Bradley University

Entrepreneurship Major or Minor - The Entrepreneurship major prepares students to own, manage, or work successfully in small and emerging businesses, or to enhance their value in large organizations. The major helps students understand the functional areas of business and apply the theory to the unique situations found in small or growing ventures.

Springboard Business Competition - Project Springboard and its sponsors support Bradley University’s entrepreneurship program by encouraging and educating aspiring entrepreneurs in the creation, start-up, and early stages of launching a potentially high-growth business.

The Project Springboard competition brings students real-life business planning experience and the opportunity to win, $15,000 seed money, services valued at over $120,000 and free office space in Bradley Technology Commercialization Center, part of the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center.  This business incubator dedicated in 2007 has already been home to over 30 small businesses.  

Entrepreneurial Engineering - Engineering and business are core strengths of Bradley University.  As a part of the Campaign for a Bradley Renaissance, Bradley is building a new facility to house the College of Engineering and the Foster College of Business. The new Convergence Center will connect the two colleges and enhance the entrepreneurial commercialization of technology.  

One example of this business and engineering convergence is underway in the current engineering facility where a third floor lab consists of computer modeling stations and a shielded chamber for testing radio frequency devices. The impressive student-built chamber allows for the department to test and study wireless devices. The state-of-the-art equipment in the Advanced Microwave Engineering Laboratory was purchased with a Major Research Instrumentation grant from the National Science Foundation to establish an advanced radio frequency and wireless engineering laboratory for wireless microchip testing.

Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization (CEO) - A student organization which provides every entrepreneurship major and every member of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization with free: subscriptions to Inc. magazine, Entrepreneur magazine, and the Journal of Small Business Strategy, business plan software and an all-expense paid trip to the National Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization conference.

The Turner Center for Entrepreneurship - The center provides business counseling, technical assistance, training, and educational opportunities for entrepreneurs and existing businesses.  The center consists of the Illinois Small Business Development Center, International Trade Center and the NAFTA Opportunity Center.  Every senior student receives practical experience by completing a consulting project from a business or not-for-profit business from the client base of the Turner Center for Entrepreneurship. Since 1972 over 1,700 research projects have been completed.

The center also assists current business owners who are looking to expand their operations locally, nationally, or internationally, take advantage of new opportunities and technologies, and/or are seeking to commercialize new products.

BMA 382 Entrepreneurship
Activities involved in starting, financing, growing, and harvesting a new business venture. The course covers; entrepreneurs and their behavior, analysis of opportunities, obtaining capital, and venture strategies.

BMA 385 Technology Entrepreneurship
Students learn about new product development with an emphasis on high-technology products. Topics include; opportunity screening, feasibility studies, demand, analysis, and cost projections necessary for product commercialization.

BMA 384 Entrepreneurial Finance
The course provides a solid background for planning and strategies involved in starting or expanding a business. Emphasis on capitalization, record keeping, liquidity management, fixed asset management, financial analysis, expansion strategies, establishing firm value, and exiting the firm.

ECO 399: Economics of Innovation
This study abroad course is taught in Helsinki, Finland.    In addition to studying the creative process the class visits global companies including NOKIA, SKYPE, KONE as well as other creative and innovative companies.

The Bradley Entrepreneurship Major is a dynamic major that exposes students to a wide variety of business concepts. Course work is designed to introduce students to the nature of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship by addressing the many, varied areas of business management, marketing, finance, economics, business law, and accounting.

Students in Bradley’s Entrepreneurship program are exposed to a wide variety of faculty expertise. In addition to teaching, many instructors consult and are involved in local business development. This practical experience is brought into the classroom.

Some of the research interests of Bradley’s Business faculty include:

• growth strategies
• strategic planning
• e-commerce
• quality management
• entrepreneurship
• ethics

A list of programs of study may be found at: http://admissions.bradley.edu/freshman/academics/programsofstudy/

Bradley University Ranked Among Top Entrepreneurship Programs by Entrepreneur Magazine

MBA National Case Competition Winners 2008 and 2009.

The chair of the Turner Center for Entrepreneurship, Dr Gerald Hills, was the co-founder and first president of the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, founder of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, and editor of the Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship.

The International Trade Center in the Foster College of Business at Bradley University received the prestigious 2009 Presidential "E" Award for U.S. Exporters on November 5, 2009 in Washington, D.C. Only 21 awards are being given nationally and the Bradley ITC is the only trade center in the country to be recognized. Read more here: http://www.bradley.edu/spotlight/09/eaward/

School type: Four Year, Private, Founded: 1897

Affiliation: None

Web site: http://www.bradley.edu/

Student Profile:

Number of undergraduate, full-time students:
4,873

Percentage of undergraduate, full-time male students, female students:
48% Male, 52% Female

Number of states represented by student body:
38

Number of countries represented by student body:
30

Percentage of international students:
3.6%

Percentage of minority students:
18%

Number of students participating in entrepreneurship:
68 majors

Faculty Profile:

Number of full-time faculty:
401

Student/Faculty ratio:
13:1

Athletics:

Athletic division, conference, number of varsity sports:
NCAA Division I, Missouri Valley Conference, 13 varsity sports

Financial:

Cost of tuition:
2009-2010 Tuition $23,950 Room & Board $7,650 Fees $274

Percentage of students who receive some financial aid:
92%

Gerald Hills
Professor and Turner Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship
Bradley University
308 Baker Hall
Peoria, IL 61625

309-677-2306