The entrepreneurship program in the Price College of Business ranks No. 8 out of more than 2,000 schools surveyed. Merrill Jones/The Daily

The entrepreneurship program in the Price College of Business ranks No. 8 out of more than 2,000 schools surveyed.

OU is the only university in the Big 12 to be ranked in the top 10 in the Sept. 10 Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine survey.

“I feel kind of like Bob Stoops. It puts a lot of pressure on us but our goal has always been to be No. 1 [in the nation] and be the best program in the world,” said Jim Wheeler, Stanley White executive and cofounder of Entrepreneurial Studies.

This is Entrepreneurial Studies’ sixth year at OU. The 2007 survey ranked OU’s program as 15th.

According to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Web site, three factors are considered during the selection process: academics, students and faculty and outside-the-classroom experience.

In the past few years 14 graduate and undergraduate courses were added to the program, along with three faculty members and eight adjunct professors. The program also expanded to include a graduate MBA emphasis, an undergraduate business major, a minor for engineers, a minor for non-business students and a two-class sequence that emphasizes the fundamentals of starting and growing a business.

“I decided to pursue entrepreneurship because I want to be at the cutting edge of new technologies and emerging markets,” said Stafford Marquardt, microbiology and entrepreneurship senior. “I see myself starting my own business in the future, and the training that I have received through this program will be instrumental in my achievement of this dream.”

Along with the program’s growth, the students involved in the program have also evolved, Wheeler said.

“When we first started, students were attracted by the unique curriculum because it was different,” Wheeler said. ”Now, many students choose OU because of the program and 30-40 percent of these students are second or third generation entrepreneurs.”

Entrepreneurship senior Heather Moore said she chose OU specifically for the program.

“I was really impressed with the integrated business core program and the opportunities that the program offered to really get involved in real business situations,” Moore said.

The program teaches three pillars to students: learn how to make money, learn how to learn and learn how to live a life of meaning, entrepreneurship senior Robert Hefner said.

“The entrepreneurship and venture management major is a high-paced, comprehensive business program,” he said. “There are other great majors in the Price College of Business, such as energy management, accounting or supply chain management. However, only the entrepreneurship and venture management major allows the student to develop tools in all areas of business. This is why the entrepreneurship major is so valuable.”