Montana State University College of Business Ranked in top 10 of Colleges Nationwide for Entrepreneurship Emphasis —— Boise State University ranked in top 10 for Limited Curriculum Programs

Can entrepreneurship be taught? You bet! And our 2nd Annual Top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges and Universities for 2004 will show you the best places to begin your studies. With the top 50 national programs, the top 50 regional programs, 61 entrepreneurship emphasis programs and 118 limited curriculum programs, you’ll find all the information you need to embark on an entrepreneurial education.

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(Warmest congratulations to Dr. Richard Semenik Dean of the MSU College of Business http://www.montana.edu/cob/ and Executive Director, Center for Entrepreneurship for the New West and his faculty and staff for their continued leadership in educating the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. Montana needs these leaders to ensure a successful future.- Russ)

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Entrepreneurship Emphasis Programs

http://www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges/results/1,6454,,00.html?mode=type&list=NC

Limited Curriculum Programs

http://www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges/results/1,6454,,00.html?mode=type&list=LT

The MSU College of Business offers a minor in entrepreneurial studies, linked to the Center for Entrepreneurship for the New West, which opened its doors in the TechRanch building in the MSU Tech Park in 2001. This is the first year that the MSU College of Business has appeared in the listing, which includes some of the best business schools in the country. The 25 colleges and universities in the top programs with an entrepreneur emphasis section, or minor, were alphabetized and not ranked.

"We are, of course, thrilled to have the college’s entrepreneurship program ranked in the Top 10 in the nation along side of schools like Purdue University and Texas A&M and ahead of such great schools as Pepperdine and the University of San Diego-especially after just three years in operation," said Richard Semenik, dean of the MSU College of Business and the Center’s Executive Director.

"The center was founded to provide an important educational experience for students, but also to have a positive impact on economic development in the state. This sort of success is the result of a lot hard work by many people, including the faculty who conceived of the curriculum, our two directors of student research services, first Megan Healke and now Laura Black, our Entrepreneur in Residence Ron McAdams, the entire faculty who teach the entrepreneurship curriculum. And, I am certain that our partnership with TechRanch where students work side-by-side with entrepreneurs was a key issue in achieving this lofty ranking."

Since its beginnings, 22 MSU students have earned a minor in entrepreneurship and small business management and an additional 64 students currently are enrolled in entrepreneurial classes.

This is the second major honor for the three-year-old center. The Entrepreneurship Center portion of a $600,000 Partnership for Innovation (PFI) grant from the National Science Foundation was $116,500, which is being used to strengthen and develop entrepreneurial programs. TechRanch and TechLink also received a portion of the grant.

Semenik said that as part of the Grow Your Own program, the College of Business, TechRanch and TechLink are actively seeking technology entrepreneurs and executives to help form businesses from the University’s vast technology brain trust.

"We’ve got some really interesting technology here," said John O’Donnell, executive director for TechRanch. "For starters, we have software and information technology, bio-tech, ag-tech, optics and renewable energy."

Semenik said the center also will help to commercialize science that exists in other MSU colleges and departments.

"The interaction among scientists, students and business practitioners can help bring this science to commercialization. While the science has passed the rigors of laboratory and field-testing, it still needs to be put through tests for commercial viability. The Center for Entrepreneurship for the New West will provide the mechanism through which the commercial viability will be assessed."

For more information about the Center for Entrepreneurship for the New West and the MSU College of Business, go to: http://www.montana.edu/cob/.
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MSU News Service
416 Culbertson Hall
Bozeman, MT 59717
406 994-2721

Grading the Colleges

More than 825 entrepreneurship programs and curricula were researched between September to December 2003 for this study, conducted for Entrepreneur by Santa Barbara, California-based TechKnowledge Point Corp., an entrepreneurship research and referral exchange. The final rankings are based on more than 70 separate criteria, including course offerings, teaching and research faculty, business-community outreaches, research centers and institutes, advisory boards, off-campus programs, other entrepreneurial initiatives, degrees and certificates offered, tangible venture development, access to capital funding, and faculty and alumni evaluations.

Within each category, programs have been ranked by tiers and listed alphabetically within each tier. For example, the 50 schools with Comprehensive entrepreneurship programs offered at institutions with nationally recognized reputations are grouped into four tiers. The first 13 schools—the top quarter—have comparable offerings and resources, and together represent the top tier of the very best comprehensive programs in the country. The second, third and fourth tiers round out other groups of 12 to 13 schools that are similar to each other in overall profile quality.

For detailed listings, sorts and comparisons, plus complete analysis of more than 60 criteria for 500-plus entrepreneurship programs nationwide, go to http://www.entrepoint.com.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges/0,6441,,00.html