DePaul recognized as leader for entrepreneurship education
October 19, 2009
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DePaul has been named one of the country’s 10 best academic institutions for entrepreneurship education and its Coleman Entrepreneurship Center was recognized as a leader in fostering entrepreneurship. The annual rankings were issued by Entrepreneur magazine and the Princeton Review and featured in the magazine’s October issue.
DePaul’s high-quality academics and practical focus position students to succeed as entrepreneurs, particularly as the economy improves, says Harold Welsch, Coleman Entrepreneurship chair. “It is an exciting time because we are coming out of a recession and there are many entrepreneurial opportunities on the horizon after a shake-out period. Interest in entrepreneurial initiatives has never been stronger among students. It’s time for the small gazelles to leap forth.”
Among the more than 2,300 schools surveyed, DePaul ranked eighth in undergraduate entrepreneurship programs and ninth in the graduate program category. The programs were evaluated on how well they teach business fundamentals, whether the faculty includes successful entrepreneurs and the availability of experiential or entrepreneurial opportunities outside the classroom, among other criteria.
In the story accompanying the rankings, Entrepreneur profiled 10 universities that excel in cultivating entrepreneurship in their communities. DePaul was recognized for the consulting, educational programs and resources offered by its Coleman Entrepreneurship Center.
Among the most successful of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center’s programs is Blueprint DePaul. This initiative links DePaul students with community entrepreneur networks and mentors students with business ideas through the planning, launch and growth of their own ventures. Raman Chadha, executive director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, says participation in this program has grown from 18 student entrepreneurs three years ago to more than 120 expected this year. In addition, the center sponsors Launch DePaul, a popular annual new venture competition that awards cash prizes and business start-up services for the most promising venture plans submitted by students and recent alumni.
“We’ve learned from the students that they want as much real-life experience as possible while in college or graduate school,” Chadha says. “We give them that through classroom-based consulting projects and extracurricular advising and mentoring for student-entrepreneurs. As they graduate and become alumni, they continue to have access to a wide and deep array of continuing education programs that integrates peer-based and experiential learning.”