What's the Best College Preparation for Aspiring Entrepreneur?

Nathan writes:

I was hoping you could help me in my college search. I know I want to be an entrepreneur. I don’t want to hold a typical job working for someone else. As a junior in high school, I have a good amount of experience in the business world. My academic marks are on par with the top universities in the country. Do you know of any colleges that offer programs for people who want to operate their own business empire? A small business just will not do. I appreciate any help you can offer me.

The Career Doctor responds:

One of the biggest trends among students your age is this strong entrepreneurial desire. Many of the high-school and college students I encounter talk about this strong need to make it on their own.

My personal theory — and I have no real research to back it up — is that many of you have witnessed the lack of loyalty employers have showed your parents and family members through the many rounds of corporate “rightsizing” over the last decade, and thus you have this lack of trust that has manifested itself into a desire to control your own fate.

Many business schools around the country offer entrepreneurial programs, so all you need to do is find them.

Of course, I thought finding them would be an easy task, but all the college search sites I visited either used a keyword menu that did not include entrepreneurial studies or yielded zero results when conducting a keyword search.

So my best advice would be to search for the universities and business schools that most interest you — by size, location, etc. — and then while that list is still fairly large, search each of the business schools for majors, minors, special programs related to entrepreneurship.

Finally, you don’t necessarily need to find a business school that offers such programs, but I’ve found that hearing the stories of both successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs, as well as actually running a small business, is extremely beneficial for budding entrepreneurs.

Get more information about colleges and college planning in this section of Quintessential Careers: College Planning Resources for Teens.