Newswise — PHILADELPHIA – Entrepreneurship is a pillar at Temple University, and outsiders have taken notice.

The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine ranked the undergraduate Entrepreneurship program at Temple University’s Fox School of Business No. 8 in the country, a three-spot climb from the 2015 rankings. Fox’s graduate-level Entrepreneurship program also made the top-10. Its No. 10 ranking marked a six-spot improvement from last year.

Temple is one of five colleges and universities nationally to have been ranked within the top 10 at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and is the only college or university in the Greater Philadelphia region to be ranked by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. Temple University has appeared in each installment of the entrepreneurship rankings since 2006.

“We are proud to have been ranked once again as one of the nation’s premier institutions for teaching and practicing entrepreneurship,” said Dr. M. Moshe Porat, Dean of the Fox School. “By emphasizing innovation, promoting small-business development, and preparing our students to think of themselves as entrepreneurs, we continue to drive innovation, economic growth, and job creation in the Philadelphia region and beyond. We look forward to further enhancing our programs in order to strengthen university-wide entrepreneurship.”

Added Temple University President Dr. Neil D. Theobald: “These rankings show that Temple University is upholding its commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship. Across disciplines, and in all of our schools and colleges, we prepare students to be ‘real-world ready.’ We empower them to take charge of their futures and find success in fields that have not yet been invented.”

Published Nov. 10, The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine’s 2016 rankings recognize 25 undergraduate- and 25 graduate-level programs for excellence in entrepreneurship education. The rankings are based upon a large variety of quantitative and qualitative criteria, including the number of: entrepreneurship-specific courses offered; faculty who are also entrepreneurs and/or serve on the boards of new ventures; businesses started and funds raised by alumni; and entrepreneurship-focused activities, competitions, programs, clubs, and centers.

Temple University offers a portfolio of interdisciplinary programs to serve the various constituencies within the university and the region. These range from programs supporting incoming freshmen, like a General Education Course on Creativity & Organizational Innovation or the Innovate & Create Living Learning Community; those that support faculty scientists, like the TechConnect Workshop and the Graduate Certificate in Innovation and Technology Commercialization; and those that support the professional community in the region and abroad like the Master of Science in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship.

Through Temple’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI), the region’s oldest-such center, which is housed at the Fox School, the university conducts annual business plan competitions like the Innovative Idea Competition and the Be Your Own Boss Bowl® for students, faculty, staff, and alumni. With prizes exceeding $200,000, the Be Your Own Boss Bowl® is considered one of the most-lucrative and comprehensive business plan competitions in the nation. Another widely accessible entrepreneurship program, Blackstone LaunchPad, is designed to support and mentor students regardless of major, experience, or discipline.

In the last four years, dating to the 2011-12 academic year, the Fox School of Business and Temple University have seen Entrepreneurship program enrollment increases of 380 and 220 percent at the graduate and undergraduate levels, respectively, according to Dr. Robert C. McNamee, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Fox and Managing Director of Temple’s IEI.

“Such dramatic increases would not have been possible without the dozens of faculty who champion entrepreneurship across the 18 schools and colleges at Temple University,” said McNamee.

IEI provides internship opportunities, business-planning workshops, seminars, mentoring and coaching, in addition to annual conferences in social, global, women’s and industry-specific entrepreneurship. Executive Director Ellen Weber and McNamee lead the entrepreneurship and innovation programs. IEI manages Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures, an independent organization that assists emerging technology-based companies in their effort to build sustainable businesses, and works closely with Robin Hood Ventures, a group of Philadelphia-area angel investors that focus on early-stage, high-growth companies.

Over the last four years the IEI has expanded its offerings to include: a Master of Science in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship; graduate certificates in both Innovation Strategy and Innovation & Technology Commercialization; MBA concentrations in both Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management; a General Education course in Creativity & Organizational Innovation; and an Entrepreneurial Living Learning Community. IEI, in partnership with the College of Engineering, launched a Master of Science in Engineering Management, and supported the creation of a Master of Science in BioInnovation in the College of Science & Technology as multiple ancillary supporting programs.

Visit The Princeton Review for complete rankings.