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You want to start your own company but don’t have a “business” background or education. Do you need it, or can you just learn as you go? Then again, can entrepreneurship really be taught in a classroom?

With classes for would-be business owners now a trend on college campuses nationwide, it’s time to take a fresh look at the value of a biz-ed.

Traditionally, business schools were attended by students intent on a career in corporate America, with curricula tailored for exactly for that.

Things have changed.

Today, more than 2,000 two- and four-year colleges across the country offer entrepreneurship courses, up from 1,400 in 1998 and 300 in 1980, according to the Kauffman Foundation , a Kansas City, Mo.-based resource center for small business owners. In recent years, Kauffman has given more than $50 million in matching grants to 23 universities for expanded entrepreneurship programs.

Inventiveness Sparks Shift

Advocates of startup-ed say the shift comes from a growing understanding of entrepreneurship's key role in economic and job growth, and that more college graduates will start their own companies or work at small firms instead of marching off to Fortune 500 companies.

Besides that, more young adults are arriving on campus having already started businesses or ready to. That’s a change from the past, when most people didn't launch startups until middle age.

Business Schools as Startup Incubators

Author: Glenn R. Swift

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