A student working in the Wood Shop in the Cornell Tech MakerLAB.
Poets&Quants’ entrepreneurship ranking for MBA programs is essentially a reporting exercise: We gather data from as many schools as possible and try to present it in an easy-to-digest way for our readers. Part of that process includes sharing the data used to calculate actual rankings and the weights we use for each dataset.
While no ranking is perfect, we believe transparency gives credibility while providing valuable information to school seekers and schools alike.
This year’s Best MBA Programs for Entrepreneurship includes 10 data points, down from 16 the previous cycle. (See our full 2026 methodology here.) In the pages to follow, you’ll see all the data we used to calculate the rankings, the weights assigned to each dataset, and a brief explanation of why the data point was included.
We truly view rankings as a jumping-off point into a research deep dive. So dive into the data as you examine and consider the different business schools and MBA programs.
See how schools fared category by category in last year’s entrepreneurship ranking data dump. Or return to the full ranking of the Top MBA Programs For Entrepreneurship in 2026.
Weighted at 25%, this is the average percentage of full-time MBAs to report launching a business within three months of graduation over the last five years: The Classes of 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School (ranked No. 1 overall in the 2026 ranking) topped this metric, which is also the most highly weighted in our methodology. It reported that 27.8% of the MBAs over its last five classes have started ventures during or within three months of graduation.
That’s nearly a 5-point jump from the 22.8% average it reported for last year’s ranking when it came in second in the metric.
Clemson University’s Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business had the second highest 5-year startup average at 24.5% followed by University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business at 22.4%.
Launching startups carries the most weight because it’s the clearest indicator of a school’s real-world impact, showing how effectively its programs, resources, and culture translate into actual venture creation.
1
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
27.80%
2
Clemson University (Powers)
24.50%
3
University of Michigan (Ross)
22.40%
4
Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
15.20%
5
IE Business School
14.18%
6
Babson College
13.56%
7
Woxsen University
12.90%
8
CEIBS
8.49%
8
DePaul University
7.62%
10
EDHEC Business School
7.54%
11
ESMT Berlin
7.40%
12
Brigham Young University (Marriott)
6.92%
13
Esade Business School
6.60%
14
Rice University (Jones)
6.43%
15
City St George’s, University of London (Bayes)
6.36%
16
London Business School
6.00%
17
Texas Christian University (Neeley)
5.46%
18
University of California-San Diego (Rady)
4.78%
19
UCLA (Anderson)
4.30%
20
University of Oregon (Lundquist)
4.20%
21
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
4.00%
22
Boston University (Questrom)
3.30%
23
University of Minnesota (Carlson)
3.20%
24
Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)
3.02%
25
Georgetown University (McDonough)
2.85%
26
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
2.62%
27
Rutgers Business School
2.58%
28
University of Virginia (Darden)
2.30%
29
University of Arizona (Eller)
1.86%
30
Southern Methodist University (Cox)
1.23%
31
New York University (Stern)
0.98%
32
Western University (Ivey)
0.91%
Weighted at 15%, this is the percentage of elective courses focused solely on entrepreneurship offered to MBAs during the 2024-2025 academic year.
EDHEC Business School in France led this category with 67% of its elective MBA courses being 100% entrepreneurial focused. That’s up from the 55% it reported last year when it also topped the metric.
Offering plenty of entrepreneurship-focused courses for MBAs is one of the most basic ways to foster an entrepreneurial environment, which is why we give it the second highest weight in the ranking.
EDHEC was followed by University of Virginia’ s Darden School of Business at 40.3% of elective courses. Esade Business School in Spain had the third highest percentage at 40%.
1
EDHEC Business School
67.00%
2
University of Virginia (Darden)
40.30%
3
Esade Business School
40.00%
4
IE Business School
38.10%
5
Clemson University (Powers)
37.00%
6
UCLA (Anderson)
35.20%
7
University of Oregon (Lundquist)
35.00%
8
ESMT Berlin
33.00%
9
Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
32.00%
10
CEIBS
29.50%
11
University of Michigan (Ross)
29.00%
12
Brigham Young University (Marriott)
28.10%
13
Woxsen University
23.60%
14
Texas Christian University (Neeley)
22.40%
15
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
22.00%
15
University of California-San Diego (Rady)
21.00%
17
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
20.00%
18
London Business School
19.40%
19
Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)
18.00%
20
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
18.00%
20
Boston University (Questrom)
16.90%
22
Georgetown University (McDonough)
16.00%
23
Rice University (Jones)
15.90%
24
Western University (Ivey)
15.40%
25
DePaul University
13.60%
26
Babson College
12.50%
27
University of Arizona (Eller)
11.90%
28
New York University (Stern)
9.90%
29
University of Minnesota (Carlson)
8.00%
30
Southern Methodist University (Cox)
6.80%
31
City St George’s, University of London (Bayes)
6.70%
32
Rutgers Business School
4.80%
Another indicator of a healthy entrepreneurial environment is the number of students participating in an entrepreneurship-focused club. That’s why we give the metric a 15% weight in the methodology.
IE Business School in Spain reported that all of its Class of 2025 MBAs participated in a student club that was focused on entrepreneurship. Both China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and London Business School had 72% MBA participation, the second highest percentage in the category.
1
IE Business School
100.00%
2
CEIBS
72.00%
2
London Business School
72.00%
4
University of Virginia (Darden)
69.70%
5
Woxsen University
67.20%
6
Esade Business School
63.00%
7
Western University (Ivey)
57.70%
7
Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)
54.00%
9
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
51.00%
10
EDHEC Business School
45.00%
11
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
44.00%
12
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
43.00%
13
Brigham Young University (Marriott)
36.30%
14
Babson College
34.00%
15
UCLA (Anderson)
30.80%
16
Rice University (Jones)
27.00%
17
New York University (Stern)
25.60%
18
University of Michigan (Ross)
25.00%
18
Georgetown University (McDonough)
23.40%
18
Southern Methodist University (Cox)
23.40%
21
University of Oregon (Lundquist)
23.00%
22
City St George’s, University of London (Bayes)
20.50%
23
Boston University (Questrom)
20.00%
23
ESMT Berlin
20.00%
23
Texas Christian University (Neeley)
20.00%
26
DePaul University
18.00%
27
Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
14.00%
27
University of Minnesota (Carlson)
14.00%
29
University of California-San Diego (Rady)
10.00%
30
Clemson University (Powers)
0.00%
30
Rutgers Business School
0.00%
30
University of Arizona (Eller)
0.00%
Many ventures get their start from business plan or startup competitions at universities and/or business schools. And, some have special funding available for things like working on a startup or at an early-stage startup during the summer.
We asked schools to report the total amount of entrepreneurship-focused funding available to MBAs from their universities during the 2024-2025 academic year and then calculated a ratio based on the total number of ‘25 MBA students. Funding might include fellowships, scholarships, grants, competition awards, business plan prizes, and and any other entrepreneurship-related financial support,
Arizona State University’ W. P. Carey School of Business had $2.14 million in award money and entrepreneurial funding available for the 2024-2025 academic year. That’s $37,543.86 for each of its 57 Class of 2025 MBAs. Of course, not every MBA took home a portion.
Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business reported the highest total available funding at $4.54 million. But with a 2025 Class of 152, it had the second highest ratio at $29,843.
1
Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)
$37,543.86
2
Rice University (Jones)
$29,843.00
3
EDHEC Business School
$20,387.93
4
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
$19,528.17
5
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
$17,769.00
6
University of California-San Diego (Rady)
$11,903.00
7
Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
$11,526.00
8
University of Minnesota (Carlson)
$10,333.00
9
University of Virginia (Darden)
$9,892.00
10
Brigham Young University (Marriott)
$7,339.00
11
Southern Methodist University (Cox)
$5,203.00
12
University of Arizona (Eller)
$4,939.27
13
Babson College
$4,886.00
14
UCLA (Anderson)
$4,615.00
15
City St George’s, University of London (Bayes)
$4,531.00
16
University of Oregon (Lundquist)
$4,000.00
17
University of Michigan (Ross)
$3,823.00
18
ESMT Berlin
$3,810.30
19
Texas Christian University (Neeley)
$2,000.00
20
Rutgers Business School
$1,765.00
21
New York University (Stern)
$1,564.00
22
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
$1,282.79
23
Georgetown University (McDonough)
$1,225.00
24
Woxsen University
$1,096.96
25
Esade Business School
$728.75
25
Western University (Ivey)
$673.62
25
DePaul University
$625.00
25
London Business School
$522.51
25
Clemson University (Powers)
$448.72
25
CEIBS
$141.03
25
Boston University (Questrom)
$114.00
32
IE Business School
$17.48
Another 10% weight metric is the number of entrepreneurship-focused mentors and entrepreneurs-in-residence available to MBA students during the last academic year.
At EDHEC Business School, there were 5.58 mentors per MBA for the Class of 2025. That was just slightly more than the 5.53 per MBA at WashU Olin.
1
EDHEC Business School
5.58
2
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
5.53
3
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
3.97
4
Rice University (Jones)
3.87
5
University of Minnesota (Carlson)
2.79
6
Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)
2.75
7
Babson College
2.69
8
New York University (Stern)
2.34
9
Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
2.12
10
Boston University (Questrom)
1.50
10
University of Oregon (Lundquist)
1.50
12
Brigham Young University (Marriott)
1.44
12
University of California-San Diego (Rady)
1.44
14
IE Business School
1.28
15
Esade Business School
0.97
15
Southern Methodist University (Cox)
0.97
17
UCLA (Anderson)
0.92
18
University of Michigan (Ross)
0.82
19
Rutgers Business School
0.74
20
ESMT Berlin
0.57
21
Clemson University (Powers)
0.54
22
DePaul University
0.49
23
Georgetown University (McDonough)
0.45
23
University of Virginia (Darden)
0.45
25
Texas Christian University (Neeley)
0.43
26
University of Arizona (Eller)
0.37
27
London Business School
0.27
28
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
0.25
29
CEIBS
0.11
30
Woxsen University
0.10
31
Western University (Ivey)
0.08
32
City St George’s, University of London (Bayes)
0.02
Our third 10% metric is the percentage of MBA students directly involved with a startup during the 2024-2025 academic year.
Four schools reported all of its MBAs were involved with a startup in some capacity that year: EDHEC, Esade, Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business, and Johnson Cornell Tech MBA.
1
EDHEC Business School
100.00%
1
Esade Business School
100.00%
1
Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
100.00%
1
Southern Methodist University (Cox)
100.00%
5
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
91.00%
6
Rice University (Jones)
89.40%
7
Boston University (Questrom)
80.70%
7
London Business School
80.00%
9
University of Virginia (Darden)
76.70%
10
Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)
74.00%
11
University of Michigan (Ross)
73.00%
12
City St George’s, University of London (Bayes)
70.20%
13
Babson College
64.20%
14
IE Business School
63.00%
15
Brigham Young University (Marriott)
62.60%
16
Woxsen University
51.80%
17
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
51.00%
18
Texas Christian University (Neeley)
50.00%
18
University of California-San Diego (Rady)
50.00%
20
UCLA (Anderson)
47.00%
21
CEIBS
46.20%
22
ESMT Berlin
43.00%
23
Western University (Ivey)
40.40%
24
University of Arizona (Eller)
39.60%
25
University of Minnesota (Carlson)
37.00%
26
Clemson University (Powers)
35.00%
26
New York University (Stern)
31.10%
28
DePaul University
23.00%
28
Georgetown University (McDonough)
23.00%
30
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
21.30%
30
Rutgers Business School
16.50%
32
University of Oregon (Lundquist)
16.00%
Given a 5% weight is the percentage of MBA faculty teaching at least one entrepreneurship-focused course during the most recent academic year.
ESMT Berlin has topped this category for two straight years, reporting 59% of faculty for 2026.
1
ESMT Berlin
59.00%
2
Esade Business School
55.00%
3
EDHEC Business School
48.00%
4
University of Virginia (Darden)
44.90%
5
DePaul University
42.00%
6
IE Business School
40.40%
7
UCLA (Anderson)
34.40%
8
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
34.00%
8
Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
33.00%
10
CEIBS
32.40%
11
Clemson University (Powers)
32.00%
11
University of Michigan (Ross)
32.00%
13
Woxsen University
26.50%
14
University of Oregon (Lundquist)
24.00%
14
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
24.00%
16
Brigham Young University (Marriott)
23.80%
17
London Business School
23.50%
18
Texas Christian University (Neeley)
21.40%
19
Babson College
21.00%
20
Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)
19.00%
20
University of California-San Diego (Rady)
19.00%
21
Rice University (Jones)
18.90%
23
City St George’s, University of London (Bayes)
18.50%
24
Boston University (Questrom)
16.90%
25
New York University (Stern)
13.50%
26
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
12.00%
27
Western University (Ivey)
9.40%
28
Georgetown University (McDonough)
8.50%
29
Southern Methodist University (Cox)
8.00%
29
University of Minnesota (Carlson)
8.00%
31
Rutgers Business School
5.10%
32
University of Arizona (Eller)
0.00%
Not everyone wants to launch a company. Others want to join an early-stage startup, which we also believe takes an entrepreneurial mindset.
A data point added three years ago was the average percentage of MBAs joining an early-stage startup (ten years or younger) within three months of graduation in the Classes of 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. This metric is weighted at 5% in our ranking.
1
IE Business School
30.00%
2
Esade Business School
20.60%
3
Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
19.40%
4
Babson College
19.20%
5
ESMT Berlin
17.80%
6
Woxsen University
15.60%
7
EDHEC Business School
14.90%
8
Boston University (Questrom)
14.30%
9
Brigham Young University (Marriott)
14.10%
10
City St George’s, University of London (Bayes)
13.80%
11
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
12.80%
12
University of Oregon (Lundquist)
12.60%
13
London Business School
10.40%
14
Southern Methodist University (Cox)
9.70%
15
UCLA (Anderson)
9.70%
16
Texas Christian University (Neeley)
9.50%
17
University of California-San Diego (Rady)
9.20%
18
Rice University (Jones)
8.70%
19
CEIBS
8.60%
20
Georgetown University (McDonough)
7.80%
21
University of Michigan (Ross)
7.60%
22
DePaul University
6.00%
23
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
5.60%
24
Clemson University (Powers)
4.60%
25
University of Minnesota (Carlson)
4.60%
26
University of Virginia (Darden)
4.60%
27
New York University (Stern)
4.40%
28
Western University (Ivey)
4.00%
29
University of Arizona (Eller)
3.90%
30
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
3.30%
31
Rutgers Business School
3.20%
32
Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)
1.60%
Another new data point added three years ago asked schools to report the percentage of MBAs that took an elective course in entrepreneurship during the 2024-2025 academic year.
Three schools reported that 100% of their 2025 MBAs took at least one entrepreneurial elective last year: EDHEC in France, ESMT Berlin in Germany, and IE Business School in Spain.
1
EDHEC Business School
100.00%
2
ESMT Berlin
100.00%
3
IE Business School
100.00%
4
University of Virginia (Darden)
98.00%
5
Esade Business School
94.00%
6
Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
94.00%
6
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
90.50%
8
City St George’s, University of London (Bayes)
89.70%
9
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
86.00%
10
Western University (Ivey)
84.00%
10
Brigham Young University (Marriott)
82.10%
12
UCLA (Anderson)
79.90%
13
CEIBS
79.00%
14
University of California-San Diego (Rady)
76.40%
15
Texas Christian University (Neeley)
76.39%
16
University of Michigan (Ross)
74.00%
17
Babson College
72.00%
18
Woxsen University
71.40%
19
Rice University (Jones)
67.85%
20
London Business School
66.45%
21
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
60.00%
21
University of Oregon (Lundquist)
52.00%
23
Boston University (Questrom)
47.60%
24
Clemson University (Powers)
47.00%
25
New York University (Stern)
46.80%
26
Georgetown University (McDonough)
45.00%
27
Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)
43.00%
28
Southern Methodist University (Cox)
34.88%
29
University of Minnesota (Carlson)
30.00%
30
DePaul University
23.00%
31
University of Arizona (Eller)
14.81%
32
Rutgers Business School
14.06%
Mentorship is an important resource for any budding entrepreneur or entrepreneurial thinker.
Our ranking measures two aspects of mentorship: The ratio of school-facilitated entrepreneurship-focused mentorship hours per MBA and the ratio of mentors available to MBA students during the last academic year.
Hours spent mentoring MBAs is given a 2.5% weight.
1
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
129.10
2
Arizona State University (W. P. Carey)
70.11
3
Rice University (Jones)
50.25
4
Babson College
26.61
5
Woxsen University
19.91
6
Southern Methodist University (Cox)
18.84
7
EDHEC Business School
17.24
8
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
15.88
9
Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
14.24
10
Brigham Young University (Marriott)
11.80
11
London Business School
8.70
12
University of Oregon (Lundquist)
8.60
13
Texas Christian University (Neeley)
8.57
14
UCLA (Anderson)
8.02
15
Rutgers Business School
7.21
16
University of Virginia (Darden)
5.96
17
University of Minnesota (Carlson)
4.65
18
Western University (Ivey)
3.51
19
New York University (Stern)
3.47
20
Esade Business School
3.00
21
University of California-San Diego (Rady)
2.08
22
University of Arizona (Eller)
1.84
23
DePaul University
1.74
24
Clemson University (Powers)
1.54
25
Georgetown University (McDonough)
1.52
26
ESMT Berlin
1.49
27
IE Business School
1.15
28
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
1.05
29
University of Michigan (Ross)
0.92
30
Boston University (Questrom)
0.90
30
CEIBS
0.44
32
City St George’s, University of London (Bayes)
0.12
If your full-time MBA program would like an invitation to next year’s ranking, please email [email protected].
The post All Of The Data Behind P&Q’s 2026 Top MBA Programs For Entrepreneurship appeared first on Poets&Quants.
