Belmont earns a spot on the list for the 11th consecutive year as alumni and student founders build businesses across Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Nov. 13, 2026) –– For students aspiring to launch their own businesses, Belmont University’s Jack C. Massey College of Business offers one of the top-ranked programs for entrepreneurship studies for 2027. That’s according to the education services company The Princeton Review® and Entrepreneur® magazine.
This annual project, now in its 21st year, names the top 50 undergraduate and top 50 graduate schools for entrepreneurship studies based on data from a survey conducted by The Princeton Review. For 2027, Belmont is No. 38 on the undergraduate list, No. 9 among undergraduate programs in the South and No. 6 among undergraduate programs at schools with fewer than 10,000 students. This marks the 11th consecutive year Belmont has been named a top school for entrepreneurship.
The school selections and rankings for the 2027 lists are based on The Princeton Review’s survey of administrators in summer 2026 at nearly 300 schools in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe offering entrepreneurship studies. The company’s editors considered more than 40 data points from the survey covering academics, faculty and student information, mentorship support, and alumni entrepreneurship ventures.
“We recommend Belmont University — along with the other outstanding institutions that made our 2027 lists — as ideal choices for students considering careers as entrepreneurs,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor in chief. “The faculties at the schools are outstanding. Their program offerings have robust experiential components. Their students have access to extraordinary mentors and networking contacts that will serve them well into their careers.”
The Massey College of Business is one of the few colleges to require entrepreneurship coursework at the undergraduate level, and Belmont created the nation’s first social entrepreneurship major.
“Eleven consecutive years tell you this isn't a moment; it's who we are,” said Dr. Randy V. Bradley, dean of the Jack C. Massey College of Business. “Our college carries the name of Jack C. Massey, who built companies that changed how America eats, receives care and contributes to communities, and we take that legacy personally. Whether our graduates launch a venture, acquire a company or help scale an existing entity, we prepare them to lead on arrival: to notice what's missing, care enough about people to build it and have the courage to see it through.”
The Princeton Review’s profile of Belmont points to alumni as “the strongest proof” of the program’s success, noting more than 900 alumni-founded businesses operating in eight countries. Many of those ventures started in Nashville, including Biscuit Love, co-founded by Sarah Worley; Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria, co-founded by EJ Reed and now in 10 locations across three states; and The Escape Game, co-founded by entrepreneurship alumnus Jonathan Murrell and now operating 47 locations nationwide. Across that network, 100 alumni founders honored at the 2026 Belmont Entrepreneur Awards lead businesses that employ nearly 5,000 people and generate revenues approaching half a billion dollars annually.
“Entrepreneurship is one of the most effective ways to create lasting opportunity within a community,” said Dr. Mark Schenkel, professor and chair of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation department. “A new business can change the trajectory of a family, a neighborhood, or even an entire city. When students learn to build with purpose, they become founders who create value and opportunity not just for themselves, but also for others around them.”
Belmont students start building before graduation. Through the Thomas F. Cone Sr. Center for Entrepreneurship, students run two University-owned retail businesses on Belmont Boulevard –– House Of and Bruin Bodega –– and manage the finances, buying, marketing and staffing for each. House Of’s revenue nearly doubled following a student-led rebrand, and Bruin Bodega serves as a retail hub and learning lab for student and alumni consumer-packaged goods brands. Student founders also compete each year for startup funding in Cone Center pitch competitions judged by alumni and industry leaders.
“Nashville has never been short on people with big ideas,” said Elizabeth Gortmaker, executive director of the Cone Center for Entrepreneurship. “What makes the difference is whether someone gives them a place to test those ideas before everything is on the line. That’s the role we want to play for students, and the payoff shows up years later in the neighborhoods where they choose to build.”
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