Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business will introduce a B.B.A. in entrepreneurship in spring 2018, the college’s first new undergraduate major in more than 20 years. The program will be offered by the college’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Institute, which was established in 2016 to foster an entrepreneurial mindset in students throughout the university.

Robinson’s B.B.A. in entrepreneurship responds to student demand as well as emerging need. According to a 2017 report by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, entrepreneurs are driving a resurgence of business activity in America, and the rate of new entrepreneurs has increased by more than 15 percent in the last two years.

“Our entrepreneurship curriculum is a ‘do’ versus ‘learn-to-do’ program in which students innovate, disrupt, execute, convince and persist,” said ENI director, Richard J. Welke. “We take students beyond the classroom to learn how to create value through a combination of field experiences, mentoring, expert-judged competitions and courses taught by successful entrepreneurs.”

The B.B.A. in entrepreneurship joins a growing slate of undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurial course and program offerings, presented by or in conjunction with ENI.

• An undergraduate minor in entrepreneurship open to all Georgia State students

• Two bachelor of interdisciplinary studies (B.I.S.) programs: a B.I.S. in media entrepreneurship, with the university’s Creative Media Industries Institute; and a B.I.S. in social entrepreneurship, with the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

• E-House Living Learning Community, a residence for undergraduates

• A concentration in entrepreneurship for MBA students

• A master of interdisciplinary studies (M.I.S.) in biomedical enterprise, with the Institute for Biomedical Sciences

“Providing a B.B.A. in entrepreneurship is in keeping with our vision that ‘No One Gets Closer to Business than Robinson,’” said Richard D. Phillips, dean of the Robinson College. “Students will graduate prepared to venture out on their own, bring value to a start-up enterprise, or offer expertise to established companies looking to innovate.”