The University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business continues to be recognized as a top program for entrepreneurship. In new rankings from U.S. News & World Report, its undergraduate program for entrepreneurship ranked No. 8 overall and No. 5 among public schools for 2025.
The entrepreneurship program at the Eccles School is provided in partnership between the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy and the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute. Together, they offer 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 top strengths as a business school and university, and we invite all students, from all majors, to get involved in and out of the classroom to build skills, earn a degree, and launch or join a startup company,” said Kurt Dirks, dean of the David Eccles School of Business. “We believe entrepreneurship is more than just starting businesses. It is a mindset that can help students in any pursuit that involves persistence, creativity and initiative.”
In related rankings issued earlier this year, U.S. News & World Report ranked the MBA program at the Eccles School No. 12 for entrepreneurship overall (No. 5 among public schools) in 2024.
The Eccles School welcomes all students from across campus to get involved with entrepreneurship in many classes and opportunities. Students can choose from many electives, degrees, study-abroad options and more. For graduate students, the Eccles School launched the unique Master of Business Creation program in 2019. Founders in the program grow their companies with support from in-depth mentoring, coursework, grants and more. Founders can enroll online or in person.
“We offer a large and growing variety of programs and opportunities for students to learn about and experience entrepreneurship,” said Bill Hesterly, chair of the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy at the Eccles School. “Students can get started by taking a class or attending a workshop. Then they can advance to a certificate, minor, major, or our expanding and unique Master of Business Creation, and we have world-class faculty and mentors helping students every step of the way.”
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.
One unique opportunity at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute is 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.
“We challenge all students to pursue their ideas and launch something while they are enrolled at the University of Utah,” said Troy D’Ambrosio, executive director of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, an assistant dean at the Eccles School, and the V.P. for innovation for the University of Utah. “Our students are launching hundreds of companies every year and achieving business success. They are also learning many valuable skills, such as leadership and project management, and achieving a rich, hands-on learning experience not available anywhere else.”
To support alumni, the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute created the Lassonde for Life program. 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.
The U.S. News & World Report best business school rankings are based on the judgments of deans and senior faculty members at peer institutions. This year, they surveyed deans and senior faculty members at each of the 532 undergraduate business programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
For the U.S. News & World Report graduate business school rankings, U.S. News & World Report surveyed all 506 MBA programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
Find complete rankings on the U.S. News & World Report website for undergrad entrepreneurship rankings here and the graduate entrepreneurship rankings here. Read more about the ranking methodology for the undergrad ranking here and the graduate ranking here.
Learn more about entrepreneuring at the Eccles School, where entrepreneur is a verb, here: eccles.utah.edu/entrepreneur.
About the David Eccles School of Business
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 more than 20 institutes, centers and initiatives, which 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 and alumni programs, 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.
