Degree Offered
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
Nature of the Program
The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Major will prepare graduates for starting new ventures, acquiring small businesses or franchises, and working in organizational roles that propose, analyze, and implement growth strategies. Through a flexible series of courses that emphasize both conceptual and hands-on/experiential learning and artificial intelligence, students will develop knowledge and skills that provide them with a platform to start, run, and grow enterprises. Career options for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Majors include:
- Entrepreneur or business owner
- Business or economic development
- Corporate innovation
- Venture capital
- New product development
- Management consulting
- Sales agent (financial services, insurance, real estate, etc.)
Faculty
Chair
- Olga Bruyaka Collignon - Ph.D. (University Lyon 3, EM Lyon Business School)
Associate professor
- Ryan Angus - Ph.D. (University of Utah)
Assistant professors
- Hyeonsuh Lee - Ph.D. (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
- Stefan Wuorinen - Ph.D. (Michigan State University)
Teaching assistant professors
- Yan (Nancy) Chen - Ph.D. (University of Missouri)
Admissions for 2027-2028
For specific information regarding the admissions requirements for First Time Freshmen to the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, please visit Chambers admissions.
Students who are direct admitted to the major as first-time freshmen must possess an overall university GPA of at least 2.0 and have completed the course prerequisites listed in the table below with minimum grade of C-, unless otherwise noted, to be eligible to enroll in upper-division course work.
Students who are not direct admitted to the major (i.e. Business) will declare the major at the beginning of the semester in which they satisfy the course prerequisites listed below with a minimum of C- unless otherwise noted. Applicants also must possess an overall GPA of at least 2.0 to be considered for admission to the major.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ACCT 201 | Principles of Accounting 1 | 3 |
| ECON 201 & ECON 202 | Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics | 6 |
| ECON 225 | Elementary Business and Economics Statistics | 3 |
| or STAT 211 | Elementary Statistical Inference | |
| Choose one of the following: | 3-6 | |
| Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research | ||
| Accelerated Academic Writing | ||
| MATH 124 | Algebra with Applications | 3 |
| Total Hours | 18-21 | |
Major Code: 2162
Click here to view the Suggested Plan of Study
General Education Foundations
Please use this link to view a list of courses that meet each GEF requirement.
NOTE: Some major requirements will fulfill specific GEF requirements. Please see the curriculum requirements listed below for details on which GEFs you will need to select.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations | ||
| F1 - Composition & Rhetoric | 3-6 | |
| Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research | ||
or ENGL 103 | Accelerated Academic Writing | |
| F2A/F2B - Science & Technology | 4-6 | |
| F3 - Math & Quantitative Reasoning | 3-4 | |
| F4 - Society & Connections | 3 | |
| F5 - Human Inquiry & the Past | 3 | |
| F6 - The Arts & Creativity | 3 | |
| F7 - Global Studies & Diversity | 3 | |
| F8 - Focus (may be satisfied by completion of a minor, double major, or dual degree) | 9 | |
| Total Hours | 31-37 | |
Please note that not all of the GEF courses are offered at all campuses. Students should consult with their advisor or academic department regarding the GEF course offerings available at their campus.
Degree Requirements
To qualify for the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration students must meet the following criteria:
- Complete a minimum of 120 credit hours.
- Possess an overall GPA of 2.0.
- Possess a minimum GPA of 2.0 for all major courses, calculated using all attempted GPA hours unless excluded by the D/F repeat policy.
- The John Chambers College of Business and Economics accepts all baccalaureate transferable course work completed at public and private colleges in West Virginia and other regionally accredited institutions. Since the College is AACSB accredited, upper-division courses (courses equivalent to 300/400 level at WVU) must be evaluated by the Dean or designee before they may count toward business core, major core and major restricted electives in the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration or Bachelor of Science in Economics program.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| University Requirements | 36 | |
| Program Requirements | 21 | |
| Business Core Requirements | 33 | |
| Entrepreneurship and Innovation Major Requirements | 30 | |
| Total Hours | 120 | |
University Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations (GEF) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (31-37 Credits) | ||
| Outstanding GEF Requirements 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 | 16 | |
| BCOR 191 | First-Year Seminar | 1 |
| General Electives | 19 | |
| Total Hours | 36 | |
Program Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ACCT 201 | Principles of Accounting 1 (Minimum grade of C-) | 3 |
| ECON 201 | Principles of Microeconomics (Minimum grade of C-; may fulfill GEF 4) | 3 |
| ECON 202 | Principles of Macroeconomics (Minimum grade of C-; may fulfill GEF 8) | 3 |
| Select one of the following (Minimum Grade of C-; may fulfill GEF 1): | 3-6 | |
| Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research | ||
| Accelerated Academic Writing | ||
| Select one of the following (Minimum grade of C-; may fulfill GEF 8): | 3 | |
| Elementary Business and Economics Statistics | ||
| Elementary Statistical Inference | ||
| MATH 124 | Algebra with Applications (Minimum grade of C-; may fulfill GEF 3) | 3 |
| Total Hours | 21 | |
Business Core Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ENTR 102 | Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship | 3 |
| BCOR 199 | Introduction to Business | 3 |
| BCOR 299 | Business Communication (Fulfills Writing and Communication Skills Requirement) | 3 |
| BCOR 320 | Legal Environment of Business | 3 |
| BCOR 330 | Information Systems and Technology | 3 |
| BCOR 340 | Principles of Finance | 3 |
| BCOR 350 | Principles of Marketing | 3 |
| BCOR 360 | Supply Chain Management | 3 |
| BCOR 370 | Principles of Management | 3 |
| BCOR 380 | Business Ethics | 3 |
| BCOR 460 | Contemporary Business Strategy | 3 |
| Total Hours | 33 | |
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Possess a minimum GPA of 2.0 for all major courses calculated using all attempted GPA hours unless excluded by the D/F repeat policy. | ||
| ENTR 400 | Advanced Concepts in Entrepreneurship (Minimum Grade of C-) | 3 |
| ENTR 404 | AI Enabled Creativity & Design | 3 |
| ENTR 420 | Entrepreneurial Finance (Minimum Grade of C-) | 3 |
| ENTR 435 | Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition & Franchising | 3 |
| ENTR 475 | Corporate Innovation & Technology Management | 3 |
| MIST 225 | Rapid Application Prototyping | 3 |
| Select four of the following electives (at least one must be ENTR): | 12 | |
Any upper-division ENTR course | ||
| Business Data Mining and Visualization | ||
| Introduction to Business Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence | ||
| Business Valuation | ||
| Talent Acquisition & Performance Management | ||
| The Future of Work: AI x HR | ||
| Team Facilitation | ||
| Technology Entrepreneurship | ||
| Professional Selling 1 | ||
| Selling with Digital Media | ||
| Product and Brand Management | ||
| Online Analytics | ||
| Artificial Intelligence and Its Application in Marketing | ||
| Start Up Marketing Promotions | ||
| Total Hours | 30 | |
- *
A maximum of six credit hours of 491, Professional Field Experience, may apply towards the 120 credit hours required for the degree. Three may count toward the major and three will be counted as elective credit.
Suggested Plan of Study
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| BCOR 199 | 3 | ACCT 201 | 3 |
| BCOR 191 | 1 | ECON 201 (GEF 4) | 3 |
| ENTR 102 | 3 | ENGL 101 (GEF 1) | 3 |
| MATH 124 (GEF 3) | 3 | GEF (Choose from F2, F5, F6, F7 or F8) | 3 |
| GEF (Choose from F2, F5, F6, F7 or F8) | 3 | Minor or General Elective | 3 |
| Minor or General Elective | 2 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ECON 202 (GEF 8) | 3 | BCOR 299 | 3 |
| ECON 225 (GEF 8) | 3 | BCOR 340 | 3 |
| ENGL 102 (GEF 1) | 3 | BCOR 350 | 3 |
| MIST 225 | 3 | BCOR 370 | 3 |
| GEF (Choose from F2, F5, F6, F7 or F8) | 3 | ENTR 400 | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| BCOR 320 | 3 | BCOR 360 | 3 |
| BCOR 330 | 3 | ENTR 420 | 3 |
| ENTR 404 | 3 | Major Elective | 6 |
| GEF (Choose from F2, F5, F6, F7 or F8) | 3 | GEF (Choose from F2, F5, F6, F7 or F8) | 3 |
| Minor or General Electives | 3 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| BCOR 380 | 3 | BCOR 460 | 3 |
| ENTR 435 | 3 | ENTR 475 | 3 |
| Major Elective | 3 | Major Elective | 3 |
| Minor or General Electives | 6 | Minor or General Electives | 6 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total credit hours: 120 | |||
Major Learning Outcomes
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The objective of providing a foundational education in entrepreneurship and innovation at the undergraduate level cannot be realized without appropriate curricula content, effective teaching, and ultimately, learning. Within the undergraduate entrepreneurship and innovation major, we subscribe to the following learning goals for each of our undergraduate students:
Graduates of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation major will be able to:
- Generate and Evaluate Opportunities – Apply creative processes and hypothesis testing to identify entrepreneurial opportunities and validate ideas through customer discovery and experimentation.
- Apply Design Thinking and Creativity Tools – Use human-centered design and AI-enabled creativity methods to ideate, prototype, test, and refine innovative solutions.
- Develop and Execute Business Models – Build and iterate business models that incorporate strategy, operations, marketing, and finance, while adapting to uncertainty and change.
- Leverage Emerging Technologies – Integrate digital tools and technology management frameworks to enhance entrepreneurial effectiveness and corporate innovation practices.
- Manage Startup and Corporate Innovation Processes – Evaluate how ventures and established firms structure, finance, and scale innovation, including responses to technological disruption.
- Engage in Real-World Partnerships – Collaborate with founders and startup teams to scope, manage, and deliver professional project outcomes that create measurable value.
- Build and Launch New Ventures – Advance personal business ideas through prototyping, product-market fit testing, early revenue generation, and preparation for investor funding.
- Communicate Entrepreneurial Vision – Develop and deliver compelling pitches, investment memos, and strategic presentations tailored to customers, investors, and corporate stakeholders.
- Analyze Entrepreneurial Pathways – Compare and assess new venture creation, acquisition entrepreneurship, and franchising models, and recommend pathways suited to different contexts.
- Demonstrate Professional & Entrepreneurial Mindset – Exhibit initiative, adaptability, ethical decision-making, and resilience while building networks and preparing for entrepreneurial or innovation-focused careers.