BukSU ranks 9th nationwide in Wadhwani entrepreneurship awards

Bukidnon State University (BukSU) secured the ninth spot among the Top 10 Ignite Partner Institutions in the Philippines for the years 2023 to 2025, according to an announcement by the Wadhwani Entrepreneurship Network (WEN) on May 27, 2026.

The national ranking recognizes higher education institutions (HEIs) that have integrated innovation-driven entrepreneurship into their academic frameworks through the use of the digital Wadhwani Ignite platform.

The College of Business (COB) is actively engaged in entrepreneurship training while College of Technologies (COT) and College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) are engaged in Job Ready Course, training students on competencies needed in the workplace.

Aside from this institutional  recognition, Mr. John Lloyd Rojo, a faculty member at the COT – Information Technology Department was conferred with Top 1 Outstanding Venture Awardee and a fully Certified Entrepreneurship Educator during the WEN Ignite Program held on June 10-19, 2025.

COB faculty were also trained under the WEN Ignite Faculty Refresher Program: Empowering AI-Driven Experiential Teaching, ensuring the faculty to be updated with the digital trend in education.

According to WEN, the award highlighted institutions that go beyond traditional classroom lectures to enable students to think critically, validate business ideas, and launch purpose-driven ventures.

WEN stated in an official post that the selection process was strictly objective and based on performance over two years.

“The rankings were strictly data-driven, evaluated on actual program deployment metrics over two years,” WEN said. “The criteria included the number of cohorts created, faculty deployment, student enrollment, and, most crucially, the total number of student ventures successfully developed and completed through the platform.”

The recognition further strengthens BukSU’s position as a higher education institution advancing innovation in entrepreneurship and employability through collaborative and data-driven educational initiatives.

To strengthen the initiative in the university, Job Ready Program and Entrepreneurship was relaunched as EMPOWER: Enhancing Modern Practical Opportunities for Workforce Education and Readiness with Wadhani Foundation.

“We officially launched the program last year during our ASEAN Celebration in August 2025, with the virtual presence of the Country Leader for Skilling, Ms. Amormia Rosales, marking an important milestone in strengthening our commitment to workforce employability and entrepreneurship preparation of our graduates,” said Dr. Rizza Ramos Consad, BukSU’s International Affairs and Linkages Unit (IALU) Director.

The IALU oversees the implementation of the online courses to advance entrepreneurship education and employability initiatives under WEN. (BukSU – Information Unit with input from Dr. Rizza R. Consad/ Head, IALU)