From idea to launch.
If you’re looking to launch a business, some schools excel in preparing students for the entrepreneurial life. Whether you’re pitching investors or prototyping your first product, you may gain valuable education, mentorship and access to funding through an MBA program that combines experiential learning and networking opportunities with other startups. They can help turn your ideas into reality as you develop skills and a business plan. Here are the top 15 MBA programs for entrepreneurship, according to the U.S. News 2025 Best Business School rankings.
15. Saint Louis University (Chaifetz) (MO)
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 118 (tie)
Key information: The Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship offers programs linking high school and college students to its entrepreneurial ecosystem, networking opportunities with business professionals, and workshops to learn how to launch a startup. College students can participate in mentor programs as well as venture accelerator and incubator groups.
Learn more about the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business at Saint Louis University.
13 (tie). Fordham University (Gabelli) (NY)
Location: New York, New York
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 58 (tie)
Key information: The Foundry is Fordham’s space for students, alumni and community members to collaborate for innovation and entrepreneurship. As well as offering in-house networking opportunities and fundraising help, the Foundry connects people with business leaders in New York City’s startup scene. Entrepreneurship electives include corporate and partnership taxation, impact investing, branding and social marketing.
Learn more about the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University.
13 (tie). Xavier University (Williams) (OH)
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Overall Best Business Schools rank: Unranked
Key information: Cincinnati is home to nearly 500 startups, according to the school’s website, offering Xavier University entrepreneurship students access to a rapidly growing startup ecosystem. Through the school’s Robinette Center for Innovation and the Sedler Center for Experiential Learning, students can connect with area startups to network and gain industry experience.
Learn more about the Williams College of Business at Xavier University.
12. Indiana University (Kelley)
Location: Bloomington, Indiana
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 22 (tie)
Key information: In 2023, the Kelley School of Business earned the Model Entrepreneurship Program Award, presented by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship to programs with “the most comprehensive, high-quality educational program that successfully trains future generations of entrepreneurs,” according to the school’s website. Kelley’s Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation offers several experiential learning opportunities.
Learn more about the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
11. Loyola Marymount University (CA)
Location: Los Angeles, California
Overall Best Business Schools rank: Unranked
Key information: Loyola Marymount University’s Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship offers co-curricular programs for LMU’s undergraduate entrepreneurship major and master’s degree in entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation, as well as access to experiential and collaborative learning. The LMU Family Business Entrepreneurship Program works with students, alumni and businesses “to help address the unique challenges and opportunities faced by family-run businesses,” according to the school’s website.
Learn more about the College of Business Administration at Loyola Marymount University.
10. University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
Location: Austin, Texas
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 16
Key information: UT–Austin is home to the Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center, an academic research and teaching center that focuses on educating and supporting student entrepreneurs. The center’s namesake and benefactor was a co-founder of Southwest Airlines. In 2024, USA Today named Austin the best city in the U.S. to start a business.
Learn more about the McCombs School of Business at University of Texas–Austin.
9. Rice University (Jones) (TX)
Location: Houston, Texas
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 29 (tie)
Key information: The Liu Idea Lab at Rice University offers experiential learning and co-curricular activities in entrepreneurship and innovation. Rice alumni have launched nearly 300 startups since 2015, according to the university’s website, which says the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship runs the world’s “largest and richest” graduate student startup competition. More than 40 teams compete for more than $1.5 million in cash and prizes.
Learn more about the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business.
8. Santa Clara University (Leavey) (CA)
Location: Santa Clara, California
Overall Best Business Schools rank: Unranked
Key information: In the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, Santa Clara entrepreneurship students have access to the Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which offers resources, academic programs and competitions centered around entrepreneurship, as well as the Bronco Ventures Accelerator program, which guides student startups from idea to launch. The school’s Miller Center for Global Impact focuses on “social enterprises working on women’s economic power and/or climate resilience,” according to the center’s website.
Learn more about the Leavey School of Business.
7. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross)
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 13 (tie)
Key information: The university is home to the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, which gives students networking opportunities, industry-focused events and other assistance. The university also supports a campuswide business plan competition known as the Michigan Business Challenge, where student teams present business plans to win cash prizes totaling more than $100,000 and receive feedback from professionals.
Learn more about the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
6. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 1
Key information: Wharton’s Venture Lab is the school’s entrepreneurship center supporting more than 3,500 students through 20 programs, according to the school’s website. Those include its flagship Venture Initiation Program; the Startup Challenge, which awards more than $150,000 in cash prizes and support; and the Penn Wharton Innovation Fund, which is open to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral students and awards $500, $2,500 and $5,000 to select student entrepreneurs.
Learn more about the Wharton School.
5. Harvard University (MA)
Location: Allston, Massachusetts
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 6 (tie)
Key information: Harvard’s annual New Venture Competition allows student and alumni teams to compete for cash prizes up to $75,000 to support the growth of new businesses or social enterprises, which are initiatives designed to improve society. First-year students can enroll in a startup boot camp, while second-year students can take entrepreneurship courses such as The Founder Mindset, Launching Technology Ventures, and Disrupting Silicon Valley with AI.
Learn more about the Business School at Harvard University.
4. University of California, Berkeley (Haas)
Location: Berkeley, California
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 11 (tie)
Key information: The Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship Program offers a variety of classes geared toward students interested in an introduction to entrepreneurship and those who want to study each phase in depth. The Trione Student Venture Fund offers a $5,000 prize package to 20 early-stage student startups each year, and students can join accelerator programs and competitions such as LAUNCH, the school’s marquee entrepreneurship event that awards up to $60,000 in prize money.
Learn more about the Haas School of Business.
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 5
Key information: MBA students admitted to the Sloan School of Management can enter into the school’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Certificate track, taking entrepreneurship-related courses and gaining hands-on experience working on a startup. Anchored by the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, the program offers more than a dozen startup clubs as well as several competitions, including the $100K Entrepreneurship Competition.
Learn more about the Sloan School of Management.
2. Stanford University (CA)
Location: Stanford, California
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 2 (tie)
Key information: The Silicon Valley-area school offers more than 50 entrepreneurship courses, including Startup Garage, a project-based course where student teams design and test their new business concepts, and the Formation of New Ventures course, which addresses issues involved in starting a new business. Outside the classroom, students can access the Stanford Venture Studio co-working space and the Botha Chan Innovation Program, an eight-week experiential learning opportunity.
Learn more about the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
1. Babson College (Olin) (MA)
Location: Babson Park, Massachusetts
Overall Best Business Schools rank: 73 (tie)
Key information: The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College supports students with faculty advisers, online communities and events through the Butler Launch Pad, while the annual Rocket Pitch allows students and alumni to pitch business ideas to Babson community members. Aspiring fashion entrepreneurs can showcase a collection in the annual fashion show, a collaboration between the Fashion Entrepreneurial Initiative and the Weissman Foundry innovation studio.
Learn more about the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.
Best Entrepreneurship MBA Programs
1. Babson College (Olin) (MA)
2. Stanford University (CA)
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
4. University of California, Berkeley (Haas)
5. Harvard University (MA)
6. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
7. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross)
>8. Santa Clara University (Leavey) (CA)
9. Rice University (Jones) (TX)
10. University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
11. Loyola Marymount University (CA)
12. Indiana University (Kelley)
13. Fordham University (Gabelli) (NY)
13. Xavier University (Williams) (OH)
15. Saint Louis University (Chaifetz) (MO)
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See the 15 Best Entrepreneurship MBA Programs originally appeared on usnews.com
