The Fox School of Business’ entrepreneur program was ranked fourth in the nation on the undergraduate level and seventh on the graduate level by Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review.
Last year, the program was ranked in the top 30 by both. According to Chris Pavlides, the executive director of Fox’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute, the expansion of the program this summer resulted in the advance to a top 10 spot. The program also added new courses to the curriculum at the beginning of this year.
Students in various other programs in the business school said they recognize that certain programs are more emphasized than others, such as the entrepreneur and international business programs.
“These programs deserve high rankings,” said Heather Kreimer, a senior in risk, management and insurance. “It’s true that some majors in the school don’t get enough attention. Some are awesome, and others just don’t get enough advertising.”
The ranking of top entrepreneur schools was based on the school’s curriculum, mentoring, experiential learning, faculty prestige and the success of program alumni, according to Entrepreneur and the Princeton Review.
The international business program was also recently ranked sixth in the nation by the International Business Review in regards to faculty research productivity.
Aksh Haribhakti, a junior in finance and accounting major, said that his major’s curriculum has not changed nor has much effort been put into increasing its ratings, and that the school stresses certain programs more.
“Finance and accounting are the most popular majors in the school,” Haribhakti said. “I’ve noticed that the classes are getting larger and learning is becoming more generalized for students.”
IEI has branched off and is offering courses to students in other programs associated with the Tyler School of Art, Boyle College of Music and Dance and the College of Engineering. According to Raj Chandran, vice dean of the Fox School of Business, students will be able to obtain a certificate in entrepreneurship by taking one course in their college and then two other courses at the business school.
“We are extremely proud and want to continue offering courses in all 17 of the individual schools,” said Pavlides. “We encourage students and faculty members to use these resources.”
Chandran said he hopes the high ranking will attract more students into these programs.
“We have found that students’ interest in the entrepreneur program has been increasing over the last two years, especially for the 2006-2007 school year,” said Chandran. “We do well on ratings, and this is an external validation of what we do well with the faculty members, getting the best students, researching and internships. All of these things translate into a good ranking.”
Kayla Jones, a senior in marketing and broadcasting, said she has a friend who is an entrepreneur major and always hears good things of the program.
“The only thing that seems unfair is that the same courses aren’t offered to any other majors in the school,” said Jones. “I’ve taken an entrepreneur class, and it didn’t seem nearly in-depth compared to my friend’s classes.”
Megan Kelsey can be reached at mkelsey@temple.edu.
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