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New report ranks Austin among 10 best cities for black entrepreneurs

Austin ranks at No. 6 in a new report from GoodCall, which lauds large Texas cities as some of the best business environments for black entrepreneurs.

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Business is booming in the Lone Star State, and a new report from GoodCall ranks large Texas cities as some of the best economic environments for black entrepreneurs. Austin-Round Rock takes the No. 6 spot on the Texas-dominated top 10 list.

The research website looked at statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis to get an idea of "each city's economic health, the strength of its job market, its educational values, and its concentration of African-American-owned businesses."

Austin's emphasis on education and economy propelled our city to the top 10. Our economic health — which was determined by unemployment rate and year-over-year change in gross domestic product — earned Austin a No. 11 ranking in that category. While 24.17 percent of African-Americans in Austin have a bachelor's degree or higher, there are only 3.06 African-American-owned businesses per 1,000 Austin residents, which is far less impressive than the other Texas cities on the list.

The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland metro area ranks No. 2 in the nation. In Houston, 23.41 percent of African-Americans have a bachelor's degree or higher. The city impresses with a much higher ratio of 9.47 African-American-owned businesses per 1,000 people. However, Houston ranked No. 24 for economic health, tied with the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area.

The North Texas metroplex comes in just behind Houston at No. 3 overall. There are 8.10 African-American-owned businesses per 1,000 residents, and 23.41 percent have higher education degrees.

San Antonio barely misses the top 10, ranking No. 13. A notable place at No. 18 for economic health and a 24.09 percent education rate boosted San Antonio in the rankings, but the city has a 2.5 to 1,000 African-American-owned business ratio.

For a further break down of the numbers, head to GoodCall.

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Top of the class

UT Austin ranks among best U.S. schools for entrepreneurship in 2025

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Photo by Alexander Williams on Unsplash

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The University of Texas at Austin has earned two top-10 spots on The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur’s lists of the best graduate and undergraduate schools for entrepreneurship studies for 2025.

UT Austin's McCombs School of Business ranks seventh in the graduate category, and UT ranks second in the undergraduate category.

The school is no stranger to the prestigious national lists. In the 2024 rankings, UT also appeared as No. 2 among undergraduate programs, and No. 6 in the ranking for the best graduate programs.

This year marks the fourth time that the school has landed in the top 5 on the undergraduate side, and the 12th time in 15 years that McCombs has made the top 10 among graduate programs in the annual ranking, UT notes in a news release.

The only other schools in Texas to make either top-10 list for 2025 were Rice University (No. 1 graduate school) and the University of Houston (No. 1 undergraduate program).

Rankings for The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur’s 2025 lists were based on a survey of administrators at nearly 300 schools in the U.S., Canada, and Europe that offer entrepreneurship studies. Among the more than 40 factors used for the rankings were academic programs, faculty credentials, mentorship opportunities, and alumni entrepreneurship ventures.

"If the focus of the MBA program at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin were to be summed up in one word, it would be 'collaboration,'" reads the 2025 graduate schools report. "Students in more than 20 concentrations uniformly crow over its 'incredibly collaborative culture,' citing the 'supportive culture' as a top reason they ultimately picked the program. As a 'top 20 school,' the 'rigorous academic[s]' and 'focus on clean energy,' 'technology,' and 'entrepreneurship,' are other stand-out elements of the program."

The top 10 schools on the list of 50 best graduate schools for entrepreneurship studies in 2025 are:

1. Rice University
2. University of California-Los Angeles
3. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
4. Washington University in St. Louis
5. Babson College
6. University of Washington
7. University of Texas at Austin
8. University of Virginia
9. Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands
10. University of South Florida

The top 10 schools on the list of 50 best undergraduate schools for entrepreneurship studies in 2025 are:

1. University of Houston
2. University of Texas at Austin
3. Babson College
4. University of Washington
5. Washington University in St. Louis
6. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
7. University of Maryland-College Park
8. Miami University of Ohio
9. Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico
10. Northeastern University

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The story originally was published on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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