No. 1 in Entrepreneurship

Winter 2024 | By Avery Franklin  

For the fifth consecutive year, Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business has been ranked No. 1 among graduate entrepreneurship programs by Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. This year’s list identifies 50 undergraduate and 50 graduate schools that offer the best programs in entrepreneurship studies from Princeton Review’s survey of more than 300 institutions. The rankings are based on academic offerings, experiential learning opportunities and career outcomes. The MBA entrepreneurship program was also recently ranked No. 3 globally by Poets & Quants and No. 5 by Bloomberg Businessweek. 

The Rice entrepreneurship ecosystem combines academic courses and programs led by the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship with regional, national and cocurricular programs led by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. 

“Our students are learning about entrepreneurship at every step of their Rice Business journey,” says Yael Hochberg, the Ralph S. O’Connor Professor in Entrepreneurship and director of entrepreneurship initiatives. “Innovation is embedded in coursework, and ideas are valued and supported financially through a network of innovative thinkers and business plan competitions.” 

Rice Business also takes advantage of a strong relationship with the business community of Houston. “Our close ties to Houston as well as national startup ecosystems give our students unique opportunities to pitch to and connect with angel investors, venture capitalists and corporations,” says Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance. “These connections allow for mentorship as well as launch points for new ideas, not only for our students but also for the city and surrounding communities.”