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Posts Tagged ‘University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’

Princeton Review names top entrepreneurship degree programs

Monday, September 24th, 2012

BabsonThe Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine have disclosed the results of the Princeton Review’s annual survey that names the schools with the top 25 undergraduate and top 25 graduate entrepreneurship programs in the nation.

From more than 2,000 schools reviewed, Babson College in Massachusetts captured the #1 spot on both the undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship program ranking lists this year. Babson has been #1 on the graduate list for four consecutive years and was #2 on the undergraduate list in 2011.

Coming in #2 on the undergraduate entrepreneurship program list this year is Baylor University, while the University of Houston is #3.  In the graduate program category, ranking #2 this year is the University of Michigan while Brigham Young University (UT) is #3.

Eight schools new to the list

This year’s rankings include eight schools new to the lists. On the undergraduate list, they are the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (#9), Clarkson University (#15) and Lehigh University (#24).

Five schools new to the graduate list include: University of Utah (#15), Cornell University (#16), University of Louisville (#20), Columbia University (#23) and University of Oklahoma (#25). (Complete lists follow.)

A feature on the rankings is now posted on Entrepreneur‘s website at www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges and it will appear inEntrepreneur‘s October issue, available on newsstands tomorrow, September 25.

The Princeton Review today posted the ranking lists at www.princetonreview.com/entrepreneur. There users can also access information about criteria for the rankings and topics asked in the 60-question survey for this project.

The Princeton Review conducted its surveys of school administrators from April through June 2012. The wide range of data the education services company used to evaluate the programs and tally the rankings included: the schools’ levels of commitment to entrepreneurship inside and outside the classroom, the percentage of their faculty, students, and alumni actively and successfully involved in entrepreneurial endeavors and the number and reach of their mentorship programs.

The company also considered their funding for scholarships and grants for entrepreneurial studies and projects, and their support for school-sponsored business plan competitions.

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Launchbox pausing accelerator program, Triangle Startup Factory reboots

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
Chris Heivly

Chris Heivly

RESEARCH TRIANGLE, NC – The early stage tech company accelerator LaunchBox Digital is pausing its accelerator program in 2011 to move its investment strategy upstream somewhat. Former LaunchBox Executive Director Chris Heivly has returned to The Triangle Startup Factory, where he is raising funds and hopes to put together a new accelerator program by spring 2012.

LaunchBox Digital named among 15 top accelerator programs in the United States by Tech Cocktail. Four of the seven startup firms in its first Triangle class received funding within 3.5 months, Heivly tells us. “The industry average for companies coming out of these accelerators is that 50 percent get funding within six months,” he says.

One of the five LauchBox partners, Matthew Jacobson, tells TechJournal South that when the LaunchBox program started, “There were only a few accelerator programs out there.” Now he says, Duke University and The University of North Carolina are both starting their own accelerator programs and others have started. So we’re evaluating how the accelerator program fits into our overall program.”

Other regional early-stage focused programs and accelerators include a new one launched by Georgia Tech and Cary, NC-based TechStarts Plus and NC IDEA.

LaunchBox is still actively investing in companies and continues to support early stage firms, he says, although it is looking at a slightly later stage, such as firms that have already completed an accelerator program but haven’t received a venture round.

Havily says that he disagreed with LauchBox’s decision to pause the accelerator. “So, I went back to where I was originally, the Triangle Startup Factory,” he says.

“I’m in the midst of putting together funding, which I’d like to wrap up by early fall. By mid-fall, we’ll be ready to roll.” He wants to start the first class of new startups by March 2012.

“We’re excited about it,” he says. “In my role at LaunchBox and prior work I arranged for programming, mentors,  and events. I’d like to tweak it all a bit and make it run even better.”

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