September 11, 2008

Making the Grade

Under Academics & Requirements, we asked schools if they offer an entrepreneurship major and/or minor, what types of courses they offer (e.g., e-business, social entrepreneurship, international entrepreneurship, etc.), and whether other types of academic opportunities are required of students (e.g., internships, experiential learning, consulting for small-business owners, etc.).

Under Students & Faculty, we asked schools what percentage of their total student body was formally enrolled in their entrepreneurship program for the 2007–2008 academic year, what percentage of their total student body was enrolled in an entrepreneurship-related course for the 2007–2008 academic year, what percentage of formally enrolled entrepreneurship students in the most recent graduating class had launched a business since graduating, what percentage of those students are still in business, and what percentage of the entrepreneurship faculty had started, bought, or run a successful business.

Under Outside the Classroom, we asked schools whether they have partnerships with other schools that allow those schools to take advantage of their entrepreneurship program, how many officially recognized clubs/ organizations they offer specifically for entrepreneurship students, the annual budget for those clubs/organizations, how many noncurriculum-based activities and/or competitions they offer in the area of entrepreneurship, the annual budget for those activities and/or competitions, how many officially sponsored mentorship programs they offer specifically for entrepreneurship students, whether they offer entrepreneurship scholarships, and the total dollar amount of those scholarships.

The questions were refined and the results validated with the help of an advisory board comprised of professionals in the area of entrepreneurship education. Each year, we endeavor to incorporate the full spectrum of feedback when revising our methodology and survey instruments. The individuals who participated in our board proved exceptional in the assist-ance they provided.

The survey was conducted from December 2007 through June 2008 by Ben Zelevansky, director of data collection, and David Soto, director of content development. Additional assistance was provided by Joe Praino and Jeremy Seltzer at The Princeton Review, and Kristen Henning, Jake Kilroy, Nichole L. Torres and Emily Weisburg at Entrepreneur.