Entrepreneurship Programs Ranked Top 25 in 2014

Top Five in Mentorship

 The Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri-Kansas City learned today that both its undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship programs have once again been named among the 25 in the nation by the Princeton Review. The graduate program came in at 24th and the undergraduate program ranked 25th.

It is the fifth time in six years that the school has achieved a top 25 ranking for entrepreneurship, and the fourth time both programs placed in the top 25. Only 14 universities this year have both their graduate and undergraduate programs among the top 25.

“We take great pride in once again being highly ranked by the Princeton Review, and we celebrate this achievement by our dedicated team of faculty, administrators and community mentors,” said Dave Donnelly, dean of the Bloch School of Management. “Success like this, year after year, speaks to the excellence and innovation of our approach to teaching entrepreneurship.”

Jeffrey S. Horsnby, interim director of the Bloch School’s Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, said the repeat honor speaks to the quality of the programs. “What adds to that excitement even more is that we’ve been able to expand the reach of our entrepreneurship programs and extend them across campus,” Hornsby said.

This semester, Bloch has added an online minor and a major in entrepreneurship, allowing participation from students in every degree program and every academic unit, no matter their schedules. Already, the program has attracted students in such diverse programs as the School of Computing and Engineering, the UMKC Conservatory and the School of Pharmacy. An entrepreneurship program aimed at area high school students is in the works, Hornsby said.

In addition to receiving a ranking in the top 25, the Bloch School’s graduate program has been added to the list of “The 5 Grad Schools with the Most Opportunities for Mentorship.”

The Regnier Institute is recognized for its Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program where students can meet one-on-one with one of sixteen mentors in numerous fields, including branding/marketing, capital resources, customer products, finance/accounting, intellectual property, and media/entertainment.

Based on surveys of business school administrators sent to more than 2,000 institutions from April to June in 2014, the annual Princeton Review lists salute 50 programs in all – 25 undergraduate and 25 graduate – for their excellence in entrepreneurship education. The full lists of ranked schools can be viewed here. The Princeton Review has reported these lists annually since 2006 in partnership with Entrepreneur Media Inc., publisher of Entrepreneur magazine.

The Princeton Review evaluated the programs based on a wide range of data it annually collects in its institutional surveys for this project. Among the criteria, schools are asked about the levels of their commitment to entrepreneurship inside and outside the classroom; the percentage of their faculty, students and alumni actively and successfully involved in entrepreneurial endeavors; the number of their mentorship programs; and their funding for scholarships and grants for entrepreneurial studies and projects.

“The schools in our annual list have ranked high for creating some of the best environments to nurture the pursuit of building a business from the ground up,” said Amy Cosper, VP and editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine.

Bloch’s entrepreneurship programs, housed in the Regnier Institute, have achieved numerous honors in recent years. Its undergraduate and graduate programs have been designated as national model programs by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), and Bloch has been named a co-presenting institution for the 2016 USASBE conference in San Diego, Calif. Bloch also will host the 1,000-member Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization, or CEO, at its Kansas City conference in October 2015.

Robert Franek, Princeton Review Senior VP/Publisher, praised the schools for their exceptional programs: “We recommend the Bloch School and all of the other institutions on our list this year not only for their superb faculties and wide range of courses in entrepreneurship, but also for their out-of-class offerings. Their students have extraordinary opportunities to network with established entrepreneurs, interact on teams that turn promising ideas into possible start-ups, and develop skills to launch their own successful businesses.”

“Formal instruction and mentorship from great minds in business can help leaders prepare for the challenges that come with entrepreneurship,” said Amy Cosper, VP and editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine. “The schools in our annual list have ranked high for creating some of the best environments to nurture the pursuit of building a business from the ground up.”

 


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