The Best Entrepreneurial Colleges in the US for Business-Minded Students

Around one-third of people want to be their own boss. This leads many high schoolers to lean towards entrepreneurship. It’s an exciting career path with a lot of potential and unknowns. The career path of an entrepreneur isn’t as clear-cut as it is for other professions, leading many students to feel confused about their trajectory in choosing entrepreneurial colleges.

Many wonder whether or not college is even a worthwhile experience since, technically, you don’t need a degree to found a company. However, the vast majority of uber-successful entrepreneurs earned at least a bachelor’s degree. In reality, the college provides you with a wide range of helpful skills and experiences that benefit your entrepreneurial endeavors.

Here, we’re going to explore the best entrepreneurial colleges in the country, along with some tips to help you increase your chances of getting into these prestigious schools.

What should an entrepreneur study in college?

Now that you know an entrepreneur should get a degree, you might be wondering what an entrepreneur should study? Well, contrary to popular belief, there are a bunch of entrepreneur-focused programs offered throughout the country that actually teach students the principles of starting, running, and scaling a business.

Countless colleges and universities accommodate business-minded students who have a knack for thinking outside of the box. These self-starter students should keep an eye out for colleges offering uniquely targeted programs, degrees, and classes with an entrepreneurial focus. Of course, this isn’t all entrepreneurs-to-be should focus on in college.

You should also focus on various elements of running a business to become a well-rounded business person. Here are some of the classes you should consider taking to support your entrepreneurial trajectory:

• Finance
• Accounting
• Business
• Marketing
• Economics
• Management
• Public speaking
• Writing
• Composition
• Computer science

In addition to these fundamental classes, you could also take various courses that hone in on the industry you’d like to enter into after college as an entrepreneur. For example, if you’re confident that you want to start a healthcare IT business, you might want to take some healthcare-focused and IT-centric courses.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure exactly what kind of business you want to start. There are more than enough courses and programs to give you the skills, experience, and knowledge you need to succeed.

Mount Saint Mary’s University – Emmitsburg, Maryland

Mount Saint Mary’s University is one of the best entrepreneurial colleges in the country for women seeking a self-starting career. MSMU is a private company providing top-value associates through doctoral degrees, including certificate programs.

It’s a women’s institution; most of its student population are female and of Hispanic heritage and are serviced on two campuses and online. The university offers affordable and high-quality entrepreneurship programs in addition to an online certificate that participants can complete completely online.

The program provides an optional 9-day worldwide field study trip to MBA students in their fourth semester. Previous sites include Latin America and China, with distinctive experiences planned for each cohort of MBA students.

University of Houston – Houston, TX

It’s not enough to have a brilliant business concept – entrepreneurs need to be able to make ideas come to life, and students at the University of Houston learn how to do precisely that. The Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Houston is one of the most regarded entrepreneurship programs in the nation.

Not only do students get to hear from renowned entrepreneurs, but they are also encouraged to explore their entrepreneurial pursuits via mentoring and competition. Students are encouraged to design and submit business concepts, typically for national contests. It is one of the entrepreneurial colleges where success is guaranteed.

The program also sponsors its business contests, including 3-Day Startup and Wolffest, the final project in the BBA in the Entrepreneurship degree program. After establishing a business plan, seniors apply all they have learned to execute the plan throughout a three-day competition conducted in the spring.

Additionally, UH emphasizes leadership through service by providing several community service opportunities for entrepreneurial students, including the famed Lemonade Day event. Students assist youngsters in starting their own company.

Pennsylvania State University

If you’re interested in pursuing a degree in entrepreneurial studies, the University of Pennsylvania is difficult to top. UPenn is a private, not-for-profit university located in the metropolitan city of Philadelphia.

It has a reasonably high student body. With a Best Schools ranking among the best entrepreneurial colleges at number thirteen out of 2,576 universities nationally, UPenn is an excellent institution in general.

Many entrepreneurship studies students graduated from UPenn in the most recent year, for which statistics are available. When graduates of the University of Pennsylvania’s entrepreneurial studies degree program join employment, they earn more than one hundred thousand dollars more than the average graduate in their profession.

Entrepreneurial Studies is a concentration within the University of Pennsylvania’s business, management, and marketing degree.

Suffolk University – Boston, Massachusetts

Suffolk University is a private, nonprofit college that offers affordable associates, bachelor, master’s, and doctoral degrees and certificate programs.

Undergraduate students at Suffolk can pursue a minor or a major in Entrepreneurship Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs with two relevant specializations available for graduate students interested in entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship and Organizational Behavior at Suffolk University Creative Disruption: Entrepreneurship for New and Existing Businesses. At the bachelor level, at least 72 credits in an Entrepreneurship specialization are required for admission to the MBA program.

Southern California University – Los Angeles, California

The Marshall School of Business and the Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California provide graduate and undergraduate programs. The Lloyd Greif Center of Entrepreneurial Studies, which oversees graduate and undergraduate degrees, is housed here.

Even if applicants opt to study a fundamental graduate degree, they have access to the Center’s activities and the dazzling network of successful entrepreneurs in Southern California to help them grow their social innovation.

The Center is responsible for developing the curriculum, funding research, and organizing demanding and innovative contests for business students interested in pursuing careers as successful entrepreneurship. It is ranked highest among the entrepreneurial colleges in the country.

Duke University – Durham, North Carolina

Duke University is one of the finest colleges in the country for pursuing an entrepreneurial studies degree. Duke Institution, located in Durham, is a private, not-for-profit university with a sizable student body.

Duke is a vital institution in general, with a Best Schools ranking of nine out of 2,576 schools nationally. It is among the oldest and excellent entrepreneurial colleges in the state.

In the most recent data year, around nine entrepreneurship studies students graduated from Duke. Entrepreneurial Studies is a concentration within Duke University’s business, management, and marketing department.

You’ll learn more about the major here, including the number of graduates, the degree levels offered, and the ethnic composition of students. Additionally, we discuss how Duke compares to other colleges with entrepreneurial programs.

Loyola Marymount University – Los Angeles, California

As a smaller, private institution in California, Loyola Marymount University is among the entrepreneurial colleges with many entrepreneurship programs and apparent college options for students interested in business and entrepreneurship.

Loyola Marymount offers an excellent entrepreneurship program that teaches students the principles of bringing an innovative concept to life while also teaching them how to be influential leaders.

The Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship at LMU provides students opportunities to bring their ideas to reality, including the famous Company Incubator, which gives students space and helps develop potential product and business projects.

Additionally, the Center offers several entrepreneurial activities, including the Idea Pitch Competition, in which students compete for cash awards, and the famous Startup Weekend. Students learn from experts and get help on designing and launching company ideas.

University of California – Berkeley

When considering the most outstanding entrepreneurial colleges in California, the University of California, Berkeley is one. The Haas School of Business oversees the undergraduate business program here. This curriculum combines specialized business courses with liberal arts courses at Berkeley.

The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship provides future entrepreneurs with access to advanced courses, education standards, and cutting-edge research facilities well regarded across the worldwide business community. Berkeley is a top entrepreneurial school due to the popularity of Stebe Blank’s Lean LaunchPad class, the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps, an accelerator program, and other business modules available to students.

Portland State University – Portland, Oregon

Portland State University is a public university that offers affordable bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees and certificate programs.

PSU provides an undergraduate certificate in entrepreneurship. Among the graduate entrepreneurship programs available are the following:

• Graduate degree in Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation (SISP)
• Certificate of Graduate Study in Technological Entrepreneurship

University of New York – New York City, New York

It is one of the top ten entrepreneurial universities in the country. New York University is in the Center of one of the most beautiful cities in the United States of America, New York.

It is one of the most excellent entrepreneurial schools in the country, and business students would be fortunate to get admitted. Students may take advantage of the knowledge and competence for which NYU is renowned.

Apart from its outstanding location, NYU ranks low in our entrepreneurship school rankings because of the university’s abundance of entrepreneurial centers, teams, institutions, and tools for business students.

Aspiring entrepreneurs can make use of the Entrepreneurial Institute, the Berkeley Center for Entrepreneurship, and The Leslie eLab. Students may concentrate on any entrepreneurial subject that matches their ambitions due to the abundance of specialized courses offered.

University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s undergraduate business school has an excellent reputation for training students to thrive in various business sectors – and their entrepreneurship specialization is no exception.

In contrast to the other universities on this list, UNC does not offer a specific entrepreneurship program. Rather than that, students pursuing a business degree might declare an entrepreneurial concentration.

UNC compensates for its absence of a dedicated entrepreneurial degree program with its Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The Innovate Carolina project is not limited to students studying business and entrepreneurship; the goal is to develop innovative ideas across all academic disciplines.

Students may explore various entrepreneurial possibilities via this program, including competitions, scholarships, mentorships, and use the accessible workspace to bring their concepts to reality.

Entrepreneurial opportunities at UNC include The Reese News Lab where students can learn how to use media and news to its maximum to get their ideas out. Another campus, a social justice-focused innovation organization, and the Y Incubator offer social entrepreneurs and innovators competitions, support, and space.

A degree in entrepreneurship enables students to obtain practical experience while still learning. Students may network with industry professionals and create their businesses before they graduate.

University of Harvard – Boston, Massachusetts

When discussing colleges offering entrepreneurship programs, one cannot avoid mentioning Harvard Business School. It uses a case study technique to teach students about business processes. The Rock Center for Entrepreneurship is headquartered here, hosts business contests, and offers several scholarships and programs to aspiring entrepreneurs.

However, Harvard University is renowned for much more! The Technology and Entrepreneurship Center and the Innovation and Entrepreneurship startup are located in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Together, these resources equip business students with all of the world’s knowledge. As a result, it’s unsurprising that Harvard had a significant part in developing well-known platforms like Facebook and Microsoft.

University of Wichita – Wichita, Kansas

Wichita State University is one of the most incredible entrepreneurial schools. Wichita State University is a public university that offers associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees and certificate programs.

WSU offers majors and minors in Entrepreneurship and Business at the undergraduate level. Their Master of Business Administration (MBA) program provides nine tracks and specializations, including Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Among the university’s entrepreneurship resources are the following:

• School of Business W. Frank Barton
• Entrepreneurship Center
• A portal to resources for intellectual property patents
• Award from the Innovation Fund
• LaunchPrep
• SBIR/STTR Grants
• Surprising Innovation
• Unbelievable New Venture Competition
• VentureWell – chances for early-stage inventors
• Scholarship Fund for Women for Women’s Innovation
• SBDC Training at WSU Kansas
• Ventures at WSU

University of Columbia – New York City, New York

Columbia University, located in New York City, boasts one of the most vital undergraduate entrepreneurship programs in the country and a robust entrepreneurial network that serves to build the university’s foundation. The Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center is housed in the Business School.

The brains behind the entrepreneurial networks link each student with their preferred entrepreneurial enterprises worldwide. It is one of the prime entrepreneurial colleges in the United States of America

Undergraduate students enrolled at Columbia University may also study business and entrepreneurship programs for budding entrepreneurs and other courses offered within the university’s liberal arts curriculum.

Tips for attending entrepreneurial colleges.

Becoming an entrepreneur is an exciting process that requires a ton of guts, perseverance, and commitment. You might not have all of the answers, such as the type of business you want to start, but you already know what you want to study.

That’s a massive advantage! On average, around 75% of college students are still unsure of what they want to study or will change their degree at least once throughout the course of college. Knowing what you want to study increases the chances of graduating in time.

We’ve already discussed the best entrepreneurial colleges. The key now is to increase your chances of getting accepted.

Focus on all of your academic subjects.

After determining what major to pursue in college, it’s tempting to only focus on the classes that relate to your intended degree. However, it’s important to keep in mind that all colleges take a holistic approach to the college admissions process which means they consider your performance in all of your classes among a range of other factors. As a result, it’s essential to focus on all of your high school classes equally with the goal of maximizing your GPA.

Work with a college admissions specialist.

Applying to college is an incredibly selective process just by its very nature. When you apply to highly competitive schools, it’s even more difficult. One of the best ways to ensure your application stands out from the crowd is to work with a college admissions specialist.

These experts know exactly what college admissions officers are looking for and can help you cater your applications to meet these specific demands. Also known as entrance experts, these professionals can help you with everything, including choosing the best high school courses, extracurriculars, summer programs, and much, much more.

One of the best ways to secure a spot in a competitive biology program is to work with a college entrance expert. These professionals can help you custom-tailor your application to catch the attention of admissions officers at your desired school.

AdmissionSight is a leading college admissions expert committed to helping high schoolers achieve their college dreams. Contact us today to learn more.