Do you want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg? Would you love to have drinks while making deals with the founder of Twitter? If you answered yes to these questions, and dream of starting your own business one day, you’re in luck.
A growing number of colleges have capitalized on that trend and instead of teaching students to climb another executive’s corporate ladder, the degree programs help you gain the skills needed to launch the next big company.
The following schools—ranked by the number of entrepreneurial, undergraduate course offerings—have both majors and minors that will help you become your very own business owner.
University of Michigan
Flickr user VasenkaPhotography
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Entrepreneurial Courses: 48
This interdisciplinary program allows students from all branches of study to leverage their passions for science, fine arts, commerce, social justice and other fields toward the next business innovation. This entrepreneurship minor focuses on providing an immersive education, taught by professors with firsthand expertise on transforming original ideas into lucrative profits.
Temple University
Flickr user Mark Goebel
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Entrepreneurial Courses: 47
This major or minor program, offered through the Fox School of Business, equips students to succeed in every aspect of entrepreneurship, from inception to management. Students will learn about market research, financial forecasting, industry analysis and more. Networking with prominent companies in the Northeast is another fringe benefit of this course study.
Miami University
Flickr user John Fink
Location: Oxford, OH
Entrepreneurial Courses: 39
This major or minor program gives students the opportunity to narrow their entrepreneurial interests based on four academic tracks: social, startup, corporate and creative. The material taught is then customized to reflect the framework chosen in order to groom professionals who recognize the value in communication, delegation, administration and collaboration.
Northeastern University
Flickr user Wally Gobetz
Location: Boston, MA
Entrepreneurial Courses: 35
This interdisciplinary program exposes non-business major students to entrepreneurship by demonstrating how commercial and economic awareness is beneficial for a variety of career paths.
In addition, each student is paired with a faculty mentor as part of a college-sponsored professional development initiative to fulfill the minor requirements.
Baylor University
Flickr user Stephanie Sarles
Location: Waco, TX
Entrepreneurial Courses: 29
This major or minor program, offered in conjunction with regional organizations for training and investing, teaches students how to launch a business on the global stage. With study abroad components in Europe, Africa, or the Caribbean and experiential fellowships in the surrounding community, these real-world applications are boosting international business and helping you be a part of it.
University of Oklahoma
Flickr user Allison Meier
Location: Norman, OK
Entrepreneurial Courses: 28
This major or minor program familiarizes students with an “entrepreneurial ecosystem” model, which combines both intensive coursework and the use of interactive resources outside the classroom. Through internships spanning the country and globe, students can discover the expansive impact their startup vision could produce, from technology to sustainability and beyond.
Clarkson University
Courtesy of Clarkson University
Location: Potsdam, NY
Entrepreneurial Courses: 21
This interdisciplinary program gives both business- and creative-minded students a flexible academic curriculum that emphasizes ideation and innovation. The material covered ranges from concept strategy to product development to consumer behavior, among others. The best part: almost 75 percent of the faculty are leading entrepreneurs in their respective fields.
DePaul University
Flickr user Richie Diesterheft
Location: Chicago, IL
Entrepreneurial Courses: 16
This major or minor program is ideal for students pursuing any facet of entrepreneurship, from launching their own venture to overseeing a family business. In addition to entrepreneurial studies, it is required that this concentration be supplemented by management, operations, human resources or leadership focuses.
University of Arizona
Flickr user Steve Shupe
Location: Tucson, AZ
Entrepreneurial Courses: 15
This interdisciplinary program, ranked among the nation’s top five undergraduate entrepreneurial majors, prepares students to excel in cutting-edge business trends by mastering both practical and theoretical ingenuity. The advanced, one-year track is designed for senior level applicants who must undergo an interview process before admittance.
University of Washington
Flickr user Curtis Cronn
Location: Seattle, WA
Entrepreneurial Courses: 15
This major or minor program is intended for students who consider themselves visionaries but lack knowledge to turn a brainstorm into a reality. From both an educational and professional context, the curriculum makes abstract buzzwords like “company creation” sound less intimidating so that students are equipped to finance, promote and grow their business.
Are you ready to take your career into your own hands? Request more information from the colleges that sound best for you to begin the entrepreneur journey you were born to take.
Once you’ve made it through your program, keep the words of the successful global ecopreneur Ted Rollins at the front of your mind: “The best ideas in the world still require the focus and persistence of their founder. This is a journey that you must believe in and never stop until you have made it successful. It is a windy path and you can never take ‘No’ for an answer.”
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Interested in any of these colleges? Use College Raptor’s free match tool to discover if they’re good fits for you!
