New Rankings Put UMD among Nation's Best in Entrepreneurship Education

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine have named the University of Maryland as one the nation's top schools for entrepreneurially-minded students. Their latest ranking of campus entrepreneurship programs puts Maryland at No. 18 for undergraduate and No. 22 for graduate entrepreneurship programs.

Some 2000 schools were surveyed and ranked based upon academics and requirements, students and faculty, and initiatives and opportunities outside of the classroom. The rankings were released this week in the October issue of Entrepreneur magazine.

"Behind the top ranked schools is not only a great formal classroom experience, but a cross-disciplinary approach to teaching entrepreneurship that embraces and encourages a student's vision to build a successful business," said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's Senior Vice President - Publisher and nationally recognized expert on college admissions.

UMD's Robert H. Smith School of Business is a major driver of entrepreneurship education at the university, with its 25-year-old Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship championing programs university-wide for students, faculty and regional entrepreneurs. The A. James Clark School of Engineering's Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) also is widely recognized for its campus and national leadership in undergraduate entrepreneurship programs, including the Hinman CEOs Program, the nation's first living-learning entrepreneurship program, and its highly successful annual technology business plan competition. The UMD rankings are the result of the strong entrepreneurship programs within these two schools and of entrepreneurship collaborations between them, university officials say.

Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

The Dingman Center, located at the Smith School, helps lead the university's entrepreneurship efforts spearheads the Smith School's entrepreneurship efforts. It is recognized nationally for its innovative teaching methods that combine classroom activities, practical experience and cultural immersion programs. The most recent U.S. News ranking of undergraduate entrepreneurship programs ranked the Smith School's program #15 in the country. Acclaimed programs in the schools' Dingman Center include:

• Pitch Dingman Program: Weekly sessions that invite students campus-wide to pitch business ideas for immediate feedback from seasoned entrepreneurs-in-residence. The program hosts presentations twice per semester where students compete for funding.

• Cupid's Cup Business Competition and BB&T Invitational: The culmination of the Pitch Dingman Program, this annual competition has students vying for $25,000 in funding provided by Under Armour founder Kevin Plank, a smith alumnus.

• Dingman Jumpstart: An intensive weeklong program to help students create business plans and kickstart a viable venture.

• Technology Transfer: In conjunction with the Clark School of Engineering's Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute and the university's Office of Technology Commercialization, this program has MBA students helping to create businesses out of university research and technologies.

• China Business Plan Competition: An annual business plan competition that has Smith MBA students traveling to Beijing to compete against their counterparts at Peking University for the best business plan to incorporate the China market.

• Israel Global Technology Entrepreneurship Fellowship: A summer program that has Smith MBA students working on technology commercialization at the Technion Institute in Haifa, Israel.

• Dingman Center Angels: The region's leading angel network connecting entrepreneurs seeking seed and early-stage funding with angel investors.

Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech)

Mtech's entrepreneurship education initiatives include 30 entrepreneurship courses offered (1,244 enrolls) to students from middle school through executive education (2009-2010), two living-learning programs, one transfer program, seed funding, a $75,000 business plan competition and mentoring. Mtech's overall programs add to these offerings with product development funding, free intellectual property services, entrepreneur office hours, a venture accelerator, prototype lab, incubator, and additional support for companies throughout their lifecycles.
Highlights of Mtech's increasingly pervasive entrepreneurship education programs include:

• Minor in Technology Entrepreneurship: This new, 15-credit undergraduate minor prepares students for launching successful technology ventures and bringing life-changing products and services to market.

• Hinman CEOs Program: As the nation's first living-learning entrepreneurship program, Hinman CEOs is a groundbreaking initiative placing entrepreneurially-minded students from all technical and non-technical academic disciplines in a unique community. Students live together, learn about entrepreneurship, and can launch new ventures. Hinman CEOs companies have generated more than $35 million in revenue since 2000. Two Inc. 500 companies (Squarespace and Lurn)  have emerged from the program since its launch in 2001.

• Hillman Entrepreneurs Program: Hillman Entrepreneurs is a scholarship program for students beginning their study at Prince George's Community College who have an interest in entrepreneurship and an enthusiasm for starting a business venture or leading a company. The program includes entrepreneurship and leadership courses, intense mentoring, networking opportunities, and community building.

• Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP): EIP provides University of Maryland Honors College freshmen and sophomores with an interdisciplinary, living and learning education to help build the entrepreneurial mindsets that includes experiential learning, challenging academics, a living community, coaching and mentoring, and access to funding.

• University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition: This annual technology business plan competition features investor pitches to venture capitalists and entrepreneurs and $75,000 in prize money. Winners include five multi-million dollar ventures and two Inc. 500 companies.

Media Contacts

Lee Tune
Associate Director
Office of Public Affairs
University of Maryland
301-405-4679
ltune@umd.edu

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