User:Jaquely2/Close School of Entrepreneurship

Close School of Entrepreneurship
The Close School of Entrepreneurship often referred to simply as the Close School, is the school of Entrepreneurial studies at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school offers an undergraduate program in entrepreneurship to nearly 250 students and encompasses an alumni network of more than 101 business professionals. The first entrepreneurship school in the nation to reside outside of a business school, and the first to offer an accelerated 3-Year degree program.

History
The Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship was founded and became operational in 2013 with a $12.5 million donation from the Charles and Barbara Close Foundation. At the time, the Close School of Entrepreneurship was one of the few (if not the only) standalone entrepreneurship schools in the United States of America and the only school in the surrounding region. Building on an outstanding foundation of curriculum, programming, and thought leadership at Drexel, the Close School will be the engine that drives the expanded culture of entrepreneurship envisioned by the University’s strategic plan of academics.

The late Charles D. Close was a 1936 Drexel graduate in electrical engineering and one of the University’s most distinguished alumni. His professional success as founder, leader, and investor in a series of essential technology companies based on the same entrepreneurial values that have underpinned the Close School. He and his wife Barbara established an equally notable legacy of philanthropy, which continues today under the guidance of the trustees of the Close Foundation.

Pearlstein Business Learning Center
Built in 2003, the four-story, 40,000 square-foot Pearlstein Business Learning Center is a $15 million facility. The fourth floor houses the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship along with the Baiada Institute for Entrepreneurship, home to many student-run startups.

Rankings
Drexel's ranks among the top 25 schools coming in 18th for undergraduate entrepreneurship programs by The Princeton Review.