The Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship inspires students from diverse backgrounds in the arts and sciences to approach the world through an entrepreneurial lens. We equip students with the skills to identify and validate opportunities – from for-profit ventures to nonprofit and social innovation initiatives – scale them, and achieve a successful exit.
As part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship draws from an array of majors to foster a rich, interdisciplinary learning environment. We also maintain strong partnerships with professional schools, including Kenan-Flagler Business School, the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, and the Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Housed within the Economics Department, it’s one of the few undergraduate entrepreneurship programs in the nation that spans disciplines. While many of its courses carry the ECON label, the Entrepreneurship Minor’s course content and analytical approach transcend economics. This enables us to teach practical business knowledge applicable to any industry, cultivate an “entrepreneurial mindset”, and empower students to tackle real-world problems.
“People don’t care how much you know — until they know how much you care.”
The Shuford Program is grounded in the belief that all successful ventures – startups, social enterprises, artistic initiatives, or intrapreneurial opportunities – require healthy, confident leaders who have both the skills and the integrity to lead.
Our program was founded on the understanding that there is a common and repeatable process for the realization of new ventures, ideas, and concepts. Students adopt this entrepreneurial mindset and learn to apply it to their work at UNC and after graduation.
In 2004, Buck Goldstein, John Akin, and Jack Kasarda launched the Entrepreneurship Minor to encourage arts and sciences students from diverse backgrounds to view the world through an entrepreneurial lens. Over the next decade, the minor grew in impact and popularity. In 2017, the College of Arts & Sciences received a generous gift from the Shuford family. This gift transformed the academic minor into a robust & comprehensive program, renamed the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship in their honor.