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LSU program ranked as one of the best in the country by Entrepreneur magazine By LSU Professor Robert T. Justis's recollection, at least one student in every class he's taught has started a business. Indeed, he said that, in one of his classes, six students went on to become entrepreneurs. “I once taught an entrepreneurship class in which 50 percent of the business plans that were developed came to fruition,” said Justis, who teaches in LSU’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Education and Family Business studies, a division of LSU’s Ourso College of Business Administration.
Earlier this year, Justis was rewarded for his efforts and expertise when he joined the company of McDonald’s Corp., Inc Magazine, and a former Prime Minister of Canada as a winner of the International Franchise Association’s Free Enterprise Award. The award, which recognizes “individuals who or organizations that have strengthened and fostered the development of the free-enterprise system worldwide,” was not the only recent honor for LSU’s entrepreneurial program, however. Shortly after the Free Enterprise Award was announced, the national business magazine Entrepreneur ranked LSU’s Entrepreneurial Education program—which Justis helped to build — as one of the best programs in the country.
In the magazine’s inaugural ranking of the nation’s “Top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges and Universities,” LSU earned “first tier” or “top 12" status, putting the University in the company of schools such as Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford. Entrepreneur’s rankings were based on research of 700 entrepreneurship programs conducted by TechKnowledge Point Corp., a California-based research and referral company. More than 30 criteria were considered when ranking the programs, including course offerings, teaching and research faculty, business-community outreach, research centers and institutes, advisory boards, off-campus programs, degrees and certificates offered, and faculty and alumni evaluations.
The Top 100 schools were broken down into two groups: the Top 50 nationally prominent, comprehensive programs and the Top 50 regionally prominent, comprehensive programs. LSU was ranked in the first tier of the nationally prominent Top 50. According to Entrepreneur, the 12 schools in the first tier “have comparable offerings and resources, and together represent the top tier of the very best programs in the country.” In addition, the magazine broke down the Top 10 rankings as selected by various groups, such as faculty from universities throughout the country. LSU came in 5th nationally in the faculty ranking. Others in the faculty-ranked Top 10 included Pepperdine University; Dartmouth College; the University of California, Berkeley; and Columbia University. Entrepreneur’s listing also points out that LSU’s program emphasizes family business and franchising, as well as women’s entrepreneurship.
LSU’s program is headed by Joe Hair, who also leads the Family Business Forum, and Assistant Director Carol Carter, who leads Women Mean Business, a workshop that tackles issues relating to female entrepreneurs. Justis, who is also a visiting professor at Kingston University in London, serves as director of the International Franchise Forum, which offers expertise to businesses starting franchising systems and advice on the right franchising system for individuals who wish to become franchisees. Hair said that he and the others in his department have been working hard to grow and develop the program since its establishment seven years ago. The institute has added courses, retrained faculty, and moved them into the entrepreneurial education area, and added not-for-credit courses and programs such as the Family Business Forum. “Having all of these programs coordinated with the academic curriculum gives LSU one of the best entrepreneurship programs to offer to students and one of the best economic development services to offer to the businesses operating in the state,” said Charles D’Agostino, executive director of the LBTC. Written by Rob Anderson | LSU Office of University Relations
Related Links Did you know?—LSU
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Entrepreneurial
education at LSU works to educate students, business owners, managers,
and aspiring business persons about owning and operating their own
businesses. The Institute for Entrepreneurial Education is composed
of four areas: Entrepreneurship Education, the Family Business Forum,
the international Franchise Forum, and Women Mean Business. The
Institute offers programs and activities such as educational seminars
and workshops in an executive education format; university coursework;
business planning, marketing, and management consultation; and venture-funding
assistance. 
Hair
also said that the presence of the 
