Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy

Enroll in the Entrepreneurship Certificate Program

All non-business undergraduate-level students at the University of Utah are welcome to apply for the entrepreneurship certificate provided by the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy at the David Eccles School of Business. The certificate offers an entire range of entrepreneurship skill-building opportunities without the prerequisites required for admission to the Eccles School. Skills student learn include ideation, innovation, social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial marketing, and entrepreneurial finance. Join the program by declaring the entrepreneurship certificate.

Frequently Asked Questions

The entrepreneurship certificate is a cost-efficient and time-effective way for students to get the skills that they need to start up their own companies, work for a startup, or gain entrepreneurial skills that can be used in any future career.

Students in the entrepreneurship certificate program work with world-class faculty and experienced entrepreneurs at the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy at the Eccles School. They also get the opportunity to apply what they are learning in class by starting or joining a startup company.

Outside of the classroom, certificate students have opportunities to work with the Lassonde Entrepreneurship Institute, an interdisciplinary hub for student entrepreneurs and innovators that is open to all majors at the University of Utah.

Enrolling in the entrepreneurship program also allows students from across campus to join a top-10 ranked program for entrepreneurship provided by the David Eccles School of Business. The University of Utah is known around the world for entrepreneurship, and this program is a great way to engage and learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

Yes, this certificate program is only for individuals who have been accepted to the University of Utah and are actively seeking a bachelor’s degree in a non-business major.

The curriculum for the entrepreneurship certificate does not include pre-business courses. Rather, it requires six courses, two of which are offered by a student’s home college and tailored to their particular areas of study. Only three classes of the required six are upper division. The majority of the classes are taught directly by the Entrepreneurship department.

The curriculum for the entrepreneurship certificate consists of six classes. They include:

  • ENTP 1010
  • ENTP 1020
  • ENTP 2010 or ENTP 5772 (Entrepreneurial Marketing) OR ENTP 2020 (Entrepreneurial Finance) OR ENTP 2030 (Social Entrepreneurship)
  • x 2 upper division classes in a student’s home department.
  • Capstone Course: ENTP 5770: Venture Discovery

To accurately see how your current/past classes apply to the certificate, please run a What-If Degree audit for the entrepreneurship certificate. Instructions can be found on this webpage on how to do that. https://degreeaudit.utah.edu/audits.php.

Once you have filled out that form to officially declare the certificate this entrepreneurship certificate curriculum will be added to your degree audit.

With the certificate, there are no prerequisites before starting the program although it is highly encouraged that students start with ENTP 1010. The entrepreneurship minor does require students to meet admission criteria and apply before they can participate in that minor program.

Though the certificate and the minor have the same number of credit hours, the certificate program has those two upper-division courses from the student’s home department that can possibly double count for curriculum requirements in the certificate and in their bachelor’s degree.

Students may apply any two upper-division courses from their home department to meet the certificate requirement. Below are some examples of courses that have been used previously. If you have any questions about the applicability of courses, email Summer Shepherd at summer.shepherd@eccles.utah.edu or  the Eccles School academic advising office at advising@eccles.utah.edu.

Example courses:

  • CHIN 3510 Business Chinese
  • COMM 1500 Introduction to Media Business & Ethics
  • COMM 3670 Principles of Advertising
  • DES 2615 Intro to Design Thinking
  • ECON 4650 Principals of Econometrics
  • ECON 5380 Law & Economics
  • FCS 3500 Financial Skills
  • FRNCH 4510 French Business and Current Issues
  • HIST 4740 The Economic History of the United States
  • HNKLY 3160 Campaign Management
  • JAPAN 3510 Commercial Japanese I
  • JAPAN 3520 Commercial Japanese II
  • LING 3470 Language and Culture
  • LING 3600 Cross-Cultural Communication
  • PHIL 1250 Reasoning & Rational Decision Making
  • PHIL 3310 Science & Society
  • PHIL 3500 Ethics
  • PHIL 3510 Business & Professional Ethics
  • PHIL 3520 Bioethics
  • PHIL 3530 Environmental Ethics
  • PRT 5490 Business of Sport
  • PRT 5495 Business of Government & Nonprofits in Parks Rec, & Tourism
  • PSY 3171 Human Factors
  • PSY 3510 Industrial & Organizational Psychology
  • PTGSE 4510 Business Portuguese
  • SOC 3020 Social Psychology
  • SOC 3993 Sociology ENTP Internship
  • WRTG 3016 Business Writing
  • WRTG 4010 Writing Across Borders
  • WRTG 4030 Visual Rhetoric: Word/Image/Argument

The David Eccles School of Business does not offer any undergraduate-level programs fully online. Some of the courses in the certificate curriculum may be offered online depending on the semester. Please check the semester’s class schedule for course types: for example, online, hybrid, remote real-time (video call), or in-person.

No, business students cannot apply for the entrepreneurship certificate. It is only open to non-business school majors. Business school students interested in obtaining further experiences in entrepreneurship should consider either Lassonde+X (an experience program) or the entrepreneurship minor (which is the same number of credits as the certificate).

If a student applied for the certificate before moving into a business major, then they will be dropped from the certificate program once they are declared in a business major. We highly encourage those students to then apply to the entrepreneurship minor.

For non-business students, your major does not matter. Our goal is to provide an entrepreneurship experience to all students at the University of Utah.

Apply to Receive Certificate at Graduation

Once students have completed all the requirements for the entrepreneurship certificate they should apply to graduate with that award. Please note that students must apply before the end of their final semester to be awarded the certificate. Be aware that the certificate is issued separately from the undergraduate degree and will be mailed directly to the student.

About the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy

The Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy at the David Eccles School of Business is globally recognized for enabling students to experience entrepreneurship in both theory and practice. Its award-winning faculty — some academic scholars, some seasoned practitioners, and some both — teach entrepreneurship, innovation, and value-creation through new venture formation and innovative strategies.

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About the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute

The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute is a nationally ranked hub for student entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Utah and an interdisciplinary division of the David Eccles School of Business. The institute provides opportunities for thousands of students to learn about entrepreneurship and innovation. Programs include workshops, networking events, business-plan competitions, startup support, scholarships, and more.

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Contact Us

Eccles School Academic Advising

L.S. Skaggs Student Services Center (Map)
Spencer Fox Eccles Business Building, SFEBB 1120
Phone: 801.581.7853 Email: advising@eccles.utah.edu

Staff

Summer Shepherd
summer.shepherd@eccles.utah.edu