Pennsylvania State University

Penn State prides itself in being a thought leader in entrepreneurship education and application. Based on its fundamental research in problem-based learning in entrepreneurship, courses are all based on this powerful pedagogical method, made scalable using extensive IT support.

Examples include:

• A General Education course open to all students, which introduces the fundamental concepts of entrepreneurial behavior, and personal skills such as the ability to spot opportunities, deal with uncertainties, and complexity, communicate unique ideas, and to lead others in the pursuit of a passion

• A cross-campus entrepreneurship minor consisting of a set of core courses in the first year followed by domain specific application courses in fields ranging from family farm management to restaurant franchising, and social entrepreneurship in Africa and India to new product design and launch, etc.

• An annual “virtual” business plan competition that combines a social network portal for students to find each other and build cross-functional teams, use rich-media learning content, and submit “investors” pitches, which can be judged by experts remotely. (Link to http://ideapitch.smeal.psu.edu/)

• An on campus “Launch Pad” for student-run businesses. Embryonic student teams work with mentors, received seed funding while at Penn State. (Link to www.lionlaunchpad.org/)

MGMT/ENGR/IST 425:  New Venture Creation -- Upon completing the course, the student will have a working knowledge of traditional and non-traditional ways of identifying a new opportunity, quantifying the potential, understanding the key competitive factors, researching the audience, and producing a convincing executive presentation for internal or external venture financing and launch.

MGMT 297F: The Entrepreneurial Mind-Set --This course exposes students to thinking like an entrepreneur, using real- life problems, from business and non-business perspectives.  This course focuses particularly upon developing self-efficacy, leadership skills, recognition of new opportunities, resourcefulness, creativity and comfort with ambiguity.

ENGR 497K:  Social entrepreneurship is a venture-based course that provides a conceptual framework of social entrepreneurship in the global arena, explores social challenges and solutions within a systems approach using cases from diverse global regions in healthcare, energy, food and education.  Students from diverse backgrounds work in teams to tackle real challenges and provide an implementation plan.

Penn State has more than fifty listed courses with entrepreneurial content and across many disciplines.  For undergraduate students wishing to focus on entrepreneurship during their time here, they will typically enroll in an entrepreneurship minor, which has core courses in the field, followed by a year of intensive specialist “application courses” within their selected major discipline.

Penn State regularly receives recognition for its research and programs entrepreneurship.  Among these are:

Research Grant: Development of Scalable Problem-based Learning
For Entrepreneurship Education – Kauffman Foundation - 2003

Best Entrepreneurship Paper Award, NCEC - 2004

Nasdaq Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award - 2005

Newsweek Kaplan College Guide, "PSU hottest for entrepreneurs” - 2006

Kauffman Outstanding Entrepreneurship Educator Award - 2006

Exceptional Activities in Entrepreneurship Across Disciplines, NCEC Award - 2006

Hall-Fulbright Chair Award in Entrepreneurship, Central Europe - 2008

Selected as co-host with the Economic University of Vienna, GCEC
Global Conference on Entrepreneurship Education - 2010

Four Year Public.  University founded in 1855.  Smeal College of Business founded in 1954.

Student Profile:
Number of undergraduate, full-time students:   76,000

Percentage of undergraduate, full-time male students, female students:  55% male  45% female

Number of states represented by student body:  50

Number of countries represented by student body:  132

Percentage of international students:  5%

Percentage of minority students:  15%

Number of students participating in entrepreneurship:  approximately 125

Faculty Profile:
Number of full-time faculty:  1,071 (University Park campus)

Student/Faculty ratio:  17:1

Athletics:
Athletic division, conference, number of varsity sports:
Athletic Divison:   Most sports participate in the NCAA Division I-A

Conference:   Big Ten

Number of Varsity Sports:   27

Mens:   Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Fencing, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, Soccer, Swimming and Diving, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball, Wrestling

Womens:  Basketball, Cross Country, Fencing, Field Hockey, Golf, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, Soccer, Swimming and Diving, Softball, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball

Financial:
Cost of tuition:
PA Resident:  $14,416.00
Non-PA Resident:  $25,946.00

Cost of room and board:
$8,820.00

Total Costs:
PA Resident:  $24,626.00
Non-PA Resident:  $36,220.00

Percentage of students who receive some financial aid:
At Penn State, 80 percent of all undergraduate students who apply for student aid receive federal student loans as their primary means of student aid.

Anthony C. Warren
Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The Pennsylvania State University
451 Business Building
University Park, PA  16802
twarren@psu.edu
814-865-0195