They want seed money. They want to start their businesses. Some of these companies already have been started. They're up and running. Besides participating in the Business Plan Competition and several other activities, PEI undergrads and M.B.A.s must complete separate sets of core classes to add a PEI certificate to their regular degrees.
Undergrads start the program as juniors.
Many of the companies entered in this year's competition were conceived in their first required class, Creating a Company. Jerry Ralston, a professor of marketing and internal business, teaches one of the course's four sections. We just try to keep them out of trouble. The process reverses the normal order of instruction, placing practical experience ahead of lectures and book work. Having gone through the exercise, the classes will have a lot more meaning.