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USF graduate entrepreneurship education ranked 11th nationally

It is the program's ninth consecutive year ranked by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.

Tampa, Fla (Nov. 20, 2015) – The University of South Florida is one of the most successful schools in the country at teaching students how to start businesses from the ground up, according to rankings released by Entrepreneur magazine and the Princeton Review.

USF's graduate program is the only Florida university listed among the nation's best entrepreneurship education programs for 2016. The graduate program is ranked No. 11 overall and is also the fourth-highest rated program among public universities. It's the ninth consecutive year that USF's interdisciplinary Center for Entrepreneurship has been ranked on the Top 25 list.

Michael Fountain, founding director of the Tampa-based USF Center for Entrepreneurship, said the rankings continue to recognize this program because of the opportunities it offers students, from gaining business knowledge across the fields of business, engineering, health sciences, and sustainability, to developing hands-on experience with resources including the USF Student Innovation Incubators.

"We are pleased to be recognized as one of the elite graduate entrepreneurship programs in the nation for the ninth consecutive year," Fountain said. "This national recognition of excellence is a tribute to the exceptional quality of our entrepreneurship education and training programs at USF, the continued support of our university and our business community partners, the dedication and skill of our faculty and staff and to the exceptional quality of our students and alumni."

"We strive to provide a program of study unmatched in its interdisciplinary approach to entrepreneurship, innovation and the application of creativity for students from around the world wishing to create, grow and lead enterprises which having enduring value both here and abroad," he added.

USF Muma College of Business Dean Moez Limayem noted that the Center for Entrepreneurship's longevity on the rankings list is especially impressive given its relative youth among other established programs.
"We are proud to be leading the state of Florida in entrepreneurship graduate education," Limayem said. "Our students are starting businesses that strengthen the economy of Tampa Bay, Florida, and the nation, but they are also strengthening already existing corporations by employing the out-of-the-box, interdisciplinary thinking that they gain in the USF entrepreneurship program."

The Center for Entrepreneurship is part of the USF Muma College of Business, in collaboration with the USF College of Engineering, USF Health, and the Patel School of Global Sustainability.

The Princeton Review, a leading provider of educational services, surveyed more than 300 institutions to compile the rankings. Schools were evaluated based on key criteria in the areas of academics and requirements, students and faculty, and outside-the-classroom experiences. The rankings will be published in Entrepreneur magazine's October issue, available on newsstands now. The top entrepreneurship program lists, information about survey methodology, and profiles for the top schools are posted on The Princeton Review's website at www.princetonreview.com/entrepreneur.