There has never been a better time to be a Dragon, with Drexel’s reputation gaining in major national rankings.

For the first time ever, Drexel was recognized as one of the “Top 25 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship” by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. The ranking was based on a 60-question survey that, according to the Review, “asked schools to report on levels of their commitment to entrepreneurship studies inside and outside the classroom.” The group tabulated data on the percentage of faculty, students and alumni involved in entrepreneurial endeavors, on the scope of mentorship programs, scholarships and grants for entrepreneurial studies, and on each school’s support for business-plan development.

Just five years ago, Drexel established the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship, the nation’s only freestanding, degree-granting school of entrepreneurship. Together with its state-of-the-art incubator — the Laurence A. Baiada Institute for Entrepreneurship — and the entrepreneurship co-op, it offers undergraduates from any discipline an unparalleled opportunity to launch their own business ideas.

Drexel also moved up nine spots in the second year of The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education College Rankings for 2018, placing 84th out of 1,054 U.S. colleges and universities. The relatively new ranking evaluates schools based on student outcomes, especially after graduation, rather than inputs like SAT scores and university acceptance rates. The ranking also placed Drexel in the top 400 international institutions, 6th in a list of students’ top schools for career preparation and 38th in a list of U.S. private research universities.

In addition, the University moved up two places in the 2018 U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” rankings, advancing to 94th on this year’s list. The result marked a full decade in which Drexel has placed inside the top 100 on the list, and it came alongside impressive rankings for “Most International Students” (27th) and “Most Innovative Schools” (25th).

“As we begin another new academic year, we can be confident that our shared goals for Drexel are showing dividends in so many ways,” says President John Fry.

The rankings show he couldn’t be more right.