What You Will Learn as a Social Entrepreneurship Major

To develop solutions to global problems, you will need to understand the complex dimensions of those problems. The Social Entrepreneurship major integrates global learning and intercultural knowledge into hands-on projects; you will develop social venture ideas applying business and entrepreneurship skills to address problems; learn impact assessment techniques; and co-host a campus-wide poster session, highlighting critical issues and analyzing solutions. The Social Entrepreneurship curriculum also requires completion of a global experience, supporting your development as a global citizen.

You will learn business skills valuable in any field, but our major is not “business as usual.” You will create business models that integrate a core social/environmental impact. The Social Entrepreneurship major requires community engagement coursework and an immersion experience. The immersion is a weekend- or week-long overnight experience with a strong, direct service component promoting civic engagement. We support your development as a responsible leader through teamwork in business plan development, finance and marketing projects, and social pitch competitions, and through ethical reasoning in business and social enterprise case studies.

We believe that you will learn best with practical applications, so your classroom learning is tied to community practice. This forms a foundation for lifelong learning. You will hone your skills in critical thinking and problem solving, creativity, oral and written communication, information and quantitative literacy as you develop marketing plans for social enterprises; consult for non-profits; design visual forms of communication; and work alongside local social enterprises on projects like alleviating local “food deserts”. The impact of our curriculum is recognized internationally: The Social Entrepreneurship major is AACSB-accredited, and was semifinalist for the 2018 Ashoka U Innovation Award, the most prestigious social entrepreneurship education award globally.

The program will empower you to build a career out of making the world a better place. Our interdisciplinary business major prepares you to use business as a force for good in the public, private, and non-profit sectors; the sky is the limit.