Higher Ed Utah

(Salt Lake Tribune) — Utah’s two leading business schools scored top marks for their entrepreneurship programs under national rankings released this week.

Entrepreneur Magazine named Brigham Young University’s Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, and the University of Utah’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Center, to its top-25 undergraduate programs. The programs came in at No. 7 and 16, respectively, under rankings provided to the magazine by the Princeton Review.

BYU came in at No. 2 for its graduate program, bested only by Babson College in Massachusetts.

The U.’s entrepreneur initiatives are geared toward providing students real-world experience. One acclaimed program teams students with faculty inventors to develop business plans for the U.’s patented technologies. Its newest program, dubbed the Foundry, helps students turn their ideas into businesses.

“The program aims to produce ‘battle ready’ innovators,” said a news release quoting William Schulze, chairman of the U.’s management department. “The students coming out of the Foundry know how to run a business and anticipate challenges before launching their personal enterprise.”

Since the Foundry’s launch in May 2010, its students have started 43 companies, including a chocolate importer and a high-quality fast food provider, that have generated $4 million in revenue and created 50 jobs.