Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fellowship

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scholarship/Fellowship Update

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academic programs are kicking off a second round of crowdfunding with the goal of boosting their endowed scholarship program to $50K.  In 2016-17, we raised $14.1K with 100% matching from the Dean of the School of Management, for a $28.2K endowed fellowship.   For 2017-18, our goal is an additional $12K ($24K with the match from our Dean) to boost the total endowment to over $50K.  The campaign will run from December 1st to January 31, 2018.

The combined fund will award fellowships/scholarships to graduate students who are either enrolled in the MS in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MSIE) degree program or are pursuing a concentration in Innovation and Entrepreneurship within another degree program at UT Dallas.  Students must demonstrate academic merit as well as entrepreneurial focus and experience.

Your scholarship support is making a difference!   

• The Princeton Review ranked UT Dallas’ graduate innovation and entrepreneurship program as the #19 school in the U.S. in 2018 (moving up three spots from #22 last year). 
• The new Blackstone LaunchPad co-working facility opened in April 2017, providing us with an outstanding facility for hosting events and providing mentoring and instruction to students. 
• A new $300K seed fund was raised in early 2017.  Two $25k grants were awarded to startups in Spring 2017 with additional grants under review for Fall 2017.  The UT Dallas Seed Fund complements the pre-seed funding provided through our startup launch courses. 
• We have re-branded the Comet Accelerator Program as Comet-X and the Business Idea Competition as the Big Idea Competition.  Guy Kawasaki will be our celebrity judge at the BIC Finals on November 16th.  We continue to move these programs to the next level.    
• We now offer 22 graduate entrepreneurship courses, including several intriguing courses that provide experienced-based learning for our students.
  • Startup Launch courses – Enable students to launch companies while receiving academic credit. Students with scalable concepts can apply for up to $25k in funding to support their launch.
  • Seed Fund Support course – Students conduct due diligence and make investment recommendations to a Seed Fund Steering Committee
  • Entrepreneurial Experience course – Students partner with major technology companies to analyze new market opportunities.
  • Social Entrepreneurship course – Students work with local nonprofits to improve one or more aspects of their businesses.  
  • Internship course- Students support a startup company or corporation and get paid while gaining valuable experience and receiving course credit. 
• Graduate enrollments are expected to increase 8% this year with over 440 graduate students expected to enroll in ENTP courses in the JSOM.

Thank you for your support! As you can see, it’s paying off. We hope to count on you for 2017-18! Whoosh!

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academic programs are raising funds to establish the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fellowship Fund, an endowment at UT Dallas.  This fund will award fellowships to graduate students who are either enrolled in the MS in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MSIE) degree program or are pursuing a concentration in Innovation and Entrepreneurship within another degree program at UTD.  Students must demonstrate academic merit as well as entrepreneurial focus and experience.

Please consider giving back to your community by helping with this important fellowship program!  Each dollar raised will be matched 1:1 up to 2x the target amount.  Our goal is to raise $12,500, which combined with the matching fund will create a scholarship endowment for UTD.*

Highlights of our award winning programs include:

Innovative Startup Launch Courses and Pre-seed Funding - The SL courses enable students to pursue their startup dream while getting course credit and mentoring.  Scalable business concepts are eligible to apply for funding of up to $25K to help students launch their venture.

Entrepreneurial Experience course provides students with exceptional opportunities to work on innovative projects with large corporations.  The fall 2016 project is studying the Internet of Things in partnership with AT&T;

Shark Tank format in courses and in the Business Idea Competition engages students and provides feedback from successful business professionals. Comet Accelerator and Venture Incubator Programs – Extra-curricular instruction, seed funding, and mentoring to assist with launching companies.

Blackstone Launch Pad Program providing world-class extra-curricular advice to students.

Award winning academics

Recognized as 2014 National Model Master’s Program by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE).  UT Dallas is one of the 23 top universities that have received this award since 1990. 

Recognized for 2014 Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurial Teaching and Pedagogical Innovation by Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC).

*If UT Dallas is unable to raise at least $12,500 from donors, all gifts will be used to provide fellowships to graduate students over the next 1-3 years who are pursuing an MS in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MSIE) degree program or are pursuing a concentration in Innovation and Entrepreneurship within another degree program at UTD.