Babson College is a private business school in Wellesley, Massachusetts,
established in 1919. Its central focus on entrepreneurship education has made
it the top entrepreneurship college in the United States.
Babson offers bachelor's degrees in business administration, and students
have the opportunity to declare concentrations in more than twenty-five
areas of study. The College also offers master's degrees in business
administration, accounting, entrepreneurial leadership, and
management. Often referred to as the "Entrepreneur's College," Babson is
known for immersing its students in the entrepreneurial lifestyle and culture.
Babson currently offers nearly fifty-five entrepreneurship-related
undergraduate courses. These courses are taught in tandem with traditional
liberal arts courses, which are over sixty percent of the typical student's
schedule. Every entrepreneurship course at Babson is taught by professors who
have started, sold, bought, or run successful businesses. Babson currently
has an undergraduate acceptance rate of 26%.
Babson College has consistently appeared on the U.S. News & World Report rankings
as the number one college in entrepreneurship education for nearly
three decades. In 2014, CNN's Money Magazine named Babson the number one
college in the country for value, and in 2015, the magazine ranked it second for
value. In 2015, The Economist ranked Babson second on its list of best
colleges and universities in outperforming earnings expectations.
Babson's MBA program has also been ranked number one in entrepreneurship
for over twenty years by U.S. News & World Report. Babson's alumni include
five living billionaires. History
= 20th Century= The Babson Institute
On September 3, 1919, with an enrollment of twenty-seven students, the Babson
Institute held its first classes in the former home of Roger and Grace Babson on
Abbott Road in Wellesley Hills. Roger Babson, the founder of the school, set
out to distinguish the Babson Institute from colleges offering mainly
instruction in business. The Institute provided intensive training in the
fundamentals of production, finance, and distribution in just one academic year,
rather than four. The curriculum was divided into four subject areas:
practical economics, financial management, business psychology, and
personal efficiency. The program's pace assumed that students would learn arts
and sciences content elsewhere. Mr. Babson favored a combination of
class work and actual business training. Seasoned businessmen made up the
majority of the faculty. To better prepare students for the realities of
the business world, the Institute's curriculum focused more on practical
experience and less on lectures. Students worked on group projects and
class presentations, observed manufacturing processes during field
trips to area factories and businesses, met with managers and executives, and
viewed industrial films on Saturday mornings.
The Institute also maintained a business environment as part of the students'
everyday life. The students, required to wear professional attire, kept regular
business hours and were monitored by punching in and out on a time clock.
They were also assigned an office desk equipped with a telephone, typewriter,
adding machine, and Dictaphone. Personal secretaries typed the students'
assignments and correspondence in an effort to accurately reflect the
business world. Roger Babson aimed to "prepare his students to enter their
chosen careers as executives, not anonymous members of the work force."
In 1969, the Babson Institute’s three-year bachelor of science in
business administration, still for young men only, became a four-year bachelor of
science degree, the Institute became a College, and women were admitted for the
first time. = 21st Century=
Three College Collaboration Babson is involved in a Three College
Collaboration with Olin College and Wellesley College. The goals of the
collaboration are to: "Expand educational opportunities for
students Develop interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and problem
solving Facilitate faculty research and teaching projects across campuses Share
best practices and collaborating in administrative functions The vision
behind the Three College Collaboration is to provide our students with the
creative and collaborative skills, knowledge, and ways of thinking needed
to function successfully today and into the future. The global challenges of our
time, which will define the world our graduates enter, are complex and
inherently interdisciplinary, and require teamwork. Because of the
distinctive strengths of each of the institutions involved and the leadership
commitment from the three presidents, we are well poised to address these issues
from varying perspectives and to engage students in cross-disciplinary and
collaborative ways. The new collaboration moves beyond the
activities of most consortia by taking advantage of the schools’ complementary
curricula to create innovative approaches to student learning and
problem solving and to provide all students with the tools to work across
disciplines". Campus
= Wellesley Main Campus= The main residential campus of Babson
College is 350 acres and located in the "Babson Park" section of Wellesley,
Massachusetts, just fourteen miles west of Boston. It is adjacent to the
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. Undergraduate and graduate students have
the opportunity to take advantage of campus amenities including the student
center, the cafeteria, Horn Library, multiple centers and institutes, the
fitness center, the arts center, and more. Executive and Enterprise Education
visitors have the opportunity to stay in guest rooms adjacent to the meeting
center. The Babson Globe
The 25-ton, 28-foot-diameter Babson Globe is a notable campus landmark.
Built in 1955 by Roger Babson at a cost of $200,000, it originally rotated both
on its axis and its base, demonstrating both day and night and the progression
of the seasons. It was allowed to deteriorate; the facing tiles fell off
in 1984, and by 1988 it had the appearance of a rusty sphere. The Babson
administration announced that it would be destroyed, but outraged students,
faculty and alumni began a drive to raise money for its restoration. In 1994
the globe itself was refurbished, though it no longer rotates. It was for many
years the largest rotating globe in the world and remains one of the largest
ever built. = Babson Boston=
The Babson Boston classroom and event space, located at 253 Summer Street,
gives Babson a presence in downtown Boston and connects the resources of the
College with the innovative companies, organizations, and leaders in Boston's
Innovation District. Opened in 2011, this facility provides the opportunity
to offer MBA courses in a location convenient to where entrepreneurial
students live and work. Over the course of the academic year, there are
opportunities at the Boston location for students to engage with Babson offices
and resources, including graduate programs, the Graduate Center for Career
Development, Graduate Admissions, and the College's alumni network.
= Babson San Francisco= Babson San Francisco expands
Entrepreneurial Thought and Action to the West Coast through Babson's Blended
Learning MBA program, an undergraduate semester experience, and custom
executive education, while connecting Babson students, faculty, and alumni to
the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Bay Area.
Academics = Undergraduate=
Babson offers all undergraduates a bachelor of science degree in business
administration while the F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson
College offers MBA degrees. Students are also given the option to declare
concentrations their senior year from a broad range of subjects in various
business and other fields. Programs are accredited by Association to Advance
Collegiate Schools of Business and the College itself has been regionally
accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges
since 1950. In rankings, Babson was rated first
among all colleges and universities in the nation by Money Magazine in 2014. In
2015, the magazine ranked it second just behind Stanford University. Babson’s MBA
program has been ranked number one in entrepreneurship for twenty-one
consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report, and is ranked 58th overall in
the Bloomberg Businessweek 2014 rankings. Babson's undergraduate
business program is ranked 26th overall in the Bloomberg Businessweek 2014
rankings. Babson's undergraduate Entrepreneurship program has been ranked
number one for the past 17 years by U.S. News & World Report. In their 2013–2014
salary report, Payscale.com ranked Babson College at number five of all US
colleges and universities, ahead of schools such as Stanford, Harvard,
Dartmouth, Columbia and Yale. This ranking represents an average mid-career
salary of $123,000 and average starting salary of $59,700. In 2012, Bloomberg
Businessweek ranked Babson eleventh among US schools based on return on
investment. Babson is the highest ranking private business college. The
others are either major universities or engineering schools. CNN money ranked
Babson fifth in their 2013 "Colleges with the highest-paid grads" rankings,
higher than MIT, Stanford and any Ivy League school.
= Graduate= Babson College also offers master's
degrees. It has a one-year MBA program, a two-year MBA program, a 42-month,
evening MBA program, and a blended learning MBA program with campuses
located in Boston and San Francisco. It also offers a Master's of Science in
Management in Entrepreneurial Leadership program, as well as a Master's of
Science in Accounting program, and a Certificate of Advanced Management
program. Student Life
In 2013, there were a total of 2,844 students attending Babson, 2,015 of whom
were undergraduates. Student publications include a literary magazine
and there are several fraternities and sororities on campus: Alpha Epsilon Pi,
Chi Omega, Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Sigma Kappa, and Sigma Phi
Epsilon. Babson College Radio was started in 1998. Babson offers a variety
of special interest housing, such as the I-Tower, the Healthy-Living Tower, the
Liberal Arts Tower, Origins of Necessary Equality, GIVE Tower, the Sophomore
Steering Tower, and the Green Tower. Athletics
Babson's mascot is the "Beavers" and its colors are green and white. Babson has
twenty-two varsity sports teams, the majority of which compete in the New
England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference of the NCAA Division III. In
addition, the men's and women's alpine ski teams compete in the United States
Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association, and the men's lacrosse team
competes in the Pilgrim League. Babson College's men's hockey team competes in
the Eastern College Athletic Conference and has won six ECAC East Championships,
appearing in the championship game in 9 of the last 12 seasons as of 2015.
Babson College's golf team competes in the New England Collegiate Conference
and won the title in 2011 giving them an automatic bid to the NCAAs. They were
led by senior captain Joe Young who won NECC golfer of the year in 2011.
Alumni = Business & Athletics=
Ernesto Bertarelli: CEO of Serono, America's Cup Yacht Race Winner
Arthur M. Blank: Co-Founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons
Jill Cartwright: Founder of Go GaGa Phil Castellini: COO of the Cincinnati
Reds Matt Chatham: Former NFL Player and
Founder of SkyCrepers Kevin Colleran: One of first 10
employees at Facebook, Venture Partner at General Catalyst
Matt Coffin: Founder and former President of LowerMyBills.com, sold for
$380 million to Experian in 2005. Robert Davis: Founder of Lycos,
CEO/Managing General Partner at Highland Capital Partners
Deborah DiSanzo: Former CEO of Philips Healthcare
Edsel Ford II: Director of Ford Motor Company
Tom Georgens: Former Chairman and CEO of NetApp
William D. Green: Former CEO and Executive Chairman of Accenture
Kathy Greer: Founder and Chairman of KGA, Inc.
Frederic C. Hamilton: Chairman/CEO of Hamilton Brothers Petroleum Corporation
Andronico Luksic: Chairman of Quiñenco, a holding of the Luksic Group
Carlos Mattos: Founder and President of Hyundai Colombia
Geoff Molson: Co-Owner of the Montreal Canadiens
Christine Mosholder: Founder of The Furniture Trust
David G. Mugar: CEO of Mugar Enterprises, Boston Philanthropist
Jim Poss: Founder of BigBelly Polina Raygorodskaya: Founder of Wanderu
Alexandra Raisman: Olympic Gold Medalist – Gymnastic London 2012
Bernhard Scholl: Head of US Chemicals Practice, Egon Zehnder
Scott Sharp: American race car driver, Indy Racing League champion
Jacob Sprague: Member of United States national rugby union team
Akio Toyoda: President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation
Robert E. Weissman: Former Chairman and CEO at IMS Health and Cognizant
Corporation Tom M. Mallon: Relationship
ManagerMarkets Group = Food & Entertainment=
Michael Angelakis, Vice Chairman and CFO of Comcast
Marc Bell: Former CEO of Penthouse Terrell Braly: CEO of Cinebarre, founder
of Quiznos Anthony Carrino: TV Personality, Kitchen
Cousins/Cousins on Call Gustavo Cisneros: President/CEO of
Organizacion Diego Cisneros Roger Enrico: former Chairman/CEO of
PepsiCo, currently Chairman of DreamWorks Animation SKG
Stephen Gaghan: Academy-Award Winning Screenwriter
Daniel Gerber: Founder of Gerber Baby Foods
Sara Gragnolati: Founder of CocoMama Foods
Gherardo Guarducci: Restaurateur, Sant Ambroeus
Daniel Hernman: Co-founder of PaintNite Jamie Kent: Musician, Jamie Kent
Bernard Lee: World ranked poker player, columnist for ESPN.com
John LeFevre: Author of Straight to Hell, @GSElevator
Michael Lorber: TV Personality Dean Metropoulus: Former owner of Pabst
Brewing Company, Executive Chairman and CEO of C. Dean Metropoulos and Company,
Savior of Hostess Brands and Chef Boyardee
Mir Ibrahim Rahman: CEO of GEO TV Danielle Zighelboim: Co-founder of
Coconut Cartel = Government, Education, and Other=
Ajay Bam: Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley
Craig Benson: Chairman & CEO of Cabletron, former Governor of New
Hampshire W. Haydon Burns: Former Governor of
Florida 1965–67 Marie: Cavallier: Princess Marie of
Denmark Rudy Crew: Superintendent of Miami-Dade
County Public Schools Ernest Dichmann Peek: U.S. Army Major
General Stephen Spinelli Jr.: President of
Philadelphia University Nora Sun: Granddaughter of Sun Yat-sen
and former American diplomat Sanmay Ved, Purchased Google.com from
Google in September 2015. Donated Google's reward to charity.
= Fashion & Fitness= Jessica Arredondo Murphy: Co-founder of
True Fit Michael Bastian: American fashion
designer Ruthie Davis: Founder & Designer of
Ruthie Davis Romney Evans: Co-founder of True Fit
Jason Jacobs: Founder of RunKeeper Matt Lauzon: Gemvara, Dunwello
Alberto Perlman: Founder and CEO of Zumba Fitness
Diane Sullivan: CEO of Brown Shoe Company
Notes and References External links
Official Website Official Athletics website
Babson College in Money Magazine