On September 3, 1919, with an enrollment of twenty-seven students, the Babson Institute held its first classes in the former home of Roger and Grace Babson on Abbott Road in Wellesley Hills.[citation needed] The Institute provided intensive training in the fundamentals of production, finance and distribution in one academic year.
The institute's curriculum focused on practical experience. Students worked on group projects and class presentations, observed manufacturing processes during field trips to area factories and businesses, met with managers and executives, and viewed industrial films on Saturday mornings.
The institute also maintained a business environment as part of the students' everyday life. The students, required to wear professional attire, kept regular business hours and were monitored by punching in and out on a time clock. They were also assigned an office desk equipped with machines standard at the time. Personal secretaries typed the students' assignments and correspondence in an effort to accurately reflect the business world. Roger Babson aimed to "prepare his students to enter their chosen careers as executives, not anonymous members of the work force."[4]
The main residential campus of Babson College is 350 acres (1.4 km2) and located in the "Babson Park" section of Wellesley, Massachusetts, fifteen miles west of Boston.[8]
The F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College offers a one-year MBA Program, a two-year MBA Program, a 42-month evening MBA Program and a blended learning MBA Program with campuses located in Boston, San Francisco and Miami.[12] It also offers a Master's of Science in Entrepreneurial Leadership, Business Analytics, Finance, and a Certificate of Advanced Management.[13]
Babson's undergraduate school and MBA program have been ranked #1 by the U.S. News & World Report for entrepreneurship for several consecutive decades.[18]
In 2025, Babson ranked #2 on The Wall Street Journal's best colleges.[19] It is the #1 business school on Forbes' list of colleges with the highest earning graduates.[20] Because Babson only offers programs in business administration, many publications do not include the college in their overall rankings.[21]
Student life
Student publications include a literary magazine[22] and the Babson Built Podcast.[23] There are several fraternities and sororities on campus. Babson College Radio was started in 1998.[24]
Athletics
Babson's teams are known as the "Beavers" and its colors are green and white. The school has 23 varsity sports teams, the majority of which compete in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) of the NCAA Division III.[25] Babson's Baseball team has won 7 Conference Championships and been to 5 NCAA Tournaments, including the 2019 College World Series. Additionally, the men's soccer team have won 3 NCAA National Championships, 27 NCAA tournaments wins and 12 conference championships. The men's and women's alpine ski teams compete in the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA)[26] and the men's lacrosse team competes in the Pilgrim League. Babson College's men's hockey team competes in the New England Hockey Conference (formerly called the ECAC East) and has won (1) NCAA D3 National title, (1) ECAC 2 title, six ECAC East Championships, appearing in the championship game in 12 of the last 20 seasons as of 2024[update].[27] Babson College's men's golf team competes in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) and won the title in 2011. Babson United Rugby Club won Northeast region of NSCRO 7's in 2016. In March 2017, Babson's basketball team won the Division III National Championship.[28]
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(December 2016)