Having received higher education from three colleges and universities across the country, I can honestly say that I have seen abysmal entrepreneurship programs. Each year, business students get pushed through esoteric curriculums and most of them never learn how to start a business.
Everyone involved in business programs should be forced or at least highly encouraged to take a class on entrepreneurship. Throughout my undergraduate candidacy, I had to take classes that revolved their teachings around principles and theories, not building and execution. I never learned about the intricacies of angel investments or venture capital. After graduating from Endicott College, I started my Master of Business Administration program at the University of Hartford. Going to business school, I was pounded with information regarding corporate strategy and investment analysis. Throughout my entire Masters program, I was never taught how to contact investors or establish my businesses concept. As a result, many young entrepreneurs, including myself have to learn the process externally. Schools need to recognize the value of educating their students about startups.
I know that not all higher education programs should be held accountable. Having done research, I have found that some schools are actively involved in promoting entrepreneurship and startup investing. Ivy league schools tend to place a greater emphasis on this form of education. Massachusetts Institute of Technology has an enterprise forum that builds connections between entrepreneurs and investors in their community. This clearly represents their involvement in fostering business growth, but why aren’t more schools actively involved?
Completely agree. Higher education also generally fails at teaching and updating many fast-paced, technology oriented curriculums. But, entrepreneurship doesn't quite fit that mold, so there is really no excuse not to teach it well at that level. The startup environment has surely changed since the dot com bust, but not at a speed that higher education could not keep up with. Bottom line – entrepreneurship programs need to be taught by people who understand venture capital and who have learned many lessons the hard way as actual entrepreneurs.