Charlotte County Florida Weekly

FGCU named best state school for undergrad entrepreneurship


A rendering of 27,000-square-foot Lucas Hall, which will house the Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship, the Small Business Development Center and the Regional Economic Research Institute. COURTESY IMAGE

A rendering of 27,000-square-foot Lucas Hall, which will house the Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship, the Small Business Development Center and the Regional Economic Research Institute. COURTESY IMAGE

Florida Gulf Coast University is the top public college or university in Florida for undergraduate entrepreneurship studies, according to The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.

Coming in at No. 29 out of more than 300 schools, FGCU ranked higher than entrepreneurship undergraduate programs at DePaul University, Florida State University, the University of St. Thomas and Syracuse University, among others.

“We tried a new model with an independent

School of Entrepreneurship, and it works,” said Sandra Kauanui, director of FGCU’s Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship. “This ranking by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine sets us apart from other entrepreneurship schools, especially many of those in Florida. It’s nice to be recognized for the hard work we have all contributed to reaching our goal.”

In addition to its No. 29 placement in the “Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies for 2021” ranking, FGCU is part of The Princeton Review’s “2021 Best Colleges: Southeastern.” The university is also No. 32 in the “Top 50 Green Colleges” list. Colleges and universities in the top 50 have “exemplary commitments to the environment and sustainability,” according to a release from The Princeton Review.

KAUANU

KAUANU

Since its founding four years ago, FGCU’s entrepreneurship program has grown exponentially. Its mission is to infuse entrepreneurial spirit throughout the university with an interdisciplinary entrepreneurship major and minor. These are the fastest-growing degrees on campus with 2,793 students enrolled this past year in entrepreneurship classes.

The ranking comes at an important time for FGCU. The university is building Lucas Hall, which will house the Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship, the Small Business Development Center and the Regional Economic

Research Institute. The

27,000-square-foot facility will have a business incubator, flexible meeting rooms and expanded faculty and office space.

 

 

It will be a central location for advancing the culture of entrepreneurship, business development and market analysis that are essential to growing Southwest

Florida’s economy. It is slated to open in mid-

2021.

The Princeton Review revealed the entrepreneurship ranking lists for 2021 on www.princetonreview.com/entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur magazine posted the ranking lists on www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges. The magazine will publish a feature article on the rankings in its December issue.

For more information, see www.fgcu.edu/soe. ¦

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