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Startup Schools: America's Most Entrepreneurial Colleges 2015

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This story appears in the August 16, 2015 issue of Forbes. Subscribe

Top research universities aren't the only startup launchpads. The Cooper Union, which tops our Most Entrepreneurial College List this year, boasts more founders and owners among alumni and students on LinkedIn than Stanford University and MIT (adjusted for student body size). Middlebury, which ranks second on our list, is one of many small liberal arts colleges reinventing themselves as modern-day startup incubators.

FORBES ranked the country's most entrepreneurial schools based on the entrepreneurial ratios – the total number of alumni and students who have identified themselves as founders and business owners on LinkedIn, divided by the school’s student body (undergraduate and graduate combined). This year we rank both research universities and smaller colleges separately (see university ranking here).

Here are the highlights of the top 20 startup colleges on our list:

1 Cooper Union

Mechanical engineering students must take Principles of Design, a hands-on course modeled after Stanford's popular Lean LaunchPad.

2 Middlebury College

The four-week immersion program MiddCore has brought in over 40 entrepreneur mentors such as Peet's Coffee and Tea CEO Dave Burwick.

3 Colorado College

The school's innovation center hosts Innovation Thursdays, weekly workshops on nitty-gritty startup skills.

4 Bennington College

Students often start ventures during Field Work Terms--four seven-week winter terms required for graduation.

5 Morehouse College

MLK Jr.'s alma mater hosts an annual Innovation Expo for undergrads from historically black colleges and institutions that serve minorities.

6 Hampshire College

Thanks to $1 million from alum and VC Michael Vlock, Hampshire is shelling out $200,000 a year to student ventures.

7 Skidmore College

Nearly a third of every graduating class takes MB107, in which students give presentations in teams to executives in a boardroom setting.

8 Trinity University

Incoming first-years can sign up to live on a floor together in Beze Residence Hall, nicknamed the "Entrepreneur Floor."

9 Wesleyan University

The Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, partially endowed by $2 million from alumni, has more than 100 alumni volunteers each year.

10 Westmont College

Its entrepreneurship center sends students to Haiti to help launch locally owned small businesses, like food stands and moped taxi services.

11 Rollins College

The college introduced a social entrepreneurship major in 2014, and over 200 students have enrolled since.

12 Pomona College

The student-run Pomona Ventures organizes an annual Sage Tank, a pitch competition modeled after Shark Tank.

13 Emerson College

The Emerson Experience in Entrepreneurship--a.k.a. E3--is a yearlong business boot-camp course.

14 Claremont McKenna College

Billionaire benefactor Henry Kravis ('67) gives $15,000 annually to CMC's Innovative Start-Up Award.

15 Vassar College

Alum Caterina Fake, cofounder of Flickr with ex-hubby Stewart Butterfield (see p. 70), is on her third startup, Findery, a travel guide.

16 Connecticut College

The Holleran Social Entrepreneurship Initiative has backed projects ranging from a campus bike cooperative to a service trip to Uganda.

17 Ohio Wesleyan University

An entrepreneurial scholars program combines classwork with internships and competitions.

18 Colby College

The Kennebec Valley Entrepreneurial Network links students at Colby and surrounding Maine colleges with local business owners.

19 Smith College

Dozens of teams--each led by a woman--pitch startup ideas at Smith's annual Draper Undergraduate Women Entrepreneurs' Competition.

20 University of Puget Sound

Nine promising juniors and seniors are selected to live in the Entrepreneurship Flat, also known as the E-House.

21 St. John's University (Minnesota)

22 Mills College

23 William Jewell College

24 Reed College

25 Amherst College

26 Colgate University

27 Albion College

28 Williams College

29 Denison University

30 DePauw University

31 Union College

32 Austin College

33 Oglethorpe University

34 Bryant University

35 Sarah Lawrence College

36 Occidental College

37 Oberlin College

38 Hamilton College

39 Trinity College

40 Kenyon College

41 Beloit College

42 University of Dallas

43 Columbia College Chicago

44 Bowdoin College

45 Villanova University

46 Wittenberg University

47 Wellesley College

48 Bentley University

49 Swarthmore College

50 Davidson College

Additional reporting by Jill Castellano, Lauren Feiner, Karen Hua, Maxine Joselow, Sergei Klebnikov, and Natalie Sportelli.

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