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.

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Required Courses

You’ll take 11 MBA core courses and five electives.

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#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.

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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.

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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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