Degree Overview: Graduate Degree Program in Entrepreneurship
Majors Overview May 1, 2015Get information about graduate degree programs in entrepreneurship and their education requirements, coursework, career choices, and job and wage outlook.
Information on Entrepreneurship Program
Researching an entrepreneurship-related topic area of their choosing keeps students in master’s and doctoral programs occupied for extensive lengths of time. Traditional coursework in business topics, such as financial data analysis and management strategies, is also included in the majority of programs. Admission criteria typically require incoming students to a master’s or doctoral program in entrepreneurship to hold a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
Master’s Programs in Entrepreneurship
Schools often offer a master’s degree in entrepreneurship through a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program to introduce students to advanced concepts related to managing and operating new business ventures. Students enrolled in an entrepreneurship master’s degree program learn to finance new business ventures, develop burgeoning industries, and create revenue streams from new ideas.
An extensive academic effort is a requirement for earning a master’s degree in entrepreneurship. Incoming students to most schools are required to have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and submit a research dissertation on the supervisory watch of a faculty member.
Education Requirements
Before they can begin an entrepreneurship master’s program, students must hold a bachelor’s degree in a technical field, such as engineering, or in business. Graduate entrepreneurship education may also be available to individuals with bachelor’s degrees in social sciences or the liberal arts through a focus of undergraduate coursework on subject areas in mathematics, finance, and business. Admission criteria typically require applicants to submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
Coursework
While similar core courses feature in most programs, coursework in some is devised to allow students to concentrate on a specific aspect of entrepreneurship, such as intrapreneurship (the process of developing new systems or products within established companies) or high-tech enterprises. Core coursework may typically include topic areas such as:
•Managing emerging enterprises
•Forecasting business trends
•Entrepreneurial finance
•Strategic management
•Organizational behavior
Career Choices
With a master’s degree in entrepreneurship, graduates can seek careers in a variety of segments of the business industry, whether in the form of their own start-up or one aimed at advancing and improving the workings of a mature company. They may choose from popular job titles such as:
•Account executive
•Business innovator
•Financier
•Operations manager
•Human resource manager
Doctoral Programs in Entrepreneurship
A multidisciplinary entrepreneurship doctorate involves a variety of subject areas, including economics, psychology, and sociology. Undergraduate courses in finance, business, and management are sometimes expected to be taught by students in entrepreneurship doctoral programs.
Apart from entrepreneurship-related coursework, a dissertation based on original research is expected to be produced by students in doctoral programs. In predominantly small classes, students in entrepreneurship doctoral programs involve themselves in independent study and research. They typically take three to five years to complete coursework.
Education Requirements
Before they can start an entrepreneurship doctoral program, students are expected to have a bachelor’s degree. Admission to doctoral programs in entrepreneurship is highly competitive. Therefore, graduate and professional degrees are commonly possessed by applicants. Doctoral applicants not only have to submit scores from the GRE, but may also have to attend a face-to-face interview with an admissions counselor.
Coursework
Research and analysis methods, as well as business-focused courses, are typically emphasized in the coursework of doctoral programs in entrepreneurship. Core coursework may include topic areas such as:
•Data analysis
•Business pedagogy
•Venture capital
•Multivariate statistics
•Psychological foundations in entrepreneurship
Career Choices
Graduates from the Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship are qualified for business-industry careers as well as postsecondary teaching positions. They may choose from potential job titles such as:
•Risk assessment analyst
•Professor
•Investment banker
•Venture capitalist
•Marketing consultant
Job and Wage Outlook
Over the 2012 – 2022 decade, job growth rates of 19% have been predicted for postsecondary teachers (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). In May 2012, college teachers with a specialization in business brought in an average annual wage of $73,660.
