Future entrepreneurs can feel safe to invest in San Diego State as their graduate school.

The SDSU entrepreneurship program recently tied with Wake Forest, ranking 22nd in the 2007 edition of U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”

SDSU rose from being rated No. 26 in 2005 and was among universities such as Stanford and Harvard.

Director of Entrepreneurship Academics Alex DeNoble said the national success of SDSU’s entrepreneurship program is because of a combination of constantly evolving innovative curriculum and the support of the Entrepreneurship Management Center.

The academic program is specifically designed in preparing entrepreneurs to start their own companies and to be successful in the workforce by applying their classes to their companies. This means that courses don’t just consist of sitting in a classroom taking notes, but also include listening to advice from actual entrepreneurs on how to succeed.

The staff is made up of academic faculty who conduct research to build coursework and clinical faculty including entrepreneurs who have their own companies, DeNoble said.

About 17 years ago, DeNoble,