Last modified: Thursday, April 3, 2003
Entrepreneurship program at Kelley School ranked among nation's best
Note: Entrepreneur magazine's article about its rankings of business schools and programs is available online at https://www.entrepreneur.com.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The readers of a national business magazine are learning something about Indiana University's Kelley School of Business that many students and academics already knew, that it's one of the best places in the nation for budding entrepreneurs.
In its April issue, Entrepreneur magazine identified 100 colleges and universities for entrepreneurs and rated IU's Kelley School program as one of the 12 top-tier national programs. The magazine did not rank the top schools, but listed them alphabetically within the tier. Other top-tier national programs included those at Harvard University, the Wharton School, Stanford University and Babson College.
The IU program was one of just three national schools ranked in the top 10 by both faculty and alumni, joining Columbia University and the University of California-Berkeley in that group. More than 700 entrepreneurship programs were researched for the study.
"This validates the hard work and dedication of our entrepreneurship faculty. We're thrilled that the quality of our academic curriculum and programs are recognized by alumni and faculty across the nation," said Elizabeth Gatewood, director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Kelley School.
"By focusing our program on new ventures, innovation and business development, we feel that we are making an important contribution to the Kelley School of Business and IU's missions and goals and to the state of Indiana," Gatewood added.
This was the first-ever evaluation of entrepreneurship programs by Entrepreneur magazine, which has more than 2 million readers each month and is considered a leading publication for people running their own businesses. The magazine's study was conducted from September to December 2002 by TechKnowledge Point Corp. of Santa Barbara, Calif.
More than 30 criteria were used in the study, including course offerings, teaching and research faculty, business-community outreach, research centers and institutes, degrees and certificates offered and faculty and alumni evaluations. In addition, almost 300 colleges and universities responded to surveys designed to allow program directors, faculty and alumni to rank their own entrepreneurship programs against the competition.
Entrepreneurship education has been offered at IU since 1958. In 1989, the Center for Entrepreneurship was established with 40 students expressing an interest in becoming entrepreneurs. In recognition of many lifetime gifts from Richard Johnson, an IU alumnus and former owner of the Johnson Oil Co. and the Bigfoot food store chain, IU changed the name to the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation in October of 1998.
There are currently 322 undergraduates and 80 Master of Business Administration students majoring or minoring in entrepreneurship. A major and minor in entrepreneurship are offered at the undergraduate and graduate level. A minor in entrepreneurship for non-business majors was introduced in fall 2000, and a doctorate in entrepreneurship presently has four students studying to teach and do research in the field.
Entrepreneur magazine ranked schools with entrepreneurship programs in two different categories: national and regional programs. In addition to the Kelley School's national ranking, Ball State University was ranked among the best regional programs, and the University of Notre Dame was listed in the third tier of top national programs.
