Does an Entrepreneurship Education Have Lasting Value? A Study of Careers of 3,775 Alumni

Abstract

We studied the influence of entrepreneurship education on intentions to become entrepreneurs and becoming full-time entrepreneurs with a sample of 3,755 Babson College alumni who graduated from 1985 to 2009. There was overwhelming evidence that taking two or more core entrepreneurship elective courses positively influenced the intention to become an entrepreneur and becoming an actual entrepreneur both at the time of graduation and long afterward. Writing a student business plan also had a significant influence, but it is not a strong as taking two or more core courses.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, intentions, education, business plans, alumni

JEL Classification: M13