The entrepreneurship program at DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in Chicago has been ranked fourth among the 50 best entrepreneurial business school programs in the nation by Success magazine. The rankings, bThe rankings, based on surveys sent to 250 schools, were published in February-March issue of the business magazine and on its web site, www.successmagazine.com.

“We are proud of all of the work that has gone into creating a unique and nationally recognized entrepreneurship program,” said Gerhard Plaschka, chair of DePaul’s Department of Management, which offers the program. “The program accurately reflects the real challenges facing managers of entrepreneurial ventures because we have changed the focus from mom-and-pop start-ups to high-growth ventures. DePaul has collaborated in course development and delivery with executives from companies such as Arthur Andersen, Corporate Technology Communications, Inforte, OCA Venture Partners and Piper Jaffray. In some of the classes, students work throughout the course with the founders of pre- or post-initial public offering companies to experience the ambiguity, risk and rewards of being an entrepreneur.”

Approximately 115 DePaul MBA students concentrate in entrepreneurship studies, and another 95 take courses in the program. Kellstadt offers nine entrepreneurship courses, from “Creativity in Business” to “Management of Fast Growing Firms,” that focus on the life cycle of growth-oriented companies. Ten full-time professors—as well as six instructors who have experience as founders, venture capitalists and managing partners in large consulting or accounting firms—teach in the program.

“DePaul’s entrepreneurship program is well-ranked because we have outstanding faculty in the area of entrepreneurship and an excellent curriculum,” said Arthur Kraft, Kellstadt dean. “The faculty has worked hard to build a reputation for DePaul based upon their entrepreneurial activities as well as scholarly accomplishments. The program is appealing to students because it helps them develop excellent decision-making and problem-solving skills and an entrepreneurial orientation that can be used in small, medium or large business organizations.”

One perk for students studying entrepreneurship at DePaul is the university’s Private Enterprise Network (PEN), organized by Harold Welsch, the Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship at DePaul. Held once or twice a year, the PEN symposium provides students and alumni a forum to present their business plans before an audience of potential investors and Chicago-area small business experts. In addition to its well-ranked entrepreneurship program, Kellstadt’s Management Department has increasingly focused its curriculum on management with a technology orientation. One such course is “E-Leadership,” introduced in January of 2001. Students in the course research the differences in leadership required to manage new technology firms versus traditional companies.

The Success rankings were tabulated from responses to surveys sent to 250 schools by Success and Erdos & Morgan, an independent marketing and media research firm in New York that compiled the results. Rankings were based on the caliber of candidates, curriculum, faculty, support for students and overall program. Besides DePaul, two other Chicago-area universities placed in the magazine’s top 50: University of Illinois at Chicago was ranked third, and University of Chicago placed 23rd.

Last March, DePaul’s part-time MBA program was ranked fifth best in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of graduate business school programs.