15 Of The Most Innovative Universities
Even the longstanding US News and World Report’s latest schools are innovating.
For the first time, the report includes the most innovative schools, as judged by college presidents, deans, and admissions officers.
The schools earn the distinction for their emphasis on grooming, self-motivated thinkers that can turn wild ideas into successful realities.
1. University Of Southern California
USC has an entire department, the Stevens Center for Innovation, reserved strictly for new business and product ideas.
Research faculty can brainstorm, engineer, and commercialize those ideas.
USC also encourages undergrads to think creatively with its student-run Spark SC Committees innovation-driven groups that design and build products, and host events around campus.
2. University Of Central Florida
At UCF, the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship helps students and faculty turn many ideas into marketable ventures.
One avenue is the Blackstone LaunchPad, which offers students free, confidential coaching to build a start-up.
A five-year, $50 million agreement with UCF combined with a network of coaches gives students the know-how and ability to start self-driven careers.
3. Georgia Institute Of Technology
Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute consults with established business pros and local K-12 schools to foster innovative thinking based on their specific needs.
The university also houses the Invention Studio, which is open to all students who want to tinker, build, and play.
"To promote and reward creativity," the studio's website states, "there are few strict rules in the Invention Studio. Rather, we promote an ethic of responsibility, safety, and community ownership."
4. Cornell University
Cornell has more than a dozen programs and institutes related to innovation, including the Entreprenuership and Innovative Institute, the Big Ideas Competition, the eLab, and Student Agency Inc. Students learn immediately that ingenuity has a place in the world, and they could be the ones to make it a reality.
5. Carnegie Mellon University
CMU's Integrated Innovation Institute is the brainchild of the College of Engineering and the College of Fine Arts.
It includes professional master degree programs, executive education, and hands-on product development research with industry leaders.
CMU even offers a degree tailored to the pursuit, its Master of Intergrated Innovation for Products and Services.
6. University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Innovation is a top priority at the University of Michigan.
The university offers multiple degrees, from its Bachelor of Science in Information to its Ph.D. in Information, all within its School of Information.
"The School of Information delivers innovative, elegant, and ethical solutions connecting people, information, and technology," the school states." When there is a need for world-changing information discoveries, we will be there."
7. Havard University
Launched in November 2011, the Harvard Innovation Lab, known as the i-lab, connects students with the resources they will need in order to conceive and launch products.
"The i-lab fosters collaboration among Harvard students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and members of the Allston and Greater Boston communities," the i-lab states.
It distinguishes itself from other entrepreneurship programs, allowing students to collaborate across schools in Harvard and rely on faculty for help.
8. Drexel University
Drexel is not just building a single center or institute for innovation.
It is fostering an entire neighborhood.
The goal at Drexel is to cultivate innovation as a mission of the entire university. That mission is already seen in its five-year co-op program, which gives students a break from classes so they can work full-time while still in school.
Drexel's Straegic plan 2012-2019 hinges on embedding innovation into the fabric of the college.
9. Duke University
Duke'sCo-Lab and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative are intended to make the university more than just a flash in the pan of innovation.
Instead, Duke hopes to spread the design and creativity gospel into the surrounding neighborhood.
"We seek to make Duke an agent of transformation through an entrepreneurial spirit, generating innovations from the ideas that grow at the university,"the innitiative’s website states.
10. North Eastern University
Last year, Northeastern launched its one-year Master of Science in program.
It is designed to help working professionals hone their skills as thought leaders to think more dynamically and see where opportunities lie.
The university also features a Center for Research Innovation, which "serves as the University-wide portal between industry and leading-edge innovations" from the university's portfolio of research.
11. Georgia State University
Few colleges have a Chief Innovative Officer. Georgia State is one of them.
Students at GSU receive hands on-training with Microsoft to solve problems related to coding and programming, along with an introductory composition course that teaches students digital literacy, including blogging and building out web pages.
The university also uses its Center for Instructional Innovation to help teachers hone their craft in a changing and increasingly tech-driven era.
12. University Of Maryland, Baltimore County
At UMBC, innovation is not just a perk of education. It is the whole pursuit.
In particular, the university tries to help its minority students to go after degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math with its Meyerhoff Scholars Program.
Innovation is also funded federally.
The Center of Excellence in Regulatory Scinece and Innovation, a joint venture with UMD's College Park campus, has backing from the US Food and Drug Administration to refine how drugs and medical devices are reviewed and evaluated.
13. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
It is no surprise that one of the most tech-minded universities ranks near the top of a list of innovative schools.
MIT routinely graduates the brightest minds because of its emphasis on creation, which is made most visible by its Media Lab.
The lab's mission of "promoting a unique, antidisciplinary culture" enables students to produce technology at the bleeding edge of wearables, computing, and interactive surfaces.
14. Stanford University
Living in Palo Alto, the heart of Silicon Valley, makes it hard to avoid conversations about innovation.
Stanford's Center for Social Innovation highlights the university's commitment to solving hugely complex problems, like civil rights issues and environmental concerns, with a combination of in-class learning and project-based activities.
The CSI molds eager-eyed freshmen to become the next decade's revolutionary leaders.
15. Arizona State University
ASU's passion for innovation spans from its online-learning center Global Freshman Academy to its partnership with Starbucks, which offers employees free online tuition at ASU.
The university also created a program called me3, which uses high schoolers' personality traits to find their ideal careers.
The emphasis on online education has led to greater retention rates than traditional classrooms the bedrock of any successful education.
