McGuire Entrepreneurship Program Lauded Again

The University of Arizona's McGuire Entrepreneurship Program is again recognized among the best in the country, according to the latest Princeton Review/Entrepreneur magazine review of "Top 50 Entrepreneurial Colleges."

In the review of graduate programs, McGuire is ranked No. 1 among public institutions and No. 4 among all institutions; in the undergraduate review, McGuire comes in at No. 2 among public universities and No. 5 among all institutions. The program, housed in the UA's Eller College of Management, has been ranked in the top five of both categories since the rankings began in 2002.

The news comes on the heels of the 2009 U.S.News and World Report survey of the "Best Business Programs," which placed the McGuire Entrepreneurship Program at No. 5 among entrepreneurship programs nationwide, and No. 2 among public institutions. Earlier this year, the Financial Times global rankings named McGuire No. 6 in the world in entrepreneurship for the second year in a row.

"The McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship was one of the first university-based entrepreneurship programs in the country," said Paul Portney, dean of the Eller College of Management. "It's gratifying to see the ongoing hard work of nearly 25 years continue to pay off in the form of recognition by our peer schools."

The McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship was founded in 1984 with the support of UA alumnus Karl Eller. Since then, the program has continuously evolved to meet the needs of emerging entrepreneurs. The heart of the one-year program, which is available to all UA students, is the Idea Path curriculum, which guides students through a step-by-step process to bring venture ideas to fruition.

Through an arrangement with the UA Office of Technology Transfer, many of the ventures developed in the program are based on UA-developed technologies. Since the program began, its more than 1,200 graduates have launched hundreds of ventures.

New infor 2008, the program is working with partner organizations around Southern Arizona to engage with "angel" investors – individuals who invest private capital into startups – who will meet with students at key points throughout the year to offer insight and advice on their specific ventures.

Belmont's entrepreneurship program ranked as one of best in the country

Belmont University has ranked in the top 25 schools for its entrepreneurship program.

Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review surveyed 2,300 schools for the ranking. Belmont ranked 23rd in the undergraduate category.

"Belmont made the commitment to create a quality program in entrepreneurship, and I am proud that we have been able to make so much progress in only five years," says Jeff Cornwall, director of Belmont's Center for Entrepreneurship and holder of the Jack C. Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship. "To be singled out from the hundreds of universities across the country is a testimony to the support we have gotten from the students, alumni, faculty, staff and administration of Belmont and the Nashville business community."

The schools were evaluated on academics, requirements, students and faculty and outside the classroom experience.

"Schools that made the ranking are an excellent research starting point for prospective entrepreneurship students," says Amy Cosper, vice president and editor in chief at Entrepreneur.

The survey results appear in the October issue, which hits newsstands Sept. 23.

Belmont's program also received the National Model Undergraduate Program of the Year by the U.S. Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship earlier this year.