Temple’s Fox School of Business houses two nationally ranked Entrepreneurial programs
WRITTEN BY: DALTON BALTHASER
In a recent ranking by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine, Temple University’s undergraduate Entrepreneurship program at the Fox School of Business ranked eighth and its graduate program was ranked tenth in the country.
The graduate program improved six spots from last year. Temple is one of five schools that have both their graduate and undergraduate programs in the top-10 of this year’s rankings. The other four schools with each program in the top-10 are: Babson College in Massachusetts, Brigham Young University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the City University of New York, Baruch College.
The rankings are selected based on a number of criteria. The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine base the rankings off of the number of entrepreneurship-specific courses offered; faculty who are also entrepreneurs; businesses started and funds raised by alumni; and entrepreneurship-focused activities, competitions, and programs.
Temple has appeared in each entrepreneurship ranking since 2006 and is the only school in the Philadelphia region that is ranked by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.
“We are proud to have been ranked once again as one of the nation’s premier institutions for teaching and practicing entrepreneurship,” Dr. M. Moshe Porat, Dean of the Fox School said in an news release on the Fox School of Business’ website. “By emphasizing innovation, promoting small-business development, and preparing our students to think of themselves as entrepreneurs, we continue to drive innovation, economic growth, and job creation in the Philadelphia region and beyond.”
Senior finance major Hicham Belkssir says the Fox School of Business will play an important role in the lives of its students after college because of these high rankings.
“[The rankings] add credibility to your schools programs,” Belkssir said. “When you are applying for jobs, businesses are going to look at that kind of information and understand that the school is better preparing its students for the workforce.”
The university offers a variety of innovation programs for its students. Some programs include: a General Education Course on Creativity and Organizational Innovation. The university also has an Innovate and Create Living Learning Community that allows students who are interested in those types of programs to live together.
In the last four years, the Fox School of Business – as well as the university – has seen its Entrepreneurship program enrollment increase by 380 and 220 percent at the graduate and undergraduate programs, respectively, according to Dr. Robert C. McNamee, an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at the school.
Senior risk management and insurance major Maros Januvka said that Temple provides a lot of support to the Fox School of Business. He also said that the construction of Alter Hall as recently as 2009 has helped from his perspective.
“These rankings give the business school a status,” Januvka said. “This status will attract students as well as good teachers, speakers, and that in the future will raise the level of the school significantly.
Januvka said that because the school is in Philadelphia, which has a strong intellectual and technological focus, many more people are coming to Temple for business.
“The [Fox School of Business] supports many diverse interests,” Januvka said. “When you see all of the different country flags flying in the building that helps build the school. Many intelligent people come from all over the country to share their ideas and opinions, so that is great for the atmosphere of the classroom and as a result, you are able to learn a lot.”
