Promoting Campus-Wide Entrepreneurship Programs
Fifteen schools will compete for grants in the new $25 million Kauffman Campuses Initiative.

By Linda Cruse

In the 1980s, for the first time ever, students in colleges and universities throughout the United States participated in a new type of educational program: entrepreneurship training.

Designed to present entrepreneurship as a career option similar to pursing a livelihood in engineering, law or other fields, these programs were scarce but popular alternatives to standard college curriculum.

The programs sparked a trend that continues today. Currently, there are more than 1,500 colleges and universities providing entrepreneurial training. And instead of being confined to just traditional business schools, there are now programs encouraging entrepreneurship in every field.

To help make entrepreneurship education an accessible campus-wide opportunity open to all students, not just those in business schools, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is offering the new $25 million Kauffman Campuses Initiative.

The Kauffman Campuses Initiative, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, seeks to assimilate entrepreneurship into the college experience, making the pursuit of starting a business as a career as common as living in dorms, staying up late for exams and attending collegiate sporting events.

Initially, the foundation will give grants of up to $5 million to five to seven U.S. universities for entrepreneurship training.

School selection
Thirty schools were invited to compete for the grants. Each developed a preliminary concept for an entrepreneurship program. In June, based on an assessment of the concepts, the Kauffman Foundation narrowed its selection to 15 universities.

Each of the 15 universities selected was awarded a $50,000 planning grant to assist with the development of a comprehensive proposal to be presented in December.

At that time, five to seven universities will be awarded grants based on their creativity and commitment to make entrepreneurship training and experiences available across college departments and to students of diverse disciplines. Universities must also demonstrate their ability to raise matching funds.

Future entrepreneurs
For the past decade, the Kauffman Foundation has focused on advancing entrepreneurship throughout the nation. These efforts have included support of entrepreneurship efforts at hundreds of U.S. colleges and universities.

The foundation has a long-standing belief that entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of the American economy. The foundation also believes that colleges and universities offer an invaluable opportunity for reaching the country's future entrepreneurs—those innovators and leaders who will invent new products, create jobs and fuel economic growth.

“We hope to effect nothing less than a cultural transformation,” said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. “These grants will unleash the power of entrepreneurship on campus. We want all students—not just those enrolled in business or engineering schools—to have access to the skills, orientation and networks that lead to greater opportunities for them and result in more jobs, innovation and prosperity for America.”

Rob Chernow, the Kauffman Foundation's senior vice president of entrepreneurship, said, “College campuses are idea incubators where people learn skills and forge work habits and relationships that serve them all their lives.  We know there's an entrepreneurial spirit sweeping across college campuses today, and we're thrilled to build on this momentum so that entrepreneurship becomes a natural and vital aspect of the American educational experience.”

Grant seekers
The fifteen universities competing for multi-million-dollar grants this December are:
Florida International University, Howard University, Purdue University, Syracuse University, University of California-San Diego, University of Illinois, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, University of Memphis, University of New Mexico, University of North Carolina, University of Rochester, University of Texas-El Paso, University of Wisconsin, Wake Forest University and Washington University.

While currently there are no local colleges poised to take advantage of the opportunity, the foundation is hopeful that area colleges will participate in the future.

“Through the Kauffman Campuses initiative,” Schramm said, “We hope to ultimately stimulate the creation of new models of entrepreneurship education that spread far beyond the five to seven schools that receive these awards.  And, we hope to repeat this initiative in the future. In doing so, students, faculty, staff and alumni on many campuses throughout the country will benefit for years to come.”