Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Accelerate Your Career or Start Your Own Business
In today’s competitive marketplace, the competition for customers is a real Shark Tank. Clarkson’s unique innovation and entrepreneurship major is the best fit for students pursuing a career in marketing or a related area. It’s flexible and provides the most marketing coursework, including classes on marketing basics, consumer behavior, research and new product development.
In addition, the curriculum is packed with coursework focusing on innovation, a primary area of marketing. Compared to a traditional marketing program, our Innovation and Entrepreneurship major immerses you in marketing content as well as interrelated entrepreneurship studies. Within an environment that replicates the experiences of marketing professionals, you will gain a thorough understanding of marketing and its role in starting a new venture or working in an established corporate setting.
About Clarkson University
Early Decision deadline for Fall 2022 admission: December 1, 2021
Regular Decision deadline for Fall 2022 admission: January 15, 2022
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Innovation and Entrepreneurship Careers
Upon graduation, Innovation and Entrepreneurship majors have the skills, tools and knowledge to pursue multiple career interests. Many students go on to start their own company, continue pursuing a company they started while in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program, or create a company around one of their innovations. Other graduates go on to utilize their innovative mindset and entrepreneurial skill sets in a wide range of industries and professions, including in positions such as:
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Recent Innovation and Entrepreneurship graduates have accepted positions at companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Ayco – a Goldman Sachs Company, Car Fresher Corporation, Cigna, EPIC Systems, ExxonMobil, Fox TV, IBM, Key Bank, Northwestern Mutual, and SAP. Graduates have also chosen to continue their studies in graduate school, including Clarkson’s own Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) programs.
Curriculum
The Innovation and Entrepreneurship program consists of 42 credit hours in foundation coursework in business such as economics, mathematics, marketing, operations, supply chain management and organizational behavior and 30 credits of specialized courses. Fifteen credit hours of electives are also required for completion of the degree, and since 50 percent of the coursework must be taken outside the Reh School of Business, most electives will be non-business courses taken in other disciplines, such as engineering or science.
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The following courses are required for all students, irrespective of their program of study. These courses are offered during the fall semester, with FY100 First-Year Seminar being required of only first-year students. Both FY100 and UNIV190 are typically taken during the fall semester of the first year at Clarkson.
- FY100 First-Year Seminar (1 credit)
- UNIV190 The Clarkson Seminar (3 credits)
Students are required to complete the following courses:
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
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Professional Experience
All students participate in a project-based professional experience such as a co-op, an internship, directed research or a community project clearly related to the student’s professional goals.
Students must complete three of the following courses:
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Students must complete the following courses, usually in their first and second year:
Common Curriculum
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Global Experience
A global experience is required for graduation for all Clarkson Business students. Employers want our graduates to understand different cultures and diversity and to have had first-hand exposure. Students will have a variety of opportunities, such as a semester exchange and/or faculty-led global business trips, to satisfy this requirement.
Knowledge Area/University Course Electives
Students will have approximately 15 credit hours available to use toward Knowledge Area and/or University Course electives.
Free Electives
Students will have approximately 3 credit hours available to use toward courses of their choice.
Experiential Learning
At Clarkson, you will be able to pursue research topics that are of interest to you. Individual professors in the business department offer a variety of opportunities for participation in different research projects, and they will work closely with you to determine which areas work best for you.
All students participate in a project-based professional experience such as a co-op, an internship, directed research or a community project clearly related to the student’s professional goals. Recent internship employers include
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The Right Experience
As an innovation and entrepreneurship student, you’ll open yourself up to impactful experiences that are rarely found all together anywhere else.
You will…
- Form a team with other business students and formulate a plan to start your own business during your first semester. Then you’ll pitch your business idea to real investors for real seed money.
- Run your business and earn the right to put acronyms like CEO, CFO and CMO after your name during your second semester.
- Have an international experience, such as a 2- to 3-week trip to places like Croatia, Argentina and Switzerland or a semester at one of our 50+ study abroad partner universities in 27 countries.
- Be able to take advantage of the incredible internship and co-op opportunities offered through partnerships at top companies such as IBM, Northwestern Mutual and Schneider Electric.
- Take courses from a curriculum, created in partnership with industry leaders, that prepares you for positions such as brand manager, consultant, product design specialist, marketing analyst, director of internet marketing, entrepreneur, innovation strategist, project director, advertising sales and more.
