The Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship at Florida State University vaulted 21 spots to No. 19 in the latest rankings of the nation’s top undergraduate entrepreneurship programs, published by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.
The Jim Moran College placed No. 1 in Florida in the publication’s 16th annual ranking of undergraduate schools for entrepreneurship programs. The program also ranked No. 2 in the Southeast and No. 11 among public universities.
Susan Fiorito, founding dean of the college, Jim Moran Professor and Entrepreneur in Residence, said the college’s upward trajectory starts with its commitment to students.
“We accepted our first cohort of students in 2017 and we just started our fifth year, so we are still young,” she said. “I think what permeates our college is a drive for student success and that really extends across campus. So many people want to be their own boss and we are working every day to help them figure out ways to do that.”
The total enrollment in the college’s undergraduate entrepreneurship majors and minors for the 2020-2021 academic year was 993 students. It is home to four undergraduate programs, four different master’s programs and eight academic minors.
“A portion of what goes into the valuations of The Princeton Review’s rankings are about our graduates, how many businesses they have opened and the funding these businesses have raised,” Fiorito said. “Our first graduating class was in 2019, so we have so much room to grow.”
Britain Dwyre Riley, an instructional specialist at the college who spearheaded its submission to The Princeton Review, noted that the Jim Moran College is the first stand-alone public college of entrepreneurship in the nation.
“The ranking really helps legitimize that you can be a stand-alone college of entrepreneurship,” she said. “We are elated to have the work of our faculty, staff, alumni and students recognized by The Princeton Review. The college’s recognition in this program coincides with the university’s strategic focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.”
“The ranking really helps legitimize that you can be a stand-alone college of entrepreneurship. We are elated to have the work of our faculty, staff, alumni and students recognized by The Princeton Review. The college’s recognition in this program coincides with the university’s strategic focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.“
— Susan Fiorito, founding dean of the college, Jim Moran Professor and Entrepreneur in Residence
The Princeton Review selected the schools and tallied rankings based on a 2021 survey of administrators at nearly 300 undergraduate and graduate schools offering entrepreneurship studies. The survey asked administrators more than 60 questions about their school’s commitment to entrepreneurship studies inside and outside the classroom.
“We heartily recommend the fine schools that made our entrepreneurship studies ranking lists this year,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor in chief. “Their faculties are outstanding. Their programs have robust experiential components, and their students receive awesome mentoring and networking support that will serve them for years to come.”
Entrepreneur magazine, The Princeton Review’s publishing partner on this project since 2006, posted the ranking lists on its website at www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges. The magazine will publish a feature article on the project’s regional rankings in its December issue available on newsstands Nov. 23.
“The value of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking continues to grow in our daily lives,” said Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine. “By sharing this list, we want to continue to provide the much-needed information that people are looking for to forge their path to entrepreneurship. This list is a valuable reference tool for where future leaders can attain the knowledge, community and training grounds to succeed on that path.”
For more information visit, https://jimmorancollege.fsu.edu.
Princeton Review’s list of top 50 undergraduate entrepreneurship programs can be viewed online here.
