Oberlin College & Conservatory

The Entrepreneurship Scholars Program

This is an intensive winter term program designed to provide exceptionally creative and motivated Oberlin students with a dynamic environment in which to explore their ideas. This year the program takes place in San Francisco and Oberlin, and students are also given unstructured time to explore their idea in the location of their choice. The program consists of 15-20 talks by leading entrepreneurial alumni and friends of the college, intensive skills building workshops, peer collaboration, and individual venture development challenges.

We support students who have a wide variety of goals ranging from starting grassroots organizations, offering a new product or service, launching a tour, commercializing a discovery, and beyond. We look for students who have the passion and drive to make something happen, and can benefit from having the time, skills, and contacts to explore their idea during winter term.

By participating in the Entrepreneurship Scholars Program, students will:

• Engage with the challenges of realizing their idea through hands-on workshops, case studies, lectures, and a targeted shadow day;
• Gain familiarity with the issues entrepreneurs encounter in planning, financing, and launching an endeavor;
• Expand their original concept through conversations with peers, advisors, and lecturers;
• Become acquainted with a network of alumni and other professionals who can provide feedback and guidance on their idea;
• Make concrete steps toward realizing their creative idea.

The Entrepreneurship Scholars Program is sponsored by the Creativity & Leadership Project. Creativity & Leadership: Entrepreneurship at Oberlin is part of the Northeast Ohio Collegiate Entrepreneurship Program (NEOCEP), a Kauffman Campuses (SM) Initiative funded by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation and Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. See more information on the program.