By Aubrey Haase
For the seventh consecutive year, the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Michigan State University has been recognized as a national leader in entrepreneurship education in the United States. The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine ranked MSU at No. 4 in the Midwest and No. 11 in the U.S., up from No. 13.
“This recognition reflects our students’ passion, the dedication of our staff and faculty, and the level of support from our accomplished alums and community,” said Laurel Ofstein, faculty director of the Burgess Institute.
Since its inception in 2012, the Institute has empowered students to learn through action in and out of the classroom—with the entrepreneurial mindset at the core of all the Institute does.
In the classroom, MSU launched a university-wide minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation in 2016, which currently enrolls more than 650 undergraduates, with thousands of students participating in more than 40 academic entrepreneurship courses and representing the 154 unique majors across all 17 degree-granting colleges. Our courses and programs focus on guiding student success by practicing problem-solving, resilience, risk tolerance, and storytelling skills. The Institute intentionally selected each course and program to teach and instill these mindset practices in students.
“By blending practical experience with core principles, we ensure Spartans are ready to innovate and lead,” said Ken Szymusiak, the Burgess Institute’s managing director of academic programs.
Beyond the classroom, the Venture Creation program provides early- and advanced-stage students with industry-specific consultants, mentoring opportunities with successful entrepreneurial alums, programming loaded with in-kind services, and seed funding to move their ideas forward.
“Our programs not only support students in launching their businesses, but also nurture the entrepreneurial mindset that drives long-term success and innovation,” said Paul Jaques, managing director of venture creation at the Burgess Institute.
The Institute recently launched Student-Made Michigan State, an outlet for creators and makers to sell their products and showcase their businesses to the university, the local community, and our alumni network, in the fall of 2023.
“Student-Made provides a unique platform for students to showcase their talents, grow their businesses, and engage with the MSU community.” said Lori Fischer, the Burgess Institute’s director of operations. “We want to inspire young entrepreneurs, who might fear starting a business all on their own with no prior knowledge, into taking that first step of turning an idea into reality.”
In its inaugural year, Student-Made saw incredible success, processing over 450 orders from 36 creators, generating the highest revenue of all participating campuses. Student-Made partnered with Eat at State to provide shelf space for student creators to sell their products in Sparty's Market at 1855 Place and Kellogg Market in the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center. This year, they expanded their market locations to two new locations in the MSU Union and MSU Dairy Store.
In addition to its market locations, Student-Made actively engaged the campus community through pop-up events, like the Union Arts and Crafts Show. In partnership with the East Lansing Arts Festival, the event brings in 40,000-60,000 people and 330 artists and crafters. The show offered a busy venue for student entrepreneurs to showcase their products and engage with a wider audience. These pop-ups have helped build excitement for student-made goods and have allowed creators to build lasting relationships with individuals and other businesses while receiving feedback on their ventures.
Several student entrepreneurs have seen substantial growth and success through their participation in Student-Made.
Megan Timmerman, creator and owner of Bluthreads and Co., a handmade embroidered apparel brand, shared, “Being part of Student-Made has opened up countless opportunities for me.” Over the past year, Timmerman collaborated with fellow creators, participated in numerous pop-up events, and experienced significant engagement through the markets, highlighting the positive impact Student-Made has had on her business growth.
The Princeton Review surveyed more than 300 schools across data points about the schools’ entrepreneurship programs, faculties, students and alumni, such as experiential learning opportunities, career outcomes and business success. Burgess Institute students and alumni have created more than 1,000 businesses and have raised $160M in follow-on funding and investment.
“While the Institute’s focus of fostering an entrepreneurial mindset and inspiring professional and startup growth has not changed, we are always evaluating and refining our programs to ensure we’re providing the best possible student experience," Ofstein said.
“By continuously adapting to the evolving needs of our students, we are committed to preparing them for success in an ever-changing entrepreneurial landscape,” she said.
More information about the annual rankings of undergraduate and graduate schools for entrepreneurship studies is available via The Princeton Review.