The development of entrepreneurship education in American colleges and universities

This article through the United States Kauffman Foundation summed up the "Kauffman Campus" project 10 years of experience in the report and the report published by the relevant institutions, the United States to carry out entrepreneurial education in the situation to do some introduction, the author Qiang Zhao The United States Mosel University computer Department associate professor. Entrepreneurship education has become one of the fastest-growing subjects in American undergraduate education: Formal entrepreneurship education (major, minor, or certificate) increased from 104 in 1975 to more than 500 in 2007; The number of courses increased from 250 in 1985 to more than 5000 in 2008 (including two years and four years of schooling). )。 By 2012, there are more than 400,000 students elective and nearly 9,000 teachers to teach this course, and about One-third of the "business incubators" in the United States around 1250 exist in universities. To transform the way American universities develop successful graduates, the Kauffman Foundation has launched a "Kauffman Campus" project aimed at educating students on entrepreneurship. In December 2003, the first batch of 8 schools received a maximum of $5 million in funding. Combined with at least 3:1 of the school's supporting funds, the total input of more than 100 million. The selected schools are in different circumstances, including two smaller universities (the research-oriented University of Rochester and the University of Science and Humanities); Third, the universities that recruit ethnic minority students (traditional African-American Howard University, and Hispanics at the Florida International University and the University of Texas at El Paso); and three larger universities (at the University of Washington in Saint Louis, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). In December 2006, the second batch of 6 schools was selected, with a total subsidy of 19.5 million, and a total investment of more than 200 million after supporting funds. Selected universities are: Syracuse University (Syracuse University), Purdue University, Arizona, State State University, Georgetown University, Wisconsin-Madison University, and University of Maryland Baltimore County. In addition, five liberal arts colleges, including Oberlin College (Oberlin College), have been funded through the project "Entrepreneurship education at the Morgan-Kaufman northeastern Ohio University", in collaboration with another foundation. At the end of the 10-year project, the Kauffman Foundation invited representatives of some member schools and other entrepreneurial education to carry out better universities to sum up their successes and shortcomings. The institutions represented include: MIT, Mellon University, Rice University, Utah State State University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Miami, University of Washington, Cornell University, Syracuse University, University of Illinois, Arizona, State State University, Rochester University, Oberlin College, University of Missouri, Kansas City, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and University of Michigan. The summary report first reviews history, and graphically points out that entrepreneurship education has "passed through adolescence and is entering adulthood" in universities. and summed upThree reasons why entrepreneurship education in the past decade has been rapid popularization: first, in the 90 's network company as a representative of the technology company overnight success of the recruit, making aspiring students no longer in the system of institutions to earn dead wages of the old road; Second, in recent years of large-scale economic recession, college students see parents are dismissed or peer to find work difficult, and then turn to their own future based on entrepreneurship; third, the Kauffman Foundation and other institutions to guide and promote the project, so that the university began to meet the needs and interests of teachers and students. I personally feel that the school teaching and management Department of Entrepreneurship education "clicked", but also with the past more than 10 years, the University of interdisciplinary integration of education has a great relationship. As noted in the Expert Group report, entrepreneurship is a good vehicle for coherent knowledge of various disciplines. Integrated Teaching (integrative Learning), or the establishment of interdisciplinary (interdisciplinary) teaching projects, is often designed to facilitate learning from subjects that cannot be fully analyzed from a single subject. A comprehensive study of the subjects traditionally treated separately through the establishment of links between the relevant disciplines, between courses and ancillary courses, or between academic knowledge and practice, in order to enable students to gain a deeper and more complete understanding. The ecological system of entrepreneurship education when you compare the entrepreneurial education of each school, your first impression will be different. Because each school is a unique ecosystem: a self-shaping dynamic system is constantly changing to balance various forces, such as student aspirations, social needs, external economic environment, and resources from within and outside the school. Syracuse University's ecosystem we can use Syracuse University as an example to look at the scope and diversity of entrepreneurship education projects, how these projects interact, and how to form an ecosystem with the entire university and even the communities around it. There are at least 85 courses per semester that contain entrepreneurial content, and more than 7,500 students take these courses in a year. Every year, about 100 new student companies are introduced. A list of activities that are far from complete include the following highlights: • The Department of Entrepreneurship and emerging business in Whitman's School of Management, which is the official academic department of the school, offering undergraduate and minor majors, as well as master's and doctoral degrees. • Raymond Feng Drand Innovation and Disruptive Entrepreneurship Accelerator (RvD Idea) is a collaborative project between Syracuse University and the science Park in Syracuse City center. It is open to student entrepreneurs from all universities in the state of New York, offering formal courses and training courses, support services, start-up funds, student organizations, and sandbox and incubator projects. • Technological innovations in clean and renewable sources of energy and the environment can be supported by the Syracuse Centre for Excellence. The center provides venues and financial support for the development of new businesses that can commercialize green technologies. • Students can practice at the New York State Science and Technology Law Center to help New York State innovate in new technology creation and existing companies to develop business plans to protect their intellectual property and their businessBusiness. • Falco Entrepreneurial Center is the arm of entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises to promote entrepreneurship in the campus and surrounding communities. It hosts a number of events, including a business plan competition, three student entrepreneurship clubs, entrepreneurial learning Communities, an internship program, and so on. • Cooperative Laboratory (COLAB) is an interdisciplinary experimental project linked to the Institute of Visual and Performing arts. Because of its design with Syracuse University in the same building in the city center, it is very convenient for students and faculty to work with outside groups and organizations to solve problems from the real world. • Information College, the Bandier music industry project, with a number of other departments (Sports Management, industrial design, fashion design, etc.) to jointly set up business-related courses. For example, an introduction to information technology requires students to create an imaginary enterprise and use it tools in their business. "Spring Break in Silicon Valley" offers students a chance to take advantage of the one-week spring break to visit technology start-ups. • Newhouse's Digital Media Entrepreneurship Center provides a "home" for students to create new media businesses. The center organizes a business plan competition every year. • The City South Innovation Center uses an abandoned warehouse to set up business incubators to provide site equipment, training advice, and related services to community entrepreneurs. • The College of Engineering and Computer Science holds "professional startup Weekend", which invites students to an industry partner each time. • The Office of Veterans and Military Families coordination eight universities provide an entrepreneurial training camp for disabled veterans. They also provide programs specifically aimed at families of disabled veterans. • The West Small Business Development Program provides community entrepreneurs with a wide range of help, including business associations, microfinance, training courses, consulting services, etc. Common project elements in different "ecosystems" frameworks, the common elements and methods that we do find (like the amino acids in entrepreneurial classes) are weighted together in a variety of ways, including: • Formal courses conducted by teachers in the classroom, for undergraduate and postgraduate levels; Supplementary courses "(ie extracurricular activities) projects such as internships, lectures, and clubs, some of the credits are not counted; •" immersion "(training) activities, such as business incubators and accelerators, specifically for prospective students who have a special interest in the established business; aims to stimulate interest in entrepreneurship and promote school-related disciplines/projects; • Networking and networking activities to connect students and mentors, team members, and potential investors who are interested in starting a business; internships and other experience opportunities to bridge the gap between college life and starting a career on campus; • Scholarships and other incentive schemes, To attract and discover entrepreneurial talent. Not every school uses every element, nor does two universities use one element in exactly the same way--and many universities create new methods or improvise on existing methods based on the specific situations they encounter. We also found in the practice of each school aSome of the same practices and challenges. Below we will be divided into five aspects: Define the service object of entrepreneurship education; • Balance conflicting curriculum requirements; • Create and maintain a campus culture conducive to entrepreneurship; • Bridging the university curriculum with the surrounding communities; • Define criteria for measuring success. The founder of the Kauffman Foundation, Yu Wen Marien Kaufman (Ewing Marion Kauffman), was born in Missouri State, USA, where he founded his drug company in 1950 with 5000 dollars in the basement of his home. By the time he sold the company to Merrill Dau Pharmaceutical (Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals) In 1989, the department's annual sales were 930 million dollars and 3,400 employees were employed. The foundation, which was named after his name in 1966, aims to promote entrepreneurship and youth education. The foundation is now one of the largest in the United States and the world's largest foundation for entrepreneurship.