Entrepreneurship Minor
Are you a problem solver, innovator, or change-maker?

ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship
Iowa State’s entrepreneurship minor is an interdisciplinary curriculum that provides opportunities for students to learn about entrepreneurship – the process of creating value by recognizing and developing opportunities. The entrepreneurship minor serves to complement the student’s major area of study in any college discipline at Iowa State. The minor consists of 15 credits with no prerequisites, and more than 100 elective courses to choose from.
Students in the entrepreneurship minor will develop skills and knowledge in the entrepreneurial process, business feasibility analysis, customer discovery, business planning, innovation, opportunity recognition, technology transfer, industry analysis, and startup strategy. Students will learn to develop an entrepreneurial mindset that applies to business creation or employment within an existing firm or organization.
The ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship enhances the classroom experience by providing opportunities to collaborate with other entrepreneurial-minded students across campus, and offers a variety programs for the entrepreneurial-minded student. Students have the opportunity to pitch their ideas, receive feedback, and network with successful entrepreneurs. They may also participate in the CYstarters student accelerator.
Iowa State ranks #11 in undergraduate entrepreneurship programs.
~The Princeton Review
Required Courses (6 cr):
- Entrepreneurship/Management 310 (3 cr) Entrepreneurship and Innovation
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THREE COURSES*:
- Entrepreneurship/Management 313 (3 cr) Feasibility Analysis and Business Planning
- Entrepreneurship/Management 320 (3 cr) Corporate Entrepreneurship
- Management 410 (3 cr) Social Entrepreneurship
*Choose either Management 313, 320 or 410. Management 310 is required.
Elective Courses (6 cr):
Electives from an approved list of entrepreneurship-related courses or other choices under required courses above. Students are encouraged to take electives within their major college.
Experiential Learning (3 cr):
Students will engage in the process of entrepreneurship to earn experiential learning credits. The required three credits of experiential learning can be earned by either taking a course that has been designated as an experiential learning course or using some other experiential learning activity as the basis to receive credits through a graded independent study. Three options are explained in more detail below.
- Human Sciences: HSCI490E – Independent Study form
- Liberal Arts & Sciences: LAS490E – Independent Study form
- Engineering: ENGR490E – Independent Study form
- Agriculture: ECON490E – Independent Study form
- Design: DSNS490E – Independent Study form
- Business: BUSAD490E – Independent Study form
How to apply for the entrepreneurship minor:
- Complete the Curriculum Change Form.
- Indicate the courses you plan to take to fulfill the minor requirements.
- This will include the two required courses—Mgmt 310 and either Mgmt 313 or Mgmt 410; how you intend to complete your 3 cr of experiential learning; and 6 credits of electives from the approved course matrix.
- Please note that 9 credits out of the 15 credits required for a minor must not be used to meet any other department, college or university requirement except the credit requirement for graduation.
- Obtain required signatures:
- Department offering the minor (2200 Gerdin Business Bldg.)
- Student’s academic advisor
- College of the minor—because this is a university-wide minor, your home college is the college of the minor.
- College of major/curriculum—your home college
- Turn in the completed form to the undergraduate advising office in your home college.
For assistance during this process, consult either with your undergraduate advisor or the entrepreneurship faculty in your college for the minor.