter J. Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation | $13,798 (in-state); $36,466 (out-of-state) | 57 | 29 |
| 42 | Baylor (Hankamer) | John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship | $54,844 | 35 | NA |
| 43 | Texas Tech | Texas Tech Innovation Hub at Research Park and Alderson-Griffin Center for Family Business & Entrepreneurship | $8,934 (in-state); $21,174 (out-of-state) | 24 | 9 |
| 44 | SUNY-Buffalo | Blackstone Launchpad | $7,070 (in-state); $24,990 (out-of-state) | 5 | 188 |
| 45 | Oklahoma (Price) | Tom Love Center for Entrepreneurship | $4,920 (in-state); $21,488 (out-of-state) | 24 | 25 |
| 46 | Florida International | StartUP FIU, Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center, Small Business Development Center at FIU, and FIU CARTA Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator, Blackstone LaunchPad at FIU | $6,168 (in-state); $18,566 (out-of-state) | 53 | 40 |
| 47 | New Jersey Tech (Tuchman) | NA | $14,448 (in-state); $30,160 (out-of-state) | 23 | 17 |
| 48 | Temple (Fox) | Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute | $20,171 (in-state); $35,032 (out-of-state) | 27 | 45 |
| 49 | Minnesota (Carlson) | The Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship | $14,006 (in-state); $33,246 (out-of-state) | 17 | 44 |
| 50 | Oregon (Lundquist) | Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship | $10,440 (in-state); $34,335 (out-of-state) | 24 | NA |
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