ENTREPRENEURSHIP (MBA)
Prepare to start or grow your own business
Learn how to think creatively, implement successful growth strategies and generate new business ideas with DePaul’s MBA in Entrepreneurship. Our nationally ranked entrepreneurship MBA program will teach you to build your own business as well as manage innovative processes in established firms.
Participate in entrepreneurship workshops and new-venture competitions. This is DePaul’s version of “Shark Tank,” designed to challenge you as rigorously as the real world does.
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Study in the city where entrepreneurs converge
Chicago is home to approximately 35 Fortune 500 companies—but it’s a powerhouse in business-to-business innovation, start-ups and tech companies as well. It’s also home to DePaul’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, which serves as a link to the city and its resources.
Application Deadlines
| Enrollment Quarter | Domestic Student Deadline | International Student Deadline |
| Fall | August 15 | August 15 |
| Winter | December 1 | October 1 |
| Spring | March 1 | February 1 |
| Summer | June 1 | April 1 |
Admission Requirements
Submit an online application, essay, résumé, official transcripts and letters of recommendation.
Required Courses
You’ll take 11 MBA core courses and five electives.
#19
Top graduate entrepreneurship programs, The Princeton Review (2021).
$85k
The median reported salary for MBA graduates was $85,000.
Develop your leadership skills while networking with Chicago entrepreneurs
At DePaul, you’ll gain access to the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, an organization designed for students and alumni who are seeking to develop their skills, launch and grow their ideas, and network with entrepreneurial leaders in Chicago. Bruce Leech, instructor and executive director, is the leader of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Program and focuses on providing experiential learning and leveraging Chicago’s entrepreneurial community.
Read the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center's blog
Alumni Network
Alumni of DePaul’s graduate entrepreneurship programs have started 157 companies, and raised a total of $276 million in collective funding. You’ll benefit from your connection to nearly 70,000 DePaul business alumni.
Flexible formats to work with any lifestyle
Full-time Day MBA for early-career professionals or career changers. Classes offered during the day.
Evening MBA for established professionals in need of flexibility. Classes are in the evenings.
Scholarships
Graduate school is an investment in your future. Kellstadt awarded more than $3 million to incoming students last year. Learn more about scholarship opportunities available to you.
Entrepreneurship MBA Admission Requirements
- Application & fee
- Essay
- Letter of recommendation
- Resume
- Test optional – GMAT/GRE Scores (submission is optional)
- Interview (Full-time MBA only)
- International student admission requirements: Click here.
Submit your online application and the $60 application fee
An essay explaining your interest in the program and your professional goals is required.
The Kellstadt Graduate School of Business requires official transcripts from all degree-granting institutions. The admission committee reserves the right to request official transcripts from universities where an applicant attended but did not complete a degree. Please note that not submitting all transcripts where courses have been completed could impact course waivers.
Full-time MBA applicants must submit one letter of recommendation from a current or previous employer. Submit the letter through the online application or kgsb@depaul.edu. Be sure to include the name of the recommender and applicant's name on the letter.??
?All MBA applicants must also submit a professional resume that summarizes their work experience and educational background.
Interviews are required only for applicants to the Full-time MBA program. The admission committee may require applicants to other programs to schedule an interview if necessary.
Deadlines
To ensure that you will be able to enroll in the quarter of your choice, we recommend that you apply by these dates:
| Enrollment Quarter | Domestic Student Deadline | International Student Deadline |
| Fall | August 15 | June 15 |
| Winter | December 1 | October 15 |
| Spring | March 1 | January 15 |
| Summer | June 1 | April 15 |
Learn more about Graduate Admission.
Concentration Requirements
DePaul’s nationally ranked Entrepreneurship program will prepare you to start and grow your own business or to manage innovative processes in established firms. In the Entrepreneurship concentration, you will focus on the life-cycle issues of firms—from pre-venture and start-up to growth and maturity—as well as venture spin-offs and team and leadership issues.
The interrelated courses and learning experiences will teach you to master complex and ill-defined management issues across functional business areas. All courses are based on real-life entrepreneur issues and live case studies.
You will gain the skills and abilities to:
- Think creatively and generate new business ideas.
- Develop your business idea through market analysis.
- Write a business plan.
- Assess your entrepreneurial leadership skills.
- Implement successful growth strategies.
- Build an entrepreneurial spirit within established firms.
- Consult for local businesses.
- Interact directly with entrepreneurs and innovators.
Students and alumni have access to DePaul’s highly respected Coleman Entrepreneurship Center and Center for Innovation, as well as 1871, Chicago's premier business incubator, through DePaul's 1871 membership. The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center offers practical guidance and professional connections for launching and growing businesses through workshops, guest speakers and new venture competitions that engage DePaul with the Chicago entrepreneurial and venture capital community. The Center for Innovation fosters innovative strategies and tools for breakthrough thinking. Named one of the Top 10 innovation programs by Fortune Small Business, the center offers programs and workshops including the annual Student Innovation Awards Competition. The center's Innovation Lab offers Design Thinking projects for students and businesses and 3D printing services.??
The Entrepreneurship MBA concentration requires students to complete any four of the graduate-level entrepreneurship-related courses. To help guide your class selections, below are examples of courses you could choose by career interests, with highly recommended courses for these career paths indicated with 1.
New Venture Management
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
|
MGT 530 |
LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS | |
|
MGT 563 |
NEGOTIATION SKILLS | |
|
MGT 569 |
LEGAL ASPECTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP | |
|
MGT 570 |
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE MANAGEMENT 1 | |
|
MGT 571 |
FINANCING NEW VENTURES | |
|
MGT 793 |
MANAGEMENT INTERNSHIP | |
|
MGT 798 |
SPECIAL TOPICS (FAMILY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES) | |
|
MKT 529 |
PRECISION MARKETING | |
|
MKT 595 |
DIGITAL MARKETING ANALYTICS & PLANNING |
| 1 |
Highly recommended course for this career path |
Social Enterprise
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
|
MGT 515 |
SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT | |
|
MGT 569 |
LEGAL ASPECTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP | |
|
MGT 570 |
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE MANAGEMENT 1 | |
|
MGT 595 |
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE | |
|
MGT 793 |
MANAGEMENT INTERNSHIP | |
|
MGT 799 |
INDEPENDENT STUDY |
| 1 |
Highly recommended course for this career path. |
Innovation and Change
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
|
MGT 535 |
CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTING | |
|
MGT 570 |
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE MANAGEMENT | |
|
MGT 589 |
EXECUTIVE COACHING: LEADERSHIP IN A VOLATILE, UNCERTAIN, CHAOTIC AND AMBIGUOUS BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT | |
|
MGT 590 |
MANAGEMENT OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE | |
|
MGT 793 |
MANAGEMENT INTERNSHIP |
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