About UMSL Accelerate Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Certificate


ShareLike most people, I used to think that entrepreneurship was narrowly defined as the process of starting a new business. Like most people, I could not have been more wrong. The truth is that the talented artists, biologists, sociologists, computer scientists, social workers, education majors, and quite literally every other discipline on campus have as much to offer the field of entrepreneurship as do our business students and future entrepreneurship majors. Business students and self-identified entrepreneurs are critical, but we also need the artists’ ability to create something out of nothing. We need the biologists who are consummate systems thinkers […]

Why All Students Must Enroll In the Entrepreneur Certificate


SharePatrick Davis is in his last year at UMSL and working on his own business called Illlumenessence that focuses on custom automotive lighting. His story perfectly showcases an entrepreneurial journey. Hi Patrick, could you tell us a little bit about you? Hi, absolutely! I am graduating in the fall with a major in marketing and a minor in digital media. I will also earn my Certificate in Entrepreneurship. In addition to my academics, I work on my own custom automotive lighting company. Which entrepreneurship classes did you take? What have you learned from them? I have taken the Introduction to […]

Custom Automotive Lighting from an UMSL Student Entrepreneur


ShareA college education is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately for entrepreneurs, attending a four-year university also carries some significant drawbacks. The latest data on student loan debt from Debt.org tells a grim story for new graduates: The average debt at graduation is now more than $37,172 per student. Related: Does a College Degree Still Matter? For anyone entering the job market, a college degree is simply the price of admission. Entrepreneurs, however, need more than a piece of paper; they need relevant, hands-on skills they can use to succeed in the real world. For new and established founders, getting the most […]

3 Real-World Tactics Entrepreneurs Should Take Advantage of During (and ...



ShareFor entrepreneurs my age or older, there was really only one way to learn about entrepreneurship and innovation: The Hard Way. Knowing what to do and what not to do in a startup was an expensive process of trial and error, in real-time, in the real world, with real investors and real customers. If we were lucky, we might have picked up a mentor along the way who could provide occasional perspective and advice but, other than that, we were all pretty much on our own. Fast-forward a decade and a dozen or so startups later to 2016. A group […]

UMSL’s Cutting-Edge Entrepreneurship Courses