What others are saying about DePaul's Entrepreneurship Program:
Crain's Chicago Business (Jan. 21-27, 1991), "It's clear that some schools are better at teaching Entrepreneurship than others, and the best, according to one national group of business educators, is the entrepreneurship program at DePaul University's College of Commerce. DePaul won the 1990 National Model Program College and University Competition sponsored by the U.S. Assn. for Small Business and Entrepreneurship." Chicago Sun Times (May 10, 1995), "DePaul was one of the first universities in the country to offer an MBA concentration in entrepreneurship in the early 1980s, and last year began offering a nine-course undergraduate entrepreneurship program." Entrepreneurship recently credited DePaul as offering the second highest amount of Entrepreneurship-related classes, second only to the University of Texas at Austin.

Entrepreneurship is being given increasing emphasis in the economic, academic and political arena. Small business has traditionally been recognized as the mainstay and backbone of the American economy, representing 97% of all business, accounting for up to 82% of all new jobs in recent years and contributing 43% of the Gross National Product.

Entrepreneurs have been heralded in studies as the engineers of economic growth. Foreign governments and domestic corporate giants have envied their spirit and the jobs and profit they produced. Underlying economic trends have brought entrepreneurship to the foreground. The computer gave birth not only to a new industry, with hundreds of start-ups, but also revolutionized older industries, such as telecommunications. A strong resurgence of these entrepreneurial undertakings has occurred recently with over 600,000 new start-ups each year.

Creative people tend to gravitate toward entrepreneurial environments that offer more independence and flexibility. Structural changes in the marketplace are erasing many of the costly barriers that protected large businesses from pesky start-ups. Compelled by achievement, drive, or financial autonomy, entrepreneurs are obsessed with creating value. One entrepreneur says, "It's extremely satisfying to build something from nothing. Risk puts the edge on it. If there isn't the possibility of failure, you don't jump over tall buildings in a single bound."

As the corporations downsize, the entrepreneurship movement is likely to accelerate. As educators and researchers, we are in strategic positions to captain and guide the direction of this movement. We are assuming a major responsibility as we attempt to harness the energy of the entrepreneur through education, training, and life-long learning. Are we up to the task? We attempt to provide the best, most current and most relevant information to our students.

The three objectives of the Entrepreneurship Concentration at the graduate level are: a) to help students identify new market opportunities by providing innovative and improved products and services; b) to develop an integrated foundation which can be used to start, run and develop a business; and c) to promote the realization that entrepreneurship is not an isolated topic, but a multidisciplinary field that is applicable in many areas of endeavor.

The program is designed for students who may want to become their own boss, go into a family business, or may want to work for a smaller growth-oriented organization. Students contemplating working with entrepreneurial firms in a role such as consultant, accountant, market researcher, banker, purchasing agent or as an investor may also wish to avail themselves of this concentration. Other students may seek entrepreneurial roles in large organizations. Many firms have recognized that such corporate "intrapreneurship" is an important element in their growth and development.

The program itself is designed to be pragmatic and useful to the potential entrepreneur. Knowledgeable speakers are often used in presenting facts of entrepreneurial life and technical knowledge which can help cultivate skills which can raise the odds when implementing successful ventures. Focus is also drawn on alternative strategies that have been empirically tested by previous entrepreneurs, sometimes with spectacular results.

Outcomes anticipated of the entrepreneurship program are the creation of new start-up organizations and a demonstration of facilitating economic development in the Midwest through the creation of opportunities for employment.

The graduate entrepreneurship program was begun by Harold P. Welsch in 1984 with one course, Entrepreneurship and New Venture Management. Since 1984 the entrepreneurship major has grown from three students to over 100 students in 1995. To achieve an emphasis in entrepreneurship, students must take four entrepreneurship classes. Entrepreneurship and New Venture Management, Financing New Ventures, Growth Strategies for the Emerging Enterprise and one elective. More classes and electives are being created as the program expands. There are currently 15 entrepreneurship courses offered. The teaching staff has increased from two in 1985 to the current level of five. In 1991, an undergraduate program was developed. The Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship was awarded in 1989 to Dr. Harold P. Welsch.

List of Courses

Undergraduate Program