It takes a certain kind of person to be an entrepreneur – someone who is motivated, resourceful, original, and knowledgeable about all aspects of business, from accounting to marketing. For current and future entrepreneurs, Texas Christian University’s Neeley Entrepreneurship Center offers an array of opportunities for students as well as prospective and existing entrepreneurs in the region.

The mission of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center is to build the skills, capabilities and confidence of prospective and existing entrepreneurs through exceptional teaching, scholarship, and service to the entrepreneurial community.



TCU Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (TCU CEO):
TCU CEO is the largest and most active chapter in the U.S. The student-run club informs, supports, and inspires college students to be entrepreneurial and seek opportunities. The club hosts several events including a distinguished speaker series, dinner with a CEO, entrepreneur’s road trip, a mentor program, and a national conference.

Entrepreneurial Intern Scholars Program:
In this partnership between the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center and Tech Fort Worth, a privately funded nonprofit business incubator, undergraduate students are matched with startup companies housed in the incubator. Students apply and are awarded grants from the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center to work with these firms and receive valuable experience.

TCU Tech Fort Worth Incubator:
Student-run businesses can launch or grow their business in the TCU Tech Fort Worth Incubator.  The incubator staff provides a wide range of specialized business services including business plan development, on-site business education opportunities and office space and equipment.

Competitions:
Entrepreneurs thrive on competition, and the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center provides ample opportunity for students to showcase their skills. Students across campus compete for the annual TCU Collegiate Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The winner then competes at the regional level to go on to the national level. For the Elevator Pitch Competition, students have two minutes to pitch a business idea to a panel of judges for a chance to win a cash prize and compete at the national competition. The Business Plan Competition consists of student teams competing for cash and the opportunity to contend at other Business Plan competitions around the country.

Introduction to Entrepreneurship:
The course provides an in-depth overview of identifying and systematically evaluating opportunities for creating new ventures. The course offers a broad view of different entrepreneurial efforts from small business to venture capital-backed, high growth potential ventures. Particular attention is focused on the generation of ideas for new businesses and establishing their feasibility.

Entrepreneurial Leadership:
This course is designed to give entrepreneurial management majors an understanding of leadership processes that underlie the survival, effective functioning and self-determination of new and growing businesses. To this end, students examine a number of topics that reflect key individual- and organizational-issues, and critical leadership competencies for entrepreneurs.

New Venture Development:
Students work through the process of developing a business plan for an entrepreneurial venture. The focus is on strategic assessment and preparing plans capable of attracting necessary financing for new entrepreneurial ventures.

Managing the Emerging Venture:
This course covers aspects involved in managing emerging entrepreneurial ventures and small businesses, including accounting, financial controls, management and human resource practices, marketing and customer development, production, service level quality, and legal issues.

The entrepreneurial management major at TCU offers a unique combination of specialization and generalization in the study of entrepreneurship and management. Nearly all forms of activity in profit and nonprofit organizations involve some form of management, and most demand an entrepreneurial mindset for success. Whether it be managing people, money, information systems, raw materials or finished products, managers are required to make decisions, handle conflict, communicate and work in teams; in short, they must exercise strong leadership and entrepreneurial skills on a daily basis.

The entrepreneurial management major provides opportunities to explore the strategic, organizational and people aspects of business, as well as the range of skills employed by today's entrepreneurs and leaders, including strategic planning, communication and conflict management, negotiation, team building, creative problem solving, leadership, entrepreneurship, business plan development and implementation, managing small business growth, and others.

A list of all majors and minors available at TCU can be found at: http://www.admissions.tcu.edu/academics/new_mm.asp

Top 20 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program 2009, U.S. News & World Report

  • Top 25 Best Colleges for Entrepreneurs 2008, Fortune Small Business
  • Top 40 Best Undergraduate Business Schools, 2009, ’08, ’07, BusinessWeek
  • Top 25 Entrepreneurship Program, Entrepreneur
  • NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence
  • Brad Hancock, David Minor and Keith Hmieleski – Recognized for excellence in teaching entrepreneurship by the Acton Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence

 

School Type: FourYear, Private, Founded 1873

Affiliation: Christian (Disciples of Christ)

Website: http://www.tcu.edu/

Business School Website: http://www.neeley.tcu.edu/

Student Profile:
Number of undergraduate, full-time students:
7,471

Percentage of undergraduate, full-time male students, female students:
41% Male, 59% Female

Geographic areas represented by student body:
75% Texas, 20% Out of state, 5% Foreign

Number of countries represented by student body:
85

Percentage of minority students:
17%

Number of students pursuing business degrees:
1,669 - The Neeley School of Business at TCU is the most popular school on campus.

 

Faculty Profile:

Number of full-time faculty:
506

Student/Faculty Ratio:
14:1

Athletics:

Athletics division, conference, number of varsity sports:
NCAA Division I, Mountain West Conference, 20 varsity sports

Financial:

Cost of tuition:
Tuition, room and board and other estimated fees $37,426

Percentage of students who receive some financial aid:
70%

Entrepreneur Contact:

Neeley Entrepreneurship Center
Neeley School of Business at TCU
Steve & Sarah Smith Entrepreneurs Hall
2805 West Lowden, Suite 309
Fort Worth, TX . 76109

(817) 257-6544
Fax: (817) 257-5775

TCU Admissions Contact:

Texas Christian University
Box 298530
Fort Worth, TX. 76129
http://www.admissions.tcu.edu/