The Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program is Purdue’s hub for cross-campus entrepreneurship education. Launched in 2005, it is one of the largest multidisciplinary entrepreneurship programs in the United States, enrolling approximately 2,200 students from 200 majors in 60 classes per year. Administered through the Office of the Provost, the program offers all Purdue undergraduates an academic credential equivalent to a minor. The program empowers students to turn their innovative ideas into action, whether they choose careers in start-ups, industry, or non-profit organizations. This highly experiential program complements all academic majors through skills, knowledge, and experiences related to new venture creation. Students from all of Purdue’s colleges – engineering, business, science, agriculture, health and human sciences, technology, pharmacy, education, and liberal arts – work collaboratively to turn innovative ideas into reality. Our uniqueness is modularity at scale. Given our diverse student population, we offer courses that align with their characteristics, interests, and career goals. Student entrepreneurial goals vary widely - some have products they want to get to market, some will join the family business, and some will pursue entrepreneurship after gaining experience in established organizations. We believe entrepreneurship offers graduates flexibility and a broader range of full-time or part-time professional opportunities. To highlight this, one of our marketing slogans promotes that entrepreneurship can be “a main gig, side hustle, mindset, skillset, or toolset.” It's a powerful model! To date over 14,000 Purdue students have participated. Each year, we generate 5500+ credit hours for the university. At graduation, 4 out of 5 graduates expect to work in a startup. 750+ startups have been launched by alumni. These have raised over $600M in funding.
Finalist
Entrepreneurship Course of the Year Award
Purdue University Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation – Turbocharge Your Major
Finalist Entrepreneurship Course of the Year Award
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN - United States
"Turbocharge Your Degree with Entrepreneurship"
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Summary
Key People
Dr. Nathalie Duval-Couetil, MBA, PhD
Director, University Entrepreneurship Education Initiatives; Professor, Department of Technology Leadership & Innovation
Office of the Provost/Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship,
Purdue University
Dr. Jenna Rickus, PhD
Senior Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning; Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering; Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Office of the Provost,
Purdue University
Jeanette Greener
Assistant Director, Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Purdue University
Brenda Klinkhamer
Senior Academic Advisor for Entrepreneurship and Student Services Coordinator
Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation,
Purdue University
Terra Kline
Senior Instructional Designer, Technology and Program Specialist
Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation,
Purdue University
Angie Stocklin
Curriculum Lead/Assistant Director, Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation – Indianapolis Campus
Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation,
Purdue University
Rick Davis
Curriculum Lead/Entrepreneurship Faculty
Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation,
Purdue University
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge Purdue President Dr. Mung Chiang and Purdue Provost Dr. Patrick Wolfe for their strong support of cross-campus entrepreneurship education and experiential activities. We also acknowledge Dr. Brooke Beier, Vice President of the Purdue Research Foundation, for her team’s collaboration in supporting student entrepreneurship.
Images
Purdue's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship
Experts Night
Entrepreneurship Capstone Pitches
Preliminary Pitches
Entrepreneurship Consulting Course Client and Team
Entrepreneurial Student Teams
Entrepreneurship Instructor
Entrepreneurship Instructor
Program Marketing
Entrepreneurship Competitions
IMPACT STORY
Impacting lifes
Bryan Lord, a 2007 Purdue graduate and one of the first students to complete the Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, recently returned to campus for an event featuring pitches from participants in Purdue’s accelerator program. On a panel that kicked off the event, he was asked what led him to be a founder. He responded, “A class.”
As a student, Bryan had changed majors several times, unsure of what he wanted to do. At one point, his academic advisor suggested that he try a course in the newly launched entrepreneurship program. That led him to enroll in the Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation and ultimately take its capstone course—a 16-week class co-led by the program director and the well-known Indiana entrepreneur, Scott Jones (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottajones/).
Scott Jones is credited with inventing voicemail, digital music, and even robotic lawn mowers. He founded Boston Technology, Gracenote, Precise Path Robotics, and many other ventures. Bryan described the class as the place where things started to click. It was the first time that the textbook wasn't the focus of the class—it was about ideas, innovation, conversations, and real-world insight.
After graduating, Bryan said he spent a few months fumbling around before starting his first company. Since then, he has founded eight and serves on the boards of several others (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanplord/details/experience/). Recently, he reconnected with Scott to let him know just how much that course had impacted his life, as it had helped him find direction at a time when he needed it most.
LEARNINGS
Lessons learned
Founding an entrepreneurship program has taught me that much of what stakeholders expect doesn’t always reflect reality. A common myth is that more 20-year-olds will start companies. But in truth, entrepreneurship education isn’t about pushing students to launch immediately—it’s about lowering barriers, building confidence, and making entrepreneurship an accessible career option when the timing is right, now or in 10 years.
Professional experience is often essential for identifying genuine problems and solutions. Many of our graduates leverage industry experience to launch more impactful ventures later. I believe strongly in our model that complements or “turbocharges” students’ majors with entrepreneurship, rather than offering standalone entrepreneurship majors. The most valuable opportunities often emerge from deep expertise in a discipline.
The value of entrepreneurship education to established companies must also be celebrated. “Intrapreneurs” drive innovation, problem-solving, and growth; however, their contributions are harder for universities to quantify. Counting companies is easy, but measuring value creation inside organizations is not.
Also key is that entrepreneurship education must go beyond the narrow archetype of the male tech founder to maximize its societal and economic impact. Faculty must highlight diverse entrepreneurs across various industries so that students can see themselves in the examples presented.
Students today face compressed timelines and many academic options. Founding a company while finishing a degree is unrealistic for most. Flexibility is key. Programs must align with short-term needs while developing entrepreneurial mindsets that persist.
Finally, instructors with real-world experience resonate deeply. Students value the practical insight and mentorship they bring. It is what sets entrepreneurship programs apart.
FUTURE PLANS
What's coming?
Purdue is growing—and so is the Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program. In 2024–25, Purdue launched its extended urban campus in Indianapolis, and the program began offering on-site courses to freshmen. We launched one course in spring 2025, and we’ll expand to three classes this fall. To support the expected growth, we’ve hired an assistant director dedicated to developing entrepreneurship offerings. She is an accomplished founder and an outstanding instructor, with deep ties to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. We will expand our teaching team and partner with other programs to provide internships and extracurricular activities to students.
Looking ahead, we’re continuing to deepen our connections with STEM disciplines—areas of strategic growth for Purdue. The university highly values the combination of STEM and entrepreneurship, and we’re focused on strengthening the pipeline from our program into Purdue’s incubator, accelerator, and technology commercialization efforts. Purdue consistently ranks among the top U.S. universities for issued patents (currently ranked #4 for U.S. utility patents), and our students and alumni, who develop technology, can benefit from the connections Purdue creates for venture development and funding.
We continue to work closely with departments across campus to identify curricular pathways that lead to certificate completion, ensuring that students from all majors can participate. As economic and workforce dynamics shift, we believe that entrepreneurship offers graduates flexibility and a broader range of professional opportunities, empowering them to build careers in the industries and communities where they want to live and contribute.
