Which Colleges Produce the Most Founders?

Wondering which colleges produce the most founders? This MakeResume analysis of LinkedIn Alumni Search data (collected March 2021) ranks U.S. and U.K. universities by historical founder counts, recent founder output, and founder density — so you can compare elite brands with schools that actually improve your odds.

Anyone with ambition and an idea can start a company from a school incubator, a garage, or a phone. Confidence and expertise are harder. Startups may or may not be in a golden age, but failure rates remain stubborn — and college still helps by teaching skills, building networks, and opening infrastructural support.

Because education and confidence are tied up with privilege, we also highlight the strongest U.S. public schools and northern U.K. universities for founders. Explore the interactive table below, then use resume examples or MakeResume's resume builder when you are ready to turn that education into your next role — founder or otherwise.

Key findings

These headline numbers show which schools lead on recent founder output, historical totals, and northern U.K. strength.

• Harvard is producing the most new founders in the US right now, with 6,914 in the past three years.
• Berkeley has produced the most founders historically: 44,139.
• Cambridge has produced the most founders in the UK both historically (25,366) and in the past three years (4,226).
• The University of Manchester is the northern UK university that's produced the most founders historically (13,922) and recently (1,793).

Harvard overtaking Berkeley as best bet for tomorrow's founders

Harvard currently edges UC Berkeley on recent founder output — 6,914 vs. 6,224 in the past three years — while Berkeley still leads on total historical founders at 44,139.

Berkeley may not be Ivy League, but its founder track record is hard to ignore. Historical founders include Gordon E. Moore, who launched Intel with Robert Noyce after graduating in 1950.

Harvard offers slightly better odds of becoming a founder, with roughly 16% of alumni having started a business. Three graduates (from '92, '17, and '18) recently secured $16 million in seed funding for Cellino, a biotech startup using stem cell biology, machine learning, and laser physics to make regenerative medicines.

Cambridge is the UK's top school for founders — but a new university offers better odds

Cambridge leads the U.K. on both historical founders (25,366) and recent founders (4,226), but Regent's University London posts the highest founder density among the schools we reviewed.

Cambridge and Oxford — the so-called Oxbridge universities — sit at the top of U.K. higher education and are known for big-name alumni, including figures tied to the origins of evolution and modern computing. Arianna Huffington was the first foreign president of the Cambridge student union before graduating in 1972 and co-founding HuffPost in 2005 and Thrive Global in 2016.

Regent's University London is less famous on brand alone. It traces its history to 1849 but only gained university status in 2013. In recent years, alumnus Asil Attar co-founded SALT, an affordable luxury goods concept integrating socially minded e-commerce and pop-ups; and four alumni (Rebecca Masri, Elizabeth Sieff Rafferty, Navid Mirtorabi, and Nathaniel Glas) launched Little Emperors, a members-only luxury hotel club.

Best public schools for founders are in California

UC Berkeley is the American public university that has produced the most founders — historically about 32.6% more than UCLA, and 68.5% more over the past three years — though Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC) leads public schools on founder density at 8.48%.

Historically, University of California, Berkeley has produced one-third (32.6%) more founders than UCLA. Over the past three years, that gap has been two-thirds (68.5%). Berkeley's recent founder count sits at 6,224.

Berkeley does not offer the best odds at foundership among public schools. Around 7.06% of Berkeley graduates start their own business, placing it just outside the top ten for density of founders produced by public schools. By that metric, the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC leads with a founder density of 8.48%.

Manchester home to UK's top northern school for founders

The University of Manchester has produced the most founders in northern England — 13,922 historically and 1,793 recently — and ranks fourth overall among U.K. universities in this dataset.

The U.K.'s north-south divide in academic attainment is weighted against schoolchildren in the north (and the U.K.'s disadvantaged in general). Still, the country boasts world-class universities in the north and south alike. Northern students who want a university path into business should not be discouraged by the cost of leaving home.

Notable Manchester founders include Vikas Shah, MBE, founder of the Thought Strategy consulting firm/investment fund and the 53 Degrees North film studio.

The founder of You, PLC

Even if you never incorporate a company, treating your career like something you build — and using college to test ideas among peers — is one of the most practical entrepreneurial skills you can develop.

Browse the interactive table below for full university-level founder statistics from this analysis. Data was collected in March 2021 using LinkedIn Alumni Search.

The job-for-life generation has already retired, making everyone an entrepreneur of their own career. Starting an actual business is not for everyone, but college is a useful place to find out — as you position yourself among peers and test whether ideas have legs.

If you are not the studying type, you can still learn the ropes from the inside by working under an established founder. You only truly graduate when you start your own business. “We discovered there's no real substitute for learning the hard way,” says Wombi Rose, Harvard '15, co-founder of LovePop. “The lesson just doesn't sink in until you feel the pain of doing it wrong.”

Whether you are pitching investors or applying for your first role after graduation, a clear resume helps. Start with MakeResume.pro or build a polished document in the resume builder.

Methodology & sources

This MakeResume analysis compiled lists of U.S. and U.K. universities using UniRank and Wikipedia. For each university we found the LinkedIn page and used the Alumni section to source founder numbers. Founder density was calculated as a ratio of total founders to total graduates.

The data was collected in March 2021.