Nov. 1, 2007

For the second straight year, Freeman has been selected as one of the nation’s top schools for entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur magazine and the Princeton Review ranked the Freeman School 15^th on their annual list of Best Graduate Programs for Entrepreneurs. The ranking appears in Entrepreneur’s November 2007 issue.

“This national ranking reflects our program’s unique and substantive integration into the ongoing rebuilding of the New Orleans economy and community,” said John Elstrott, director of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship at the Freeman School. “Last year two social entrepreneurship ventures that got their start at Freeman––IDEAcorps, an organization that supports the entrepreneurial community, and INExchange, a fair-trade retail store––were officially launched. Today both are contributing to the rebuilding of New Orleans.”

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, social entrepreneurship has taken on a higher profile at the Freeman School. Last year Freeman added a Social Entrepreneurship division to the annual Tulane Business Plan Competition, which awards cash prizes of up to $10,000 to university-based entrepreneurial ventures. The competition, which is coordinated through the Levy-Rosenblum Institute, was established to enable students put into practice skills gained through the Freeman School’s wide range of entrepreneurship-related courses and experiential-learning opportunities.

“Strong alumni networks, emphasis on feasibility studies and activities for engaging in the local business community continue to be key points among entrepreneurs looking for programs to fit their needs,” said Rieva Lesonsky, senior vice president and editorial director of Entrepreneur. “The newly emerging trends are in programs that focus on women-owned as well as environmentally and socially conscious businesses.”

Entrepreneur and the Princeton Review surveyed more than 900 schools for this year’s ranking, a 30 percent increase over last year, and they evaluated entrepreneurship programs on key criteria including academics and requirements, students and faculty, and outside-the-classroom support and experience.