Cox School of Business is already well-known for its programs, but Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship reaffirmed the school’s status as No. 21 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s list of top graduate programs for 2009.
Caruth Insitute for Entrepreneurship currently offers 18 courses, including ‘Starting a Business,’ ‘Venture Financing’ and ‘International Entrepreneurship.’
Jerry White, director of the Caruth Insitute, feels that the institute’s programs are set apart from other schools’.
“Dallas is a particularly entrepreneurial city, and has been over the years,” he said. “We are largely influenced by [it].”
The institute has more than 20 graduate courses, which White said is “highly unusual” and distinguishes the program from others. But Caruth Institute offers more than just courses.
It also has programs such as the Cox MBA Venture Fund, which its Web site calls “A pioneering program that gives students the hands-on experience of making debt and equity investments to fund select business ventures developed by Cox students and alumni.”
White explained the true extent of the fund, “The MBA Venture Fund has over $1 million in businesses and upwards of a $1 million in investments.”
Cox School of Business is preparing its students for the future, according to senior Justin Hunt .
“I definitely feel that our education at Cox has prepared us to take on real problems that businesses face today,” he said. “We are constantly taught to apply text book learning to current economic and business issues.”
Another one of the successful programs in the Cox School of Business is its accounting program. The Student Opinion section in Entrepreneur Magazine lists the top 15 schools, and SMU’s accounting program was among the student chosen schools.
Hunt said the professors are the ones to be accredited: “At Cox, Carolyn Dreher, Wayne Shaw and Barry Bryan have been instrumental in teaching accounting in relevant and interesting ways.”
Accounting Professor Wendy Wilson said, “The accounting curriculum is well-designed to prepare graduating students for an entry-level position…Cox accounting students are actively recruited by top professional services firms as well as a significant number of national and international corporations.”
Wilson also attributes some of Cox’s success to its strong tie between the school and Dallas’ strong business community.
The Caruth Institute is always looking to expand and better itself. It is “continually updating courses and looking at other ways to serve the students and business community,” White said.
She said that for the past two years they have had someone teaching the course ‘Venture in China,’ because of the country’s expanding entrepreneurial growth.
White said that the Caruth Institute wants to ensure their students are receiving the greatest experiences possible.
