Belmont represents only entrepreneurship program in Tennessee to be recognized by Princeton Review, Entrepreneur Magazine

Belmont University offers one of the best programs for students aspiring to launch their own businesses according to The Princeton Review. The education services company named the school No. 24 on its list of “Top 25 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship of 2019.” Belmont represented the only school in Tennessee, and one of only three colleges in the Southeast, to be named to the list.

Dr. Pat Raines, dean of Belmont’s Jack C. Massey College of Business, said, “For Belmont’s program to be listed among the top entrepreneurship programs in the country is outstanding, and the fact that we were ranked for the eighth time definitely establishes our credibility as one of the nation’s best entrepreneurship studies programs. Having a majority of the 264 businesses that were started in the Massey College of Business still in operation after 10 years demonstrates our exceptional commitment to educating aspiring entrepreneurs.”

Belmont’s entrepreneurship major provides opportunities for all students to acquire hands-on experience and benefit from innovative programming. In addition, numerous industry experts and extracurricular groups and events are available to aid them in launching a business even while still in college. These stats tell the story of what Belmont Entrepreneurship offers those aspiring to launch their own start ups:

• In the last decade, alumni have started 264 businesses in 36 cities around the world—67 percent of those businesses are still active
• These start-ups have raised nearly $152 million in funding
• Approximately 3,500 square feet of prime campus retail space is reserved for Belmont students to use to develop and manage a small businesses
• The Hatchery provides an office environment containing basic resources and support to help students as they develop their own entrepreneurial ventures
• Students are advised by faculty, staff and local entrepreneurs, who are part of the Belmont Entrepreneur Network
• Other resources available to students include free legal clinics, accounting clinics and practicing entrepreneur roundtables

Typically, around a third of the Belmont students concentrating in entrepreneurship create businesses that are their main or sole source of income immediately following graduation. In recent years alumni have created a variety of different businesses, including Internet marketing, photography and design, audio/video production, catering/food service and fashion. One example is 2013 entrepreneurship graduate Jonathan Murrell who started the Escape Game, a business which can now be found in eight cities around the country with plans to expand into 14 more. Sarah Worley, another local success story, received her B.S. and MAcc from Belmont’s Massey College of Business before starting Biscuit Love, a popular destination with three locations in the Nashville area.

Princeton Review tallied its lists of top 25 undergraduate and top 25 graduate schools based on a survey it conducted from June through August 2018. Out of more than 300 schools offering entrepreneurship studies that The Princeton Review surveyed, 38 institutions’ undergraduate and/or graduate programs made the roster of top schools for 2019.

The 60-question survey asked schools to report on levels of their commitment to entrepreneurship studies inside and outside the classroom. More than 40 data points were analyzed for the tally to determine the rankings.

Information about The Princeton Review’s survey methodology and criteria for the rankings, plus its detailed profiles of the schools are also accessible at www.princetonreview.com/best-business-schools.

The Princeton Review has reported its lists of top schools for entrepreneurship programs annually since 2006 in partnership with Entrepreneur Media Inc., publisher of Entrepreneur magazine. Entrepreneur posted an online feature on the lists at www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges. An article on the lists will publish in the magazine’s December issue, available on newsstands November 27.

“These colleges and business schools have truly superb entrepreneurship programs,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s Editor-in-Chief. “Their faculties are genuinely engaged in entrepreneurism. Their courses are rich with in-class and out-of-class experiential components, and the financial and networking support their students receive via donors and alumni is extraordinary.”

“This annual ranking in partnership with the The Princeton Review is an excellent resource for future founders with entrepreneurial goals,” says Jason Feifer, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur magazine. “Each of the entrepreneurship programs on the list offers valuable opportunities for business-minded students to become knowledgeable leaders and pursue their passions.”

The Princeton Review also reports MBA rankings in eighteen categories as part of its annual project Best Business Schools 2019. Belmont’s Jack C. Massey College of Business’s MBA program is also profiled in that project.” The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University.