“The most consistent and rewarding reaction from students after taking this course is their realization that starting a business is a viable option for their careers. In various ways students express to me their feeling that ‘yes I can’,”AT MICHIGAN State University, entrepreneurship isn’t just a theory students learn in the classroom. It’s a reality they experience firsthand. “Entrepreneurship is more than just theory,” says Roger Calantone, director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship. “It’s crucial for our students to go out into the business world and learn how to apply their theoretical knowledge to real entrepreneurial situations.”
Every spring semester, the Broad School offers the Entrepreneurship Capstone to seniors specializing in entrepreneurship. Students in the course form teams to put the knowledge gained in previous entrepreneurship studies to use in the real world. The course instructor partners with a business to create a unique learning experience that gives the students an opportunity to hone their entrepreneurial skills and provides the business with high quality business consulting.
An Exceptional Entrepreneurship Course
Each Entrepreneurship Capstone class is truly unique, shaped by the students and partner companies. In 2009, the students took an intrapreneurial focus by working with the Central Intelligence Agency. The student’s were tasked with creating change within the CIA, specifically focusing on recruiting efforts on college campuses. The student teams received a starting budget, but were on their own to create a business plan that maximized their resources and generated results for their clients. After developing their plans, students carried out their marketing strategies on campus at MSU.
In the end, the capstone is about getting students out of the classroom and into the real world. While the students learned a lot from simply developing their marketing plans, the true test of learning was how those plans translated into reality. “The most consistent and rewarding reaction from students after taking this course is their realization that starting a business is a viable option for their careers. In various ways students express to me their feeling that ‘yes I can’,” says Forrest (Sam) Carter, Entrepreneurship Capstone professor.
