Entrepreneurship
About
The entrepreneurship major arms students with attitudes, skills and knowledge to start new businesses, work in family businesses, join small entrepreneurial endeavors or even be in demand by established organizations. Graduates of entrepreneurial studies are action-oriented and have learned through practical experience—qualities highly valued by in both the business and non-profit world. Students learn to recognize and embrace opportunities and to transform those opportunities into success.
Entrepreneurship is a ‘process’ of embracing opportunities, providing value to others and reaping benefits ethically.
- Alan Brumagim, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Entrepreneurship
The Noble C. & Jule Quandel Professor in Entrepreneurship
Why is Entrepreneurship in Demand?
- There’s entrepreneurship “fever” in the U.S. and around the world.
- Interest is at record levels as more graduates look to start their own business and become financially independent.
- Entrepreneurship is an essential skill for any career and is recognized and sought after by employers in both the public and private sectors.
- Innovation, strong written and verbal communication, business acumen and leadership translate seamlessly into graduate school, advanced studies and real-world application.
- According to a new survey of 1,500 chief executives (conducted by IBM’s Institute for Business Value), CEOs named “creativity” as the most important leadership characteristic for the future.
Is it for me?
- Are you a self-starter?
- Someone who questions and wants to make things better?
- Are you someone who not only thinks differently, but takes action?
Five Reasons to Choose Scranton for Entrepreneurship
There is an increasing focus by people who want to help other people and the planet.
- Alan Brumagim, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Entrepreneurship
The Noble C. & Jule Quandel Professor in Entrepreneurship
Preparing You For Personal & Professional Successplus or minus
You’ll learn how to:
- Initiate new business endeavors
- Identify markets and customers
- Evaluate business opportunities
- Develop and promote a business plan
- Lead and manage your own organization
- Make contacts through learned active serendipity
- Engage in conversation effortlessly
- Cope with uncertainty and change
- Have the freedom to make mistakes
- Actively provide value to either customers or employers
Christopher LoGiurato '16, an entrepreneurship major at The University of Scranton, was among just 123 students in the nation named as University Innovation Fellows by the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation. Read more here.
What You'll Learnplus or minus
Curriculum
As you might expect, our curriculum is innovative to match the major!
Before writing a business plan, students are actively engaged in practical, hands-on projects for experiential learning. As just one example of many, we ask each student to make up a “useless” product and sell it to someone they don’t know. This helps them learn how to get a conversation going and pushes them outside their comfort zone. After the initial shock, they find it to be a lot of fun, particularly when they share their experiences with each other.
The entrepreneurship major is open to business students only; however, it’s important to note that the entrepreneurship minor is open to students throughout the University.
Click here to see the curriculum.
Internships
There’s no better way to exercise your entrepreneurial spirit than through our student-run businesses, which have included a t-shirt business and most recently a coffee-related business. Students gain valuable experience pitching ideas, creating business plans and managing all facets of the organization, from operations, to finances, to personnel. Students are able to try different things in an environment where they can make mistakes and learn from them.
Employers have told us the student-run business experience is often more valuable than most traditional internships. In fact, one of our first-year students received a summer internship normally reserved for juniors. Meanwhile, a junior received a coveted internship with Goldman-Sachs and was in competition almost exclusively with Ivy League students. She told us that 50% of her interview was dedicated to her involvement with the student-run business, proving that meaningful work pays off for all. This student ultimately was offered and accepted a Goldman-Sachs position following graduation.
Pursue Your Passion and Make a Differenceplus or minus
Consistent with our Jesuit commitment to social justice, students in the Entrepreneurship program are encouraged to create valuable change in the world. And, you don’t have to wait until you graduate!
There are plenty of opportunities to get involved while you are on campus. For starters, there’s the student-run business, where a percentage of profits is donated to social entrepreneurship initiatives.
A Jesuit education fosters a strong sense of self and social responsibility to others. Scranton graduates who have started successful businesses have found this mindset to be essential in their “business-oriented” decision-making.
Careers
Where will Entrepreneurship Take Me?
Graduates take their valuable entrepreneurial mindset into a variety of careers, from accounting to manufacturing to professional services to retail and more.
While our entrepreneurship major is new, we’ve offered a minor in entrepreneurship for several years. Student outcomes from the minor in entrepreneurship have been strong! Some students join their family businesses; others are ready to begin their own entrepreneurial ventures. Students in the Entrepreneurship program have gone on to pursue MBAs, law degrees, doctorates and medical degrees.
Employment Opportunities:
Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinking are needed in all facets of business. Doctors, lawyers, occupational therapists, psychologists, accountants – you name it – all need entrepreneurial skills to run their own practices.
Some of our students start their own business immediately after graduation, while some will even start their own before graduation. Students who wish to start their own business can receive valuable one-on-one mentoring from Al Brower, an adjunct faculty member and experienced entrepreneur, which includes help with formulating business plans and making connections. Another 50-60% of newly-minted alums have explicitly expressed plans to start their own business within five to ten years of graduation.
How Scranton Gives You a Competitive Edge
We are committed to broadening your horizons outside the classroom. Each year, our faculty takes a number of female students in our Entrepreneurship Club to the Pennsylvania Conference for Women to gain inspiration from prominent speakers such as Hillary Rodham Clinton and Madeline Albright. The entrepreneurship program has committed to this event and other activities on an annual basis. We also connected with female founders of start-ups in an entrepreneurial breakout session. As part of our commitment to equipping students for success through knowledge and professional development skills, each student was given specific tasks, including walking up to presenters, engaging them in discussions and giving them their business card.
Accreditation
The Kania School of Management is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
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For More Information
Office of Admissions
The Estate
Scranton, PA 18510
1-888-SCRANTON or (570) 941-7540
570-941-7572
admissions@scranton.edu
Management, Marketing & Entrepreneurship Department
Satya P. Chattopadhyay, Ph.D.
Department Chair
(570) 941-6196
satya.chattopadhyay@scranton.edu