Entrepreneurship Education at DePaul Ranked Among the Nation's Top 10
 
DePaul University is ranked among the United States' 10 best academic institutions for entrepreneurship education in the annual rankings issued by Entrepreneur magazine and the Princeton Review, which appear in the October 2009 issue of Entrepreneur.

Among the more than 2,300 schools surveyed, DePaul ranked eighth in undergraduate entrepreneurship and ninth in the graduate program category. The survey evaluated programs based on how well they teach business fundamentals, whether the faculty includes successful entrepreneurs and the availability of experiential or entrepreneurial opportunities outside the classroom, among other criteria.

In the story accompanying the rankings, Entrepreneur profiled 10 universities that excel in fostering entrepreneurship in their communities, and DePaul was recognized for the consulting, educational programs and resources offered by its Coleman Entrepreneurship Center. In addition to its many successful initiatives, the center provides peer roundtables and continuing education programs for business owners as well as students at DePaul. It also refers small business owners and community organizations seeking assistance to faculty members who use these organizations' business challenges as real-life assignments in class. Teams of students work with the organizations to tackle issues such as how to increase sales, improve profitability and analyze the competition.

"We've learned from the students that they want as much real-life experience as possible while in college or graduate school," says Raman Chadha, executive director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center. "We give them that through classroom-based consulting projects and extracurricular advising and mentoring for student-entrepreneurs. As they graduate and become alumni, they continue to have access to a wide and deep array of continuing education programs that integrates peer-based and experiential learning."

Founded in 1982, DePaul's entrepreneurship program offers 14 undergraduate and graduate courses taught by 17 faculty members. The faculty represents a mix of distinguished scholars of entrepreneurship and successful entrepreneurs.



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