The award-winning Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, founded by successful businessman and philanthropist local resident Michael Dingman, has been ranked among the top 1% of undergraduate entrepreneurship schools in the U.S.

The Dingman Center, a division of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, was voted 18th out of more than 2,000 schools assessed for their ability to prepare college students and business hopefuls to face a world where 50% of small businesses fail in the first five years.

It was the 9th annual ranking by Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine for their combined list of the 25 best undergraduate programs.