Entrepreneurship in the classroom

GLOBE AND MAIL -- Entrepreneurship education is proliferating at the postsecondary level. One group of students wants to pursue their passions or is looking for career alternatives as big companies downsize. But others are already successful entrepreneurs, looking for guidance or an edge. In response, colleges and universities are tweaking their executive-education programmes to target entrepreneurs that already run their own businesses. "It's definitely a growing phenomenon," says Eric Morse, executive director of the University of Western Ontario's Institute for Entrepreneurship. UWO's new "Quantum Shift" program, which was offered for the first time this year, targets existing entrepreneurs who want to take their businesses to the next level. Many students rave about the programme. Cameron Heaps, the 29-year-old CEO of an $8 million microbrewery, says the week-long programme taught him how to develop and finance a long-term expansion plan. Instead of making those decisions on the fly, he said, "It changed how I strategize."

Entrepreneurship education isn't just for traditional universities. One community college in Canada is offering a four-year applied degree in business and entrepreneurship, which requires students to start a business in order to graduate. Some are doing low-tech businesses like landscaping, but others have been very creative and have even won awards, says the program chair.

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Shirley Won -- "Out of the boardroom, into the classroom" via NewsScan.
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