Princeton Review ranks Tec in top 5 universities for entrepreneurship

Tecnológico de Monterrey has climbed 3 places to reach 5th place among the top universities in the United States for entrepreneurship, in a ranking published by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine.

The Tec is the only university outside the United States to participate in “The Princeton Review: Top Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Ranking 2021”.

It is one of the most prestigious university rankings, according to the website Universities in the USA, and one of the few to specifically evaluate entrepreneurship in more than 300 American universities.

These ranking institutions have published the results of their fifteenth annual survey with the names of the top 50 schools for taking entrepreneurial programs at undergraduate and graduate levels.

 

The Top 10 in the ranking

1. University of Houston
2. Babson College
3. Brigham Young University (UT)
4. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
5. Tecnológico de Monterrey
6. University of Maryland, College Park
7. Baylor University
8. Northeastern University
9. Washington University, St. Louis
10. University of Utah

“We’re so proud to have made it into the publication’s Top 5. This is without doubt the result of efforts made by the Tec’s entire community of students, graduates, professors, and collaborators,” said David Garza, Rector and Executive President of Tecnológico de Monterrey.

“We shall strive to continue encouraging entrepreneurship through initiatives and projects with ever-greater impact. Despite the challenges we now face, we renew this commitment today in order to generate value for our country,” he added.

In just 6 years, the institution has climbed from 23rd to 5th place to rank alongside institutions such as the University of Houston, Babson College, Brigham Young University, and Baylor University.

Since 1991, The Princeton Review has published the annual guide to Best Colleges in which, through rankings, it lists the top 25 colleges in different categories, while Entrepreneur Magazine provides comprehensive coverage of businesses and personal success stories.

What sets the Tec apart for entrepreneurship?

José Manuel Aguirre, Director of Technology Parks and Outreach from the Tec’s Eugenio Garza Lagüera Institute of Entrepreneurship, explains some of the processes that have led to this leap into the Top 5.

“The Tec has been improving its educational programs so that its students can get out of the classroom and do entrepreneurial projects. What’s more, the professors are getting better at the balance between teaching and business practice.”

“(In addition) last year, Tec students won the Hult Prize, a result of Tec student talent assembled and guided by an educational model and an entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

The director emphasizes that there are very few rankings which focus on universities where entrepreneurship is taught. 

“The Princeton Review ranking is one of the most consistent. The Tec needed an external perspective to validate that it was a university promoting excellence in entrepreneurship through a ranking system, and that’s how the measurement process began,” he added.

What does this ranking system evaluate?

The methodology used includes the review and analysis of information from each participating university in three specific areas:

- Academics and Requirements

Data are gathered for this section on academic aspects that are related to specialization programs and undergraduate degrees on entrepreneurship, including the number of courses focused on and related to the subject and qualitative aspects on the tools used in these classes.

This year, Tec de Monterrey maintained a competitive advantage by offering 80 subjects related to Entrepreneurship.

- Students and Faculty

The indicators in this section include the number of students taking entrepreneurial programs; the number of faculty on advisory boards; the number of faculty who have started, bought, sold, or managed a business; and the number of companies set up by graduates in recent years. 

This year, more than a thousand professors from the Tec have taught at least one class related to entrepreneurship, and 91% of these have started, bought, sold, or run a business.

Regarding students, there was a significant rise in the percentage, which went from 72% to 95% of students on entrepreneurial programs who developed business projects.

As for graduates, these have set up more than 1,500 companies that have undergone entrepreneurial processes within the ecosystem in the last 10 years (2010-2020).

- Outside the Classroom

This section analyzes data on activities within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Specifically, this year it also considers the efforts made by universities as support to the entrepreneurial community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the Tec, support for student entrepreneurship has been increased significantly in recent years.

There is also a high level of student participation in the most important competitions held by global organizations and institutions. The highlight of this was the prestigious Hult Prize, awarded by the UN and former US President Bill Clinton, in which the Rutopía project won first place and a million dollars.

In addition, there are a large variety of challenges and contests available to students to reinforce entrepreneurship strategies, and there are more than a thousand highly renowned mentors who participate on different entrepreneurial platforms.

Entrepreneurship: part of the Tec’s DNA

For more than 70 years, Tecnológico de Monterrey has instilled an  entrepreneurial spirit, and one of its biggest initiatives in this area is INCmty, an annual festival to inspire, connect, and provide tools to innovative entrepreneurs from Mexico and Latin America.

The eighth festival took place from November 2 to 6, 2020, and focused on the development of disruptive ideas and businesses in the region.

Click here to learn more about the ranking and the list.

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