How does your college support student entrepreneurs?

[BizGuy]

Does your school offer programs or advisors to help guide you in your entrepreneurial quest? Do they offer funding for startups? If so, tell us about it here.

[Recycled Device]

At Ball State University we do have a few cool resources I have used while starting my business, however the university doesn't really have any advertised services specifically for students starting businesses. The exception is if you are in the Entrepreneurship Major. Once in the program you get access to some military patents that you are allowed to use in entreprenurial ventures, mostly trying to find civilian uses for those military products. more info can be found here:Ball State University - Military 2 Market. Some really neat stuff has come from this program.

Some of the resources around campus that are available outside of the entrepreneurship program are....

1. Student Legal Services - My university provides a lawyer who is free to use (although he can't actually represent you in court). This has been a great resource to help with terms of service agreements, contracts, and other legal questions.

2. Almost Free Printing - this is easy to overlook, but we get almost unlimited printing. 30 regular black and white prints per day, plus an additional 500 extra prints per semester. This saved some cost in the early stages of my business, although I was eventually forced to buy a printer to print shipping labels.

3. Professors - I think almost every universities professors have office hours. I have found this to be an extremely valuable resource, we have professionals in almost every business field who are willing to help you/answer questions for no charge.

4. Other Students - This is a big one, on a college campus you have access to thousands of other students. I haven't used this resource to its fullest potential, but a lot of times you can find students graphic design, computer science, or really any field of study who will help with your business either to build their own portfolio/experience or for much cheaper than market rates.

5. Ball State Credit Union - I have not personally used the Ball State Credit Union, but it is a financial resource for students and could be a source of funding for a a start-up. Generally it provides lower interest rates and may be a bit more open to loaning to a college student.


These are only some of the resources, I am still finding new and valuable resources at Ball State all the time.

I'm interested in seeing what other colleges/universities offer

[jenstallon]

There are lot of colleges with have entrepreneurship management as their subject. They have projects in it, where the students need to propose an effective business plan. The best business plans are funded by the college a certain amount. This is a common practice in lot of top class colleges. This encourages entrepreneurship.

[wppea]

student entrepreneurs is very diffcult

[eveleene]

Well, many colleges offer internship opportunities to help students learn the basics of entrepreneurship. You can also take advice from professors or career councils. Besides, my colleges used to offer a scholarship which can be considered a startup fund for student who had most notable entrepreneur plan.

[muhzizlah]

in my college most of the people want to become entrepreneur.but no one has an idea how to start , neither i do! faculties encourages and support these things.and we have a great platform here too

[robertina]

thanks for your advice.

[EAS]

Our online MBA program curriculum is written by Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs and is very practical. Students learn step by step how to start a business and create a business plan in their courses, get help with preparing loan documents to apply for small business loans and get coaching and mentoring by faculty members who are entrepreneurs themselves. Sales training is included in the curriculum, as it is one of the most important aspects of succeeding in starting or growing a business.

Maggie
The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Create it! (~Maya Angelou)
MBA for Entrepreneurs at the Executive Academy of Scottsdale

[cbeley]

The University of Wisconsin - Madison actually has quite a few resources for entrepners, and the list gets even bigger when you include non-university funded organizations. Anyway, here are some of the things I love about Madison (entrepreneur-related and all free):

* The Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic at the Discovery Center (Free legal work and advice)
* Burrill Business Plan Competition -- It's a ton of fun to compete and they love to give out as many cash prizes as they can
* Merlin Mentors -- A program that assigns entrepreneurs to a mentor or mentor team to help them with their business
* Starting a Software Business -- New class at UW-Madison geared towards CS students wanting to start a software business. I really enjoyed it
* Hybrid Zone X -- New University/Discovery Center Pre-Incubator program...It's still in development, but it looks cool.
* Capital Entrepreneurs -- If you have a registered business, this social meets every month...always fun and good for networking.

I'm sure I'm missing things, but those are some of the highlights.

[tuhin0001]

College helps me a lot to become a good entrepreneur.my teacher helps us to give us a large information to become self dependent.and now we can realiza how important the college role about entrepreneur.

[Linda570]

thanks for your advice.

[rishabhsachan01]

My college supports a student entrepreneur by giving the student new ideas and references. It also helps student financially.
college lecturers provide basic ideas of the business taking up and try to advertise for the same.

[clippingpath]

Thanks for your advice.

[lopo123]

I support
Better than to play the game.

[lopo123]

Thank you very much discussion....