If you have big dreams of starting your own business, two Houston universities have been named the best places in all of North America and Europe to get an education.

![University of Houston](https://media.khou.com/assets/KHOU/images/aab483ee-b8f5-424e-a687-bcce1d3f3bc9/20251117T221730/aab483ee-b8f5-424e-a687-bcce1d3f3bc9_16x9.jpg)

## The Princeton Review's 20th Annual Rankings

The Princeton Review's 20th annual rankings named the top 50 undergraduate and top 50 graduate schools offering the best programs in entrepreneurship studies for 2026.

The **University of Houston** is #1 for undergraduate schools, while **Rice University** claimed the top spot for graduate schools.

"The colleges and universities that made our lists for 2026 are truly exceptional," said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review's editor in chief. "We strongly recommend these schools to students aspiring to become entrepreneurs."

This is the **seventh straight year** that UH and Rice have been at the top of the rankings.

"Their entrepreneurship studies programs have robust experiential components. Their faculties are outstanding. Their students have access to extraordinary mentors and networking contacts that will serve them well into their careers," Franek added.

*Entrepreneur* magazine has a 15-page article on the universities in its November-December issue.

## UH Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship

![Wolff Center](https://media.khou.com/assets/KHOU/images/b42b7e42-83c1-4387-84ad-617e9e7d88b9/20251117T224135/b42b7e42-83c1-4387-84ad-617e9e7d88b9_16x9.jpg)

The Princeton Review cited a variety of classes, affordability, research and academic opportunities, and a vast alumni network among the reasons the **Wolff Center in UH's Bauer College of Business** topped the list.

"Its location in the corporate center of Houston, where the opportunities that are provided are immense," the review said. "This built-in real-world experience is buoyed by the dedication and expertise of the career advisors at this institution, who have significantly contributed to students' success in navigating their professional paths."

The Wolff Center's continued success underscores its ability to transform students into service-minded entrepreneurial leaders.

"Entrepreneurs fuel job creation, innovations and community development, which makes this No. 1 ranking so impactful," said UH President Renu Khator. "We're not only graduating students from a prestigious program, we're elevating the city, state and beyond."

Founded in 1991, recent Wolff Center program highlights include:

- **89 majors enrolled** last year
- **52 entrepreneurship-related undergraduate courses** offered last year
- **670 mentors involved** last year
- **1,121 businesses launched** by entrepreneurial graduates from 2015-24
- **$1 billion fundraised** by program participants to jump-start their businesses over the past decade
- Over **$25 million received** from donors in the last decade

## Rice Business School

![Rice Business School](https://media.khou.com/assets/KHOU/images/babd1c5d-d763-493b-9c58-15c8bcaa444a/20251117T223933/babd1c5d-d763-493b-9c58-15c8bcaa444a_16x9.jpg)

Rice University credits its continuing success to the business school's "enduring commitment to innovation, venture creation and the cultivation of an entrepreneurial environment to build talent."

The private school cites these primary reasons behind the No. 1 ranking for the **Rice Business School**:

- **Specialized curriculum**: "Rice Business offers one of the country's most comprehensive entrepreneurship specializations within its MBA program, enabling students to focus deeply on venture creation, startup strategy and growth-oriented leadership."
- **Robust entrepreneurial ecosystem**: "The university's entrepreneurial ecosystem provides direct access to mentors, investor networks, seed funding and pitch competitions."
- **Location advantage**: "Rice students benefit from proximity to corporate headquarters, energy-technology hubs, venture capital activity and a vibrant startup scene — fueling live-deal experience and networking opportunities."
- **Student-driven success**: "Each graduating cohort leaves with not only a degree but exposure to launching, scaling or working in high-growth ventures. The interplay of coursework, experiential programs and community engagement fosters an entrepreneurial mindset."

"Earning this top ranking once is a milestone, but achieving it seven years straight is unprecedented and speaks volumes about our community, our curriculum, our programs, our faculty and our students," said Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice Business.

"To continue the legacy we've created, we need to lean into our entrepreneurial mindset even more to push boundaries, support bold ideas and reinvent what's possible," added Yael Hochberg, head of the Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative. "Innovation is part of our DNA. It's the standard we hold ourselves to every single day."

The University of Houston claims the No. 1 spot for entrepreneurs in undergraduate studies, and Rice University was named the best college for graduate programs.

Houston Universities Dominate Global Entrepreneurship Rankings for 7th Straight Year

## The Entrepreneurial Mindset in Action

If you want to understand the **entrepreneurial ethos** as defined by **Olin Business School** at Washington University in St. Louis, follow Block Club’s journey to market.

It started when Franklin Taylor, WashU Olin MBA 2024, noticed how many groceries he was wasting from taking advantage of the free food he was offered as a student. He thought **dynamic pricing** could persuade customers to buy what they’d actually eat, cutting food waste while also helping small grocers stay profitable and connected to their local customers.

He quickly learned that small stores just didn’t have the data to support such a platform. So, he **pivoted**.

He founded **Block Club (formerly Zaiko)**, a platform connecting locals to neighborhood stores through curated offers. It helped grocers reach nearby customers most likely to become loyal regulars, all with zero upfront cost. As the idea gained traction, Taylor expanded to other small businesses in downtown St. Louis, partnering with apartment communities to drive traffic.

![Franklin Taylor, MBA ’24](https://poetsandquants.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/11/Franklin-Taylor-MBA-24-300x300.jpg)

So far, the company has partnered with 23 apartments and hotels to connect 7,000 potential customers with more than 15 neighborhood businesses. The goal for the next year is to reach 100 buildings and 100 businesses, building a citywide platform for St. Louis residents to discover the hidden gems around the corner.

It can be argued that Block Club’s journey reflects the founders’ mindset of Washington University in St. Louis generally and Olin specifically: **Learn by doing**, build within a community, and look for ways to innovate – both in existing companies and in new ventures.

“One of my favorite things about Franklin is he’s pivoted his business a couple of times, which I think is a sign of a good entrepreneur,” says Doug Villhard, Olin’s academic director of entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurship professor in practice.

“If things aren’t working, he’s willing to change. That’s really what this **entrepreneurial mindset** is about.”

This mindset is just one factor helping WashU Olin’s rise to the top of our annual ranking of the **World’s Best MBA Programs For Entrepreneurship** year after year. 2026 is no different.

## Olin Reclaims Crown in MBA Entrepreneurship Ranking

After slipping two spots to No. 3 last year – and ending a five-year streak at the very top – Olin has regained the crown in our MBA entrepreneurship ranking for 2026.

Olin’s full-time MBA program finished with a raw score of 69.1 (out of a possible 100), edging out last year’s winner, **EDHEC Business School** of France, which finished with a score of 62.6. Another European school, **IE Business School** in Spain, rose one spot to No. 3 with a score of 54.3.

## Top 10 Entrepreneurship Programs for MBAs

| 2026 Rank | School | Raw Total | Index Score | 2025 Rank | YOY Change |
|-----------|--------|-----------|-------------|-----------|------------|
| 1 | **Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)** | 69.14 | 100.00 | 3 | 2 |
| 2 | **EDHEC Business School** | 62.55 | 90.46 | 1 | -1 |
| 3 | **IE Business School** | 54.25 | 78.46 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | **Johnson Cornell Tech MBA** | 47.29 | 68.40 | 14 | 10 |
| 5 | **Esade Business School** | 45.59 | 65.94 | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | **University of Michigan (Ross)** | 44.32 | 64.10 | 5 | -1 |
| 7 | **Rice University (Jones)** | 40.87 | 59.11 | 12 | 5 |
| 8 | **Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)** | 38.94 | 56.32 | 2 | -6 |
| 9 | **University of Virginia (Darden)** | 37.77 | 54.63 | 10 | 1 |
| 10 | **Babson College** | 37.69 | 54.51 | 13 | 3 |

Less than 3 points separated Nos. 4 to 6. **Johnson Cornell Tech MBA** rose an impressive 10 points this year to No. 4 with a score of 47.3. Spain’s **Esade Business School** was a close No. 5 with a score of 45.6 while University of Michigan **Ross School of Business** finished at No. 6 with 44.3.

Along with Cornell, two other schools had MBA programs rise into the top 10 after just missing the milestone last year: Rice University’s **Jones School of Business** rose five spots to No. 7 and **Babson College** rose three spots to No. 10.

Olin’s return to the top comes despite significant methodological changes we made to this year’s ranking. The result is a leaner ranking we think better measures entrepreneurial resources for full-time MBA students.

## Three International MBA Programs Ranked for First Time

International business schools have climbed sharply in recent years, reflecting a growing global appetite for MBA programs that teach students to build and innovate, not just manage. The 2026 ranking features nine international schools (three in the top five) compared to six in 2025 (four in the top 10) and five in 2024.

This year’s list features three international MBA programs ranked by P&Q for the first time: **Woxsen University** in Hyderabad, India, debuted at No. 11, **China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)** debuted at No. 13, and Western University’s **Ivey Business School** in Ontario, Canada, finished at No. 26.

According to data provided for our 2026 ranking, Woxsen was propelled to the highest debut rank with strong showings in both percentage of MBAs starting a venture or joining a startup within three months of graduation, reporting 12.9% and 15.6% respectively.

At CEIBS, known for pairing every MBA student with a senior alumni executive mentor, 72% of its MBAs participate in an entrepreneurship club – the second highest percentage for the metric.

And Ivey’s one-year MBA program finished in the top 10 for the percent of its MBA class (84%) taking an elective focused entirely on entrepreneurship.

## A Leaner More Relevant Entrepreneurship Ranking

For 2026, *Poets&Quants* made significant changes to our ranking methodology. We evaluated each question and metric to create a more streamlined methodology that, we think, drills down on what matters most: Are students starting companies? Are they engaging with mentors or joining startups after graduation? Are schools providing the ecosystem and support to turn ideas into ventures?

We reduced the number of metrics from 16 to 10 while changing the weights for several of the metrics we kept.

While these changes have led to some ranking swings among schools from last year’s list, we hope it is a stronger representation of the entrepreneurship resources and networks available to MBAs.

*P&Q* previously ranked about 10 schools that did not submit data directly to us. We collected what we could from public websites and other reporting, but these schools were given no points where no reliable data could be found.

That led to rankings where entrepreneurship powerhouses like Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business ranked in the teens and Harvard Business School struggled to crack the top 10. For the last two years, we only rank schools that submit their data to us through our institutional survey. While we continue to invite the startup powerhouses, they have so far declined to fill our data survey.

These are generally the large, prestigious programs in the M7 who have a lot of entrepreneurship resources – and a lot of students. Certainly, if you have the background, stats, and personal story to get into Stanford, you’re going to have access to one of the best entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world. It’s why Stanford GBS consistently has the most MBAs on our annual list of the **top funded MBA startups**.

You’re also going to be among hundreds of other superstars all vying for the same attention.

Our methodology is designed to measure how resources are allocated to individual students. We use percentages and ratios – based on the number of full-time MBA graduates from a given year – to get a sense of what entrepreneurial resources and experiences are like on a per-MBA basis. This tends to favor schools with smaller class sizes where an entrepreneurial dollar or a mentor’s time is more concentrated.

The 32 schools on this ranking are entrepreneurial gems, even as their MBA programs may not typically get as much ink as the most prestigious.

WashU Olin reclaims No. 1 in Poets&Quants’ MBA entrepreneurship ranking as Cornell Tech & top international programs surge.

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