Undergraduate Entrepreneurship

Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Minor

Any undergraduate student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville can add entrepreneurship to their resume and transcript by earning the interdisciplinary entrepreneurship minor. We have students from very diverse backgrounds that include engineering, agriculture, music, communications, and arts and humanities

The Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Minor is an interdisciplinary minor with classes from seven University of Tennessee colleges. Students are strongly encouraged to take at least one class outside their major college. A complete list of courses is available in the UT Undergraduate Catalog.

Available Courses

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who can take the entrepreneurship minor?
Any undergraduate student enrolled at the University of Tennessee can take the entrepreneurship minor.

I am not sure if entrepreneurship is right for me. Should I take the minor?
One of the key purposes of ENT 350 Introduction to Entrepreneurship is to help you answer this question. If you think entrepreneurship might be for you, we encourage you to check out ENT 350 and answer that question for yourself!

How many hours is the minor?
The minor encompasses 15 credit hours (typically 5 courses).

Can I complete both the entrepreneurship collateral and the entrepreneurship minor?
No. Students will get credit for only one or the other. The entrepreneurship collateral is only available to majors within the Haslam College of Business. The entrepreneurship minor is open to students from any major on campus.

Do entrepreneurship courses have prerequisites?
This varies by course. Please carefully check prerequisites and registration restrictions in the course catalog. In general, “ENT” designated courses will have ENT 350 – Introduction to Entrepreneurship as a prerequisite, but most have limited prerequisites to make it easy for a wide variety of majors to take these courses.

How else can I get involved in entrepreneurship at UT and in Knoxville?
Your first stop should be the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation website. From there, you can find out what is going on here on campus as well as throughout the local area.

Will a minor in entrepreneurship be valuable even if I’m not planning to start a business shortly after graduation or maybe never?
With the strong trend of technological innovation, businesses are increasingly looking for employees who have the entrepreneurial mindset and can bring entrepreneurial skills to their careers. The minor will provide the skills needed to identify opportunities, evaluate their feasibility and develop a plan to implement the product or service. With the entrepreneurship minor, you will understand the challenges of financing and marketing an intrapreneurial idea, and you will develop skills for seeing the big picture, bringing that skill set to the workplace and standing out early in your career.

Undergraduate Collateral in Entrepreneurship

A three-course collateral in entrepreneurship is offered to Haslam College of Business students majoring in finance, human resource management, management and marketing. Although the collateral is only open to Haslam students, the courses are open to all UT Knoxville and UT Institute of Agriculture students. These classes provide valuable insight into the challenges an entrepreneur faces, and help students develop the skills necessary to identify opportunities, construct plans and start on the value-creation journey.

Entrepreneurship Learning Community

The Entrepreneurship Learning Community (LC) is designed to bring together students from different colleges who share a desire to become value-creators and successful entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship LC provides an opportunity to interact with other students who are interested in someday starting a business.

Entrepreneurship Learning Community Requirements:

• Enroll in Business Administration 103 during the fall and spring semesters.
• Study, analyze and discuss real-life cases focused on the challenges facing early-stage entrepreneurs. Case studies will be taken from The Knack by authors Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham, both of whom are practicing entrepreneurs and columnists for INC Magazine.
• Participate in the Vol Court Speaker Series and Pitch Competition. Attend six workshops with local entrepreneurs and entrepreneur enablers who will cover key aspects of starting a business. Vol Court culminates in a pitch competition where attendees put what they’ve learned into practice by presenting their business ideas to a panel of successful entrepreneurs for a chance to win $1,500 in cash, office space in the UT Research Foundation Business Incubator and various professional services.