The University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business received another top-5 ranking for entrepreneurship today. The Princeton Review ranked the school No. 2 for undergraduate entrepreneurship in the West for 2023.
The entrepreneurship program at the Eccles School is provided in partnership between the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy and the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Together, these programs provide a growing and broad range of programs from grants and workshops to elective courses, a unique graduate program and a living-learning community.
“Entrepreneurship is one of our strengths, and we are proud to be recognized for our efforts to provide opportunities for students to learn in the classroom and by doing,” said Rachel Hayes, dean of the David Eccles School of Business. “We invite all students from every major to get involved in our many programs and activities. We have everything from electives and a major in entrepreneurship to startup grants and office space.”
The Princeton Review ranking comes on top of another recent top-5 ranking for the University of Utah. U.S. News & World Report ranked the Eccles School undergraduate entrepreneur program No. 5 overall and No. 2 among public schools for 2023.
These rankings follow significant growth in the entrepreneur programs offered at the University of Utah. The Eccles School and Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute provide opportunities for every student at the University of Utah.
“We want to be known as the best university for entrepreneurship, and we are on our way,” said Matthew Higgins, chair of the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy at the Eccles School. “We have many unique opportunities that students won’t find anywhere else. Our faculty come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have the experience needed to help students understand the meaning of entrepreneurship, explore their ideas, learn by doing and grow profitable companies.”
One of the newest programs for undergraduates at the University of Utah is Lassonde+X, a three-class program designed for students from any major to add an entrepreneurial mindset to any field of study and career path.
The Eccles School launched the unique Master of Business Creation program in 2019. Founders in the program receive scholarships to launch and scale their companies with the support from in-depth mentoring, coursework, grants and more. Starting in January 2023, founders will be able to enroll in the new MBC Online option.
To support alumni, the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute launched the Lassonde for Life program. New for fall 2022, the program welcomes all University of Utah alumni, from every major and college, to participate in a variety of activities and events to explore entrepreneurship and grow a product idea or business.
Outside the classroom, the Eccles School provides many options for all students on campus to experience entrepreneurship by launching companies and building products at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute. Opportunities there include workshops, mentoring, startup support, grants, meetups and more. Students can also “live, create, launch” at Lassonde Studios, a five-story building in the center of campus with an innovation space on the first floor and dorm space on the upper levels. Lassonde Studios has been featured by The New York Times and Architectural Digest and continues to attract worldwide attention.
The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute also recently launched the Lassonde Founders program. It is a residential entrepreneur community for incoming students who are active entrepreneurs. Students receive scholarships and the opportunity to live and launch with an exceptional group of young entrepreneurs. All incoming students are invited to join this program.
“Students don’t just study entrepreneurship at the University of Utah – they also are expected to start a company or join one, and we provide them with grants, workshops, mentors, maker space and more to help them be successful,” said Troy D’Ambrosio, executive director of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute and an assistant dean at the Eccles School. “Our mission is to help students improve themselves through entrepreneurship by applying what they are learning in class, growing their resumes and following their passions.”
The new Princeton Review rankings are based on a summer 2022 survey conducted of nearly 300 schools with entrepreneurship offerings, the rankings reported considered more than 40 data points about the school programs, faculties, students and alumni.
The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur published the project’s ranking lists on their respective websites at princetonreview.com/entrepreneur and entrepreneur.com/topcolleges.
The ranking lists name the top 50 undergraduate and top 50 graduate schools for entrepreneurship studies for 2023. The project also names the undergraduate and graduate schools that ranked highest within seven regions: International, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, South, Southwest and West.
Learn more about entrepreneurship at the Eccles School and University of Utah at eccles.utah.edu/entrepreneur.
About the David Eccles School of Business
The Eccles School is synonymous with ‘doing.’ The Eccles experience provides a world-class business education with a unique, entrepreneurial focus on real-world scenarios where students put what they learn into practice long before graduation. Founded in 1917 and educating more than 6,000 students annually, the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business offers nine undergraduate majors, four MBAs, eight other graduate programs, a Ph.D. in five areas and executive education curricula. The School is also home to 12 institutes, centers and initiatives that deliver academic research and support an ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation. For more information, visit Eccles.Utah.edu or call 801-581-7676.
About the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute
The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute is a nationally ranked hub for student entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Utah and an interdisciplinary division of the David Eccles School of Business. The first programs were offered in 2001, through the vision and support of Pierre Lassonde, an alumnus of the Eccles School and successful mining entrepreneur. The institute now provides opportunities for thousands of students to learn about entrepreneurship and innovation. Programs include workshops, networking events, business-plan competitions, startup support, innovation programs, graduate seminars, scholarships, community outreach and more. All programs are open to students from any academic major or background. The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute also manages Lassonde Studios, a five-story innovation space and housing facility for all students. Learn more at Lassonde.Utah.edu.
