Academics & Research

Bauer’s Wolff Center ranked No. 2 for entrepreneurship in U.S.

The Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship has been on The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Media Inc’s Top 25 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurs for the past seven years.  |  File Photo/The Cougar

The Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship within the C.T. Bauer College of Business was declared the second-best undergraduate entrepreneurship program in the country, according to the 2015 Top 25 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurs list released by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Media Inc.

Created in 1993 but not implemented until 1995, the Wolff Center’s entrepreneurship program was first named to the list in 2007, coming in at second. It has since been ranked seven more times, fluctuating between first, in 2008, and third, in 2012.

“In a city like Houston, where the entrepreneurial spirit runs deep and where the need for talented leaders for our many multinational companies is great, I’m proud that our entrepreneurship program continues to receive recognition year after year for its fundamental excellence,” UH President and Chancellor Renu Khator said in a Bauer press release. “We’re graduating students who are ready to succeed in a highly competitive global economy — and play a vital role in maintaining Houston’s robust growth.”

Partnering in 2006, The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Media Inc. have ranked colleges participating in the Princeton Review’s survey according to specific criteria between April and June of each year. The survey, according to a Princeton Review press release, questions school administrators about their school’s entrepreneurship commitment, faculty and student entrepreneurial endeavors, grants and scholarships offered and support for school-sponsored business plan competitions.

“Of more than 30 data points we analyze to tally our lists, what these extraordinary college and business school programs have in common are superb faculties truly engaged in entrepreneurism, awesome out-of-class offerings, and enduring support from donors and alumni,” said Princeton Review Senior Vice President-Publisher Robert Franek said in a press release. “Applicants to each of these schools will have extraordinary opportunities to interact with successful entrepreneurs, learn from outstanding mentors, and hone skills to launch their own exciting businesses.”

This year, the Wolff Center’s program fell behind three-time winner Babson College in Massachusetts. Babson College surpassed the University with 38 percent more in program enrollment, by having 44 percent more companies started by graduates and having 89 percent more in cash prizes for their 2013-14 business plan competition. Bauer’s program however, beat out Babson with 87 percent more prize money won in other competitions.

Both universities’ programs have 100 percent of their total undergraduate entrepreneurship faculty start, buy or run prosperous businesses.

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