What is Entrepreneurship?

The program of study in Entrepreneurship is designed for our students to foster deep thinking, experimentation, observation, and reflection as a means of instigating creativity and action into economic development.

The program focus is broad and includes entrepreneurial orientation in a variety of settings including new venture creation, social stewardship, family business, government operations, and corporate endeavors. The goal is for our students to create an entrepreneurial mindset and spirit and the emphasis is on entrepreneurial application rooted in a solid foundation formed by successful organizational practices and theory.

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Coles College of Business

Learn more about Entrepreneurship

Admission Requirements

Students may initially declare an "-Interest" based major in this subject, but must still meet additional requirements to be formally accepted into the degree program.

Before a business major can be admitted to the Coles College Undergraduate Professional Program and enroll in any upper-division business courses (3000-4000 level), she or he must meet the Coles Sophomore GPA Requirement. This involves earning an Adjusted GPA of 3.00 or greater for the following seven courses:

  • ACCT 2101 Principles of Accounting I
  • ACCT 2102 Principles of Accounting II
  • ECON 2106 Principles of Microeconomics
  • ECON 2105 Principles of Macroeconomics
  • ECON 2300 Business Statistics
  • IS 2200 Information Systems & Communications
  • BLAW 2200 Legal and Ethical Environment of Business


Students also need to take BUSA 2150. Successful completion of this course is also a requirement for admission.

General Education Core IMPACTS Curriculum Recommendations for this Major

M: Students should take MATH 1111 or higher. 

 

Related Minors or Certificates

  • Business Fundamentals Certificate
  • Entrepreneurship Certificate
  • Entrepreneurship Minor

Sample Classes

  • As an introduction to creating value for an entrepreneurial venture, this course provides information to increase students’ awareness of the importance of being both externally-centric (focusing on definitions of value from the customer perspective) and internally-directed. This is achieved by developing and implementing strategies that meet customer expectations and satisfy the objectives of the new venture.
  • Students identify and examine different types of financing, differentiate between venture capital and angel investor funding, and locate alternative financing (such as crowd-funding, peer-to-peer lending, micro-loans, and SBA loans). Additionally, students learn how to determine the value of a new venture. The course explores sourcing and acquiring financial resources that are required in new venture start-ups. Exit strategies including mergers, acquisitions, firm sales, and initial public offerings (IPOs) are examined.
  • This course integrates the aspects of developing the entrepreneurial mindset, creating market value, financing the venture, and commercializing the opportunity for a new for-profit, enterprise initiative (Intrapreneurship) or social business venture. The students execute the action phase of the business plan, engage capital strategies, secure charter customers, interview community entrepreneurs, and formally pitch the new venture for critique by entrepreneurs or venture capitalists
  • This course uses an action learning approach to create, deliver, and reflect on an meaningful experience in entrepreneurship. Students have the option of working on solving a problem for a small business, making substantive progress on a personal venture idea, or enacting change within an existing organization. Students will be required to create the terms of the engagement, set deliverables, participate in the experience, and reflect on the process and results.