Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2005

Contact: Angie Joe
713.743.8153 (office)
713.617.7138 (pager)
ajoe@uh.edu

HOUSTON, April 6, 2005 – For the second consecutive year, Entrepreneur magazine has named the University of Houston’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) as a top 100 collegiate entrepreneurship program. The list appears in the publication’s April 2005 issue.

The magazine also lists the Bauer College center in the top tier of 50 regionally recognized academic programs in the country.

More than 500 collegiate entrepreneurship programs nationwide were analyzed on 75 criteria.

Entrepreneur profiled CEI in its accompanying article, “Honor Roll.” The story examines whether students who enter entrepreneurship programs are more likely to become entrepreneurs and whether students of entrepreneurship are more successful than other business students.

“CEI attributes its success to its teaching methodology,” said Shena Cherian, CEI program manager. “Professors are entrepreneurs who combine textbook theory with practical experiences. Each student in the program chooses a business concept, which they develop over three semesters. In implementing their own idea, students see their project as a tangible rather than just a theory.”

A recent study conducted at the University of Arizona showed that entrepreneurship students start more companies and are more successful when they do. Sales and employment growth of companies owned by or employing entrepreneurship graduates was more than five times the rate of other firms. In addition, entrepreneurship graduates working in large firms earn, on average, $23,000 a year more than non-entrepreneurship business graduates.

Entrepreneur’s third annual rankings of the best entrepreneurship programs at U.S. colleges and universities was performed by TechKnowledge Point Corp. in Santa Barbara, Calif. Founded in 2001 by David Newton, TechKnowledge Point Corp. is the world’s first and only 24/7 online research and referral exchange for entrepreneurship and enterprise development.

The complete story and listing is available in the April issue of Entrepreneur magazine and at www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges.

For more than 25 years, Entrepreneur magazine has been the leading authority dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs worldwide to start and grow successful companies. More than two million readers turn to Entrepreneur every month for cutting-edge ideas to help them grow and improve their businesses.

Since 1991, UH’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has provided students a rigorous and exciting environment that integrates real world experience with classroom education. Through its extensive support program and educational resources, CEI enhances the competitiveness and profitability of its young entrepreneurs. The center prepares students to be leaders in the business world by providing education from an executive perspective, from idea to implementation.

For more information about CEI, go to http://www.bauer.uh.edu/cei/index.html.

About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.

About the Bauer College of Business
The C.T. Bauer College of Business has been in operation for more than 60 years at the University of Houston main campus. Through its five academic departments, the college offers a full-range of undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees in business. The Bauer College is fully accredited by the AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In August 2000, Houston business leader and philanthropist Charles T. (Ted) Bauer endowed the College of Business with a $40 million gift. In recognition of his generosity, the college was renamed the C.T. Bauer College of Business.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.