How to Select the Ideal Entrepreneurial Program
Choosing an entrepreneurial program is an important decision which can have a significant impact on wether or not an entrepreneur is successful.
With a large number of entrepreneur programs to choose from it can be difficult to make the ideal selection. Shown below are some important aspects to consider when selecting among the large number of entrepreneurship programs:
Location
Some experts recommend that individuals seeking a career in technology select a school located in a major tech entrepreneurial center such as Silicon Valley or the Boston region where venture capital deals are made all the time. For technology entrepreneurs, some experts suggest a second-tier school located in a major tech market is preferable to a prestigious school located in the Midwest.
Reputation and Track Record
A school’s ranking and having a national reputation of academic excellence are often important factors to potential employers. They can also be important factors to venture capitalists.
Questions: What is the percentage of graduates of a particular entrepreneurship program that begin their own business? One expert estimates that up to 20 percent of people majoring in entrepreneurship begin a business immediately after they graduate. Who are the successful entrepreneurs who graduated from the program?
On-Campus Resources
It’s important to select a school that provides active opportunities for students to meet investors. On-campus small business development centers and entrepreneurial centers can also be useful.
The school’s affiliations with businesses and business related organizations can also be helpful to students during an externship and in their careers. A school’s affiliation with national and international student organizations including Students in Free Enterprise may be a desirable factor for some students.
Curriculum
In some programs, students as individuals or as part of a team have the opportunity to operate their own company during a majority of the program. A significant trend is the tech-transfer model in which entrepreneurship is taught across the curriculum.
At some institutions faculty members and graduate students from medical and engineering schools team up with MBA students to take innovative ideas and commercialize them.
Questions: What areas of concentration are available? Does the school have entrepreneurship clubs? Does the school have mentorship programs?
Flexibility
Online classes allow students to work at their own pace from home. They can take classes while building their business. Many school offer accelerated programs. Prospective students should make sure the online program they are considering offers all the important parts of on-campus programs.
Training
Externships provide valuable experience and networking opportunities.
Questions: Does the program provide a variety of externships? Do students have to find their own externships? Are they paid or unpaid externships?
Prerequisite Work
Some entrepreneur programs focus on entrepreneurial studies throughout the program, whereas other programs require an extensive amount of prerequisite work including business classes and general studies classes.
Faculty
Quality programs are taught by instructors that have been successful entrepreneurs.
Questions: What percentage of faculty members are entrepreneurs? How does the percentage compare to top ranked schools? Do some of the instructors have experience at developing Internet businesses?
Top Rated Entrepreneurial Undergraduate Programs
Some of the top rated entrepreneurial undergraduate degree programs are provided by the following schools:
- Babson College
- University of Houston
- Baylor University
- Temple University
- Drexel University
- University of Dayton
- DePaul University
- City University of New York – Baruch College
- University of Southern California
- University of Pennsylvania
- Indiana University – Bloomington
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Syracuse University
- University of Arizona
- Miami University
- University of Texas Austin
- Ball State University
- University of Oklahoma
- Northeastern University
- University of Alabama
Top Rated Entrepreneurial Graduate Programs
Some of the top rated entrepreneurship graduate degree programs are provided by the following schools:
- Babson College
- Stanford University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Cornell University
- DePaul University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Howard University
- University of Pennsylvania
About the Author: Brian Jenkins writes articles on management for Braintrack.com, including this article on General Management Careers.
Photo Credit: epak
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How to Find a Great Business College
Perhaps you’ve always dreamed of running your own business (or several). Or maybe your plan is to start in marketing or management and work your way up.
You might be interested in commerce, economics, government, or politics. Or your talents may lie in more creative fields like art or writing.
Whatever your interests and goals, a degree in marketing could help you. It is quite possibly the most versatile and misunderstood of college majors because many people labor under the assumption that it is only for the corporate-minded among us. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone who is interested in a business of any kind (from working for a major oil company to book publishing to running an eBay store) can benefit from a degree in business. But where should you go to get one?
Do Your Research
While most colleges and universities offer a business program, you want to find the one that’s right for you. Certainly there are people who want the best and biggest, and if you are entering a specialized and competitive field, you should certainly do some research into which universities offer the top programs (while the best known listing is probably the one compiled by US News & World Report, Bloomberg also publishes an annual list of the top twenty schools based on qualifications like post-graduate job rates).
However, not everyone is seeking placement at a Fortune 500 company, so you may not want to shell out close to $50,000 per year to attend top-ranked undergrad or MBA programs at Harvard, Stanford, or MIT.
Cost vs. Quality
The truth is, most programs are going to teach you the same basic principles of business. You’ll take the expected courses in areas like math, statistics, accounting, economics, and management (plus whatever relates to your specific field), but you may be surprised to learn that many schools now require you to take a more diverse range of supplemental classes such as writing, psychology, and (thanks to scandalous practices by Enron and others) ethics.
But in all honesty, you can pretty much engineer a tailor-made business degree by choosing to minor in literally any other topic. So you may want to seek out a school based not only on the value of their business program, but also on the level of training they provide in your secondary area of interest.
If your dream is to manage a publishing house, for example, you may want to look into a school that also offers an excellent English program. Or if your interest lies in marketing for a non-profit organization that provides AIDS relief, you may want to select a school that has specialty programs related to social work or disease control and prevention.
Be Selective
Whatever your reasons for attaining a business degree, you’ll want to be selective about the school you choose. You don’t want to amass a huge debt only to get a job that will never allow you to repay your student loans, or attend a state school when you know your career plans are to work on Wall Street.
Your ability to make a smart move with your schooling is the first step towards making intelligent business decisions, so be prepared to do some research to find the school that’s right for you. After all, you’re going to have to get in the habit of working hard and paying attention to the details if you want to succeed in business.
About the Author:Ryan Patridge is a writer for Grants for College. Ryan also gives advice on the pursuit of higher education and career options for young adults.
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