10 Colleges that Are Perfect for Entrepreneurial Women
Millennials are independent and ambitious. It’s no surprise, then, that many have their sights set firmly on an entrepreneurial career. Law and medicine are out. Starting a business is in. And today it’s pretty common for graduates to start a company while they’re still at college, or a couple of years after they leave.
If you’re a young woman with big ambitions for your future, these 10 colleges might just offer what you’re looking for.
Stanford is a great school, period. Its alumni have gone on to found companies like Google and Tesla, and it just so happens to be situated in the heart of Silicon Valley. But its business school also offers special programs geared towards entrepreneurs, and an Innovation and Entrepreneurship certificate.
Smith counts Sylvia Plath, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem among its alumni. And it’s not only an all-women’s college but also home to the Jill Ker Conway Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, which encourages its students to test ideas, solve problems creatively and develop entrepreneurial skills.
THE MASSACHUSETTS INSITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Half the population at MIT is female, and all the courses offered at the Sloan School of Management have an entrepreneurial aspect. Robin Chase is a former student, and the school hosts the MIT Sloan Global Women’s Conference in New York every year.
Georgetown has an Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Fellows Program designed specifically for aspiring entrepreneurs. What’s more, over half of the student body is female, and the Georgetown University Women’s Leadership Institute acts to research and advance gender-intelligent leadership.
Cornell’s Society for Women in Business is the largest undergraduate organization for aspiring female entrepreneurs at the school, hosting panels, events and speakers each year. Cornell also has an Emerging Leaders Program, which teaches students how to work in a team, speak publicly and present research.
At Carnegie Mellon, female perspectives are heard and valued. The Tepper Women in Business Club was created to help women thrive, offering support, empowerment and education. Tepper even has a Women’s Visit Day, when promising female applicants can meet influential students and learn more about the faculty, so you can see if Carnegie Mellon is right for you.
Babson’s central focus is entrepreneurship and it’s for this reason that it’s often called the most prestigious entrepreneurship college in the U.S. Despite being founded as an all-male college, over half the current undergraduate population is female, and the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship Leadership aims to bring about gender equality in business through mentorship programs.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
UC Berkeley is a top college for global entrepreneurship, with its alumni founding hundreds of companies and raising billions in capital. Its Department of Gender and Women’s Studies offers a number of undergraduate majors and minors, and it has a rich tradition of producing female entrepreneurs specifically: among Berkeley’s top female-founded companies are Sapphire Energy, Quantenna Communications and Millendo Therapeutics.
Harvard needs little by way of an introduction, and in recent years it’s been showing its credentials as a great place for female entrepreneurs. Gilt, Nextdoor and Rent the Runway were all founded by Harvard alumni, and Harvard Business School has been called a ‘startup machine’ because of the way it supports and encourages its young entrepreneurs.
The McIntire School of Commerce at UVA offers an entrepreneurship minor and an entrepreneurial track, while female students can take part in the Smart Woman Securities and the Student Entrepreneurs for Economic Development. There’s also the Women’s Business Forum, which gives students the chance to talk about gender issues in the workforce and wider business world, and a setting in which aspiring female entrepreneurs can be empowered.
Stanford is a great school, period. Its alumni have gone on to found companies like Google and Tesla, and it just so happens to be situated in the heart of Silicon Valley. But its business school also offers special programs geared towards entrepreneurs, and an Innovation and Entrepreneurship certificate.
Smith counts Sylvia Plath, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem among its alumni. And it’s not only an all-women’s college but also home to the Jill Ker Conway Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, which encourages its students to test ideas, solve problems creatively and develop entrepreneurial skills.
THE MASSACHUSETTS INSITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Half the population at MIT is female, and all the courses offered at the Sloan School of Management have an entrepreneurial aspect. Robin Chase is a former student, and the school hosts the MIT Sloan Global Women’s Conference in New York every year.
Georgetown has an Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Fellows Program designed specifically for aspiring entrepreneurs. What’s more, over half of the student body is female, and the Georgetown University Women’s Leadership Institute acts to research and advance gender-intelligent leadership.
Cornell’s Society for Women in Business is the largest undergraduate organization for aspiring female entrepreneurs at the school, hosting panels, events and speakers each year. Cornell also has an Emerging Leaders Program, which teaches students how to work in a team, speak publicly and present research.
At Carnegie Mellon, female perspectives are heard and valued. The Tepper Women in Business Club was created to help women thrive, offering support, empowerment and education. Tepper even has a Women’s Visit Day, when promising female applicants can meet influential students and learn more about the faculty, so you can see if Carnegie Mellon is right for you.
Babson’s central focus is entrepreneurship and it’s for this reason that it’s often called the most prestigious entrepreneurship college in the U.S. Despite being founded as an all-male college, over half the current undergraduate population is female, and the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship Leadership aims to bring about gender equality in business through mentorship programs.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
UC Berkeley is a top college for global entrepreneurship, with its alumni founding hundreds of companies and raising billions in capital. Its Department of Gender and Women’s Studies offers a number of undergraduate majors and minors, and it has a rich tradition of producing female entrepreneurs specifically: among Berkeley’s top female-founded companies are Sapphire Energy, Quantenna Communications and Millendo Therapeutics.
Harvard needs little by way of an introduction, and in recent years it’s been showing its credentials as a great place for female entrepreneurs. Gilt, Nextdoor and Rent the Runway were all founded by Harvard alumni, and Harvard Business School has been called a ‘startup machine’ because of the way it supports and encourages its young entrepreneurs.
The McIntire School of Commerce at UVA offers an entrepreneurship minor and an entrepreneurial track, while female students can take part in the Smart Woman Securities and the Student Entrepreneurs for Economic Development. There’s also the Women’s Business Forum, which gives students the chance to talk about gender issues in the workforce and wider business world, and a setting in which aspiring female entrepreneurs can be empowered.
