The entrepreneurship MBA program at Olin Business School was named the top program in the first global ranking done by Inc. Magazine, Oct. 28.

The entrepreneurship MBA programs at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Babson College placed second and third.

Poets & Quants, a forum for business school students, powered the ranking. The forum evaluated 10 metrics including electives offered, published research on entrepreneurship and the percentage of MBA students who start their own companies. 27 schools were ranked, including three based outside of the United States.

Washington University administrators and students alike reacted positively to news of the ranking. Academic Director for Entrepreneurship Doug Villhard said he believes several components of the program contribute to its excellence.

“Our ‘intro’ courses (with a choice of entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship) paired with our famous Hatchery course are a perfect one-two punch for our students to foster their entrepreneurial spirit,” Villhard wrote in a statement to Student Life. “And, of course, entrepreneurship is one of the four pillars here at Olin.”

Jim Liu, a current student in the entrepreneurship MBA program and president of the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Association at Olin, moved from Taiwan to attend the Olin program.

“There’s no VC scene back home. One of my big[est] motivations [was] to come here to pursue this degree; Olin does provide a platform…for people interested in entrepreneurship,” Liu said.

Liu said he did not expect Olin’s top ranking, given the fast-paced nature of the field.

“There’s no right answer for how to attack entrepreneurship, and everybody’s doing something new,” Liu said.

Sophomore Isabella Xie, a student at Olin, said she was uplifted by news of the ranking.

“It’s exciting and inspiring to know that Olin’s entrepreneurship MBA program has been ranked with such valor,” Xie said. “As a student… this gives me drive and encouragement, knowing that Olin—albeit a school within a larger liberal arts University—has the resources to support its students, both graduate and undergraduate.”

The article noted it was unusual for a Midwestern city like St. Louis to have created a vibrant startup scene that is able to rival coastal cities.

“Entrepreneurship at Olin is more focused [than other schools],” Liu said. “[The ranking] is a very good, positive thing.”

According to Liu, St. Louis is a great place to find entrepreneurs and investors.

“It’s not just only Wash. U., but the city itself, and without that you can’t run a successful entrepreneurship program at a place where there’s no companies, where no one’s coming, with no investment,” Liu said.