The Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University ranks third globally for its entrepreneurship program, according to Poets&Quants’ fifth annual ranking of such programs announced today.
Just 5.66 total points separated the top five finishers in the 2024 MBA entrepreneurship ranking, according to Poet&Quants’ news release.
“MBA programs are increasingly sought after in today’s environment, and our focus on entrepreneurship sets us apart,” Rice Business Dean Peter Rodriguez said. “The entrepreneurship classes emphasize a combination of mindset and skill set and focus on multiple stages of the entrepreneurial process, preparing our students for any industry and climate.”
Rice entrepreneurship students have the opportunity to engage with an array of industries through hands-on work. For example, the class Healthcare Entrepreneurship and Innovation allows Rice Business students to join Rice graduate bioengineering students and physicians from Baylor College of Medicine to work at the intersection of their fields. All classes at Rice Business are accompanied by co-curricular resources for entrepreneurs, including workshops, lectures, mentor office hours and special events to cultivate connections between Rice entrepreneurs locally and nationally.
Rice Business has been consistently ranked among the top 10 graduate entrepreneurship programs in the nation, reflective of the depth and breadth of resources for entrepreneurs during their time at Rice and beyond, school officials said. The school is the top-ranked graduate entrepreneurship program for four years running by Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Poets&Quants’ rankings capture a wide range of criteria about U.S. and global business schools, including a school’s accelerator space, venture funds available and core classes dedicated to entrepreneurship with the methodology designed to measure how resources are allocated to individual students.
Rice Business has grown dramatically over the past decade, and that momentum now has a new home in Asha and Farid Virani Hall, a 112,000-square-foot building which now stands alongside McNair Hall, offering students a combined 400,000 square-feet designed to support the school’s expanding community of graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, researchers and alumni.
"Rice offers an incredibly supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem, filled with classmates, faculty, mentors, and alumni who are eager to advise and open doors. Whether the venture becomes a breakout success or simply an invaluable learning journey, Rice is one of the best environments to take that leap."
“Felix embodies the best of Rice Business. He leaves communities stronger than he found them, and I am confident his impact will continue well beyond our campus,” said George Andrews, associate dean of Degree Programs.
