The struggling economy has left many professionals without a job, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the national unemployment rate is nearly 10 percent. Individuals who are not working or have been laid-off may want to consider obtaining a degree in entrepreneurial studies, as it may these programs can allow them to gain knowledge, experience and innovative skills that could help them start their own businesses.
As the popularity of entrepreneurship increases, many institutions are recognizing that more reaching out to individuals who are interested in developing their own ideas and putting them into practice. By enhancing their entrepreneurial studies programs, several schools are providing students with the tools, funds and up-to-date skills they may need to succeed in multiple industries.
Some schools provide venture funding for students through these programs. This allots them budding entrepreneurs the necessary start-up capital they could need to develop their own business plans and enables them to create a company while they obtain a degree.
The University of Michigan is one institution that enables enrollees in the entrepreneurial program to get their ideas off the ground through its Social Venture Fund (SVF). Entrepreneurial students are required to manage the fund's applications, which include marketing support and deal sourcing for up-and-coming businesses.
While they develop and implement their own ideas, individuals who enroll in this program will also study a range of topics in various industries. These include financial and social issues as well as the impact a business might have on society. Directors and professors who oversee the fund said that the training students receive "will provide a new breed of forward-thinking companies the strategic capital they need to change the world."
Another institution, Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC), gives students access to a Community Center for Entrepreneurship. Bogusia Wojciechowska, dean of professional studies at the school, says that students prospective small business owners must be educated in multiple platforms, such as networking, and the center has provided degree-seekers with mentoring opportunities as well as discussion forums with up-to-date social websites like Facebook and Twitter.
Individuals may also have other entrepreneurship-related career options as schools expand their programs and create new facilities.
For example, the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism has announced it will give master's degree candidates the option to focus on entrepreneurship. The new master's degree is intended for journalists who are already familiar business management and innovation.
Students who enroll in this program will develop technology and business training skills as they are guided toward launching learn to launch their own companies as well as working within and work in the traditional media field once they graduate. Stephen B. Shepard, a professor at the school, says that "new technology and our research experience in new business models for news" will help to "build a sustainable future for journalism."
Meanwhile, the University of Virginia (U.Va.) is another school that has added a new facility for its entrepreneurship program. Philippe Sommer, director of U.VA.'s new Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, says that the new center allows individuals to get involved with "experience-based programs and initiatives that empower our students to create successful businesses."
Individuals who obtain a degree in entrepreneurial studies could find that schools provide them with hands-on experience and access to financing that could lead to the development of their business.
This degree could also lead some of these professionals to become the chief executive officers (CEOs) of their own company. According to Payscale.com, CEOs can earn a salary that is typically earn between $101,235 to and $274,049 per year.
