Entrepreneurship education is thriving at Lehigh University, where the Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation continues to rack up top rankings and national recognition.
In September, The Princeton Review ranked the school No. 17 on its list of “Top 25 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Programs for 2015.” This is the fourth time Lehigh has received a top 25 ranking. Last year, the Bethlehem-based school was ranked No. 20.
Based on surveys sent to school administrators at more than 2,000 institutions from April to June, the lists recognize 50 programs in all — 25 undergraduate and 25 graduate — for their excellence in entrepreneurship education. The Princeton Review has compiled these lists annually since 2006 in partnership with Entrepreneur Media Inc., publisher of Entrepreneur magazine.
This summer, Lehigh was also named to Forbes' Top 50 Startup Schools list (No. 45) and to the Top 30 Most Entrepreneurial Schools list (No. 29) by entrepreneur networking website FounderDating.com.
In the past year, Lehigh's entrepreneurship programs have also been recognized by the University Economic Development Association — which named the school's Masters of Technical Entrepreneurship program the top program in North America for talent development — and by the international organization that runs Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Last year, Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranked Lehigh’s College of Business and Economics No. 12 for entrepreneurship specialty programs.
The Baker Institute, founded in 2010, provides students, faculty and alumni with the skills, resources and connections needed to make their entrepreneurial ventures launch and prosper. Its network encompasses a worldwide alumni base, regional economic development and incubation resources, and campus-based courses and programming. Since 2010, Lehigh students and recent graduates have launched more than 150 startups.
“I'm remarkably proud of our Lehigh entrepreneurship family — students, faculty and staff from across the whole campus,” says Todd A. Watkins, Lehigh professor of economics and Baker Institute executive director. “The continuing stream of national recognition like this is, I think, testimony to the vibrant innovation ecosystem we're building and our deeply cross-campus approach to entrepreneurship. Lehigh has emerged as a national-class destination. Creative thinkers and entrepreneurs want to be in environments like this that energize, mix and grow great ideas from all corners.”
Source: Lehigh University
Writer: Elise Vider