First place for UH: Bauer College gets top grade from Princeton Review Bauer College gets top grade from Princeton Review.

It isn't every day that a No. 1 ranking comes to a Houston school. Our congratulations go to the University of Houston's C.T. Bauer College of Business, whose entrepreneurship program has been ranked No. 1 among undergraduate programs in that field by the Prince-ton Review.

Oh, yes: It's the second such No. 1 ranking for the Bauer entrepreneurship program in the past three years. The UH program also received the Princeton Review's top ranking in 2008, and was rated No. 2 in 2007 and 2009. The rankings are done for Entrepreneur magazine.

Nice going. Achievements such as this one are the stuff from which Tier 1 status is made. UH is working hard to achieve that goal, and the entire Houston community should be rooting for the Cougars to make it to that level. Doing so would give the city two Tier 1 universities. Rice University holds the coveted ranking.

But back to Bauer's accomplishment. The business school's success in building the entrepreneurship area of its curriculum is part of a larger effort to put this region on the cutting edge in this field.

It's making a visible difference. According to the Greater Houston partnership, this area is home to more than 228,000 businesses with fewer than 100 employees. We rank fourth nationally among "Best Metro areas for small business start-ups," as compiled by CNN Money in October 2009. In June 2009, Forbes magazine ranked Houston as its "Best city to get ahead."

Those accomplishments all start in the classroom. In Bauer's case, that is the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship, named in honor of the chairman of Star Furniture, a UH graduate (class of '53), and his wife.

Under the leadership of co-chairman William Sherrill, the Wolff Center offers students a highly effective combination of theoretical and practical programs to do their thing in the world of business. You'll find the success stories all around Houston — from restaurants such as BB's Cajun Cafe and 100% Taquito, to Intex Flooring, Home Art Homes, Jesse&Co Canine Couture and Classy Art Wholesalers, Inc.

We're betting that these will be followed by many more with the UH pedigree.