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Key Infor­ma­tion:

  • Thomas Edi­son State Uni­ver­si­ty and Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty — Ida­ho are top schools for an afford­able bach­e­lor’s in entre­pre­neur­ship.
  • These top-ranked uni­ver­si­ties offer afford­able entre­pre­neur­ship degrees that pro­vide a strong return on invest­ment through low tuition rates and high-qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion.
  • Pro­grams focus on prac­ti­cal skills and knowl­edge essen­tial for start­ing and man­ag­ing busi­ness­es, ensur­ing grad­u­ates are well-pre­pared for entre­pre­neur­ial careers.

An afford­able entre­pre­neur­ship degree can open up all kinds of doors to a reward­ing, inde­pen­dent career in busi­ness. But in today’s econ­o­my, earn­ing your edu­ca­tion can be cost­ly. Many prospec­tive stu­dents are dis­mayed and dis­cour­aged when they learn the real costs of an entre­pre­neur­ship degree, but find­ing the cheap­est entre­pre­neur­ship degrees is not that dif­fi­cult if you know where to start looking.

Small pub­lic col­leges and com­mu­ni­ty col­leges are great places to go if you are unsure of what degree pro­gram you want to pur­sue. If you are ready to start col­lege and work toward your entre­pre­neur­ship degree, a small­er school may be your best bet and, in the long run, may actu­al­ly be more con­ve­nient as well. If you need to keep your tuition costs as low as pos­si­ble, you can also look into grants and schol­ar­ships. Unlike stu­dent loans, grants and schol­ar­ships are con­sid­ered gifts and do not have to be paid back once the stu­dent grad­u­ates. Anoth­er way to get assis­tance with school tuition is to ask your employ­er if they offer reim­burse­ment options for edu­ca­tion­al costs.

Methodology: Ranking the Most Affordable Entrepreneurship Degrees

Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter focus­es on accred­it­ed, rep­utable col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties, and the rank­ing of the most afford­able bachelor’s in entre­pre­neur­ship is no dif­fer­ent. For putting the rank­ing in order, though, just one fac­tor mat­ters. Insti­tu­tions are ranked in order of tuition rate, from low­est to highest.

1. Thomas Edison State University

The Thomas Edi­son State Uni­ver­si­ty Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion (BSBA) focus­es on devel­op­ing stu­dents who are ready to acquire addi­tion­al man­age­ment and finan­cial skills by learn­ing how to eval­u­ate busi­ness oppor­tu­ni­ties, secure fund­ing and orga­nize and man­age areas of exper­tise like mar­ket­ing, man­u­fac­tur­ing and accounting.

This afford­able entre­pre­neur­ship degree pro­gram resides in the School of Busi­ness and Man­age­ment, and the uni­ver­si­ty is known nation­al­ly for its aca­d­e­m­ic excel­lence. One of the first schools in the coun­try designed just for adults in more than 100 areas of study, they are also known for their edu­ca­tion­al integri­ty. This is a 120-cred­it pro­gram which includes a cap­stone require­ment. There are a num­ber of things to do around cam­pus and through­out the com­mu­ni­ty to enhance the learn­ing expe­ri­ence per­son­al­ly and professionally.

Degree: Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion: Entre­pre­neur­ship, BS

Thomas Edi­son State Uni­ver­si­ty BSBA in Entrepreneurship

2. Brigham Young University — Idaho

The Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Entre­pre­neur­ial Man­age­ment is designed to assist in the devel­op­ment of skills, expe­ri­ences and con­nec­tions to fur­ther a career as an entre­pre­neur, start­up founder, or employ­ee with in-depth exper­tise. Stu­dents are exposed to hands-on projects and real-life case dis­cus­sions while they learn a broad skillset that helps under­stand the infra­struc­ture of organizations.

This is a lim­it­ed afford­able entre­pre­neur­ship degree pro­gram, with only forty stu­dents accept­ed per year. The university’s mis­sion is in edu­ca­tion, schol­ar­ship and ser­vice to mem­bers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Lat­ter-day Saints and to the world. The school was named for J. Willard and Alice S. Mar­riott in 198. Giv­ing back to the com­mu­ni­ty is a huge oppor­tu­ni­ty for stu­dents to grow both per­son­al­ly and pro­fes­sion­al­ly. There are a num­ber of things to do with­in the city, allow­ing stu­dents to learn and enjoy the cam­pus and all their sur­round­ings have to offer.

Degree: Entre­pre­neur­ial Man­age­ment, BS

Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Entre­pre­neur­ial Management

3. Utah Valley University

The Utah Val­ley Uni­ver­si­ty Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Entre­pre­neur­ship is designed to assist stu­dents who wish to devel­op exper­tise and skills need­ed by entre­pre­neurs who are con­sid­er­ing start­ing their own busi­ness­es or becom­ing a con­sul­tant to help grow the busi­ness of some­one else. This afford­able entre­pre­neur­ship degree pro­gram is 120 cred­it hours, which include gen­er­al edu­ca­tion require­ments, dis­ci­pline core require­ments and elec­tive require­ments to graduate.

The uni­ver­si­ty was ini­tial­ly estab­lished in 1941 as Cen­tral Voca­tion­al School, which changed in 1987. A teach­ing insti­tu­tion, they are accred­it­ed by the North­west Com­mis­sion on Col­leges and Uni­ver­si­ties. An attrac­tive insti­tu­tion, stu­dents are nes­tled between the Utah Lake and Wasatch moun­tains. Stu­dents have a num­ber of attrac­tions such as the Hale Cen­ter The­ater, canal trails and parks that make the expe­ri­ence and beau­ty of Utah worth explor­ing. There are also numer­ous oppor­tu­ni­ties to con­nect with the com­mu­ni­ty and give back.

Degree: Entre­pre­neur­ship, BS

Utah Val­ley Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Entrepreneurship

4. University of Minnesota — Crookston

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Minnesota’s BS in Entre­pre­neur­ial Man­age­ment is part of the Carl­son School of Man­age­ment. This afford­able entre­pre­neur­ship degree is designed for stu­dents who are start­ing their own busi­ness­es, help­ing exist­ing busi­ness­es grow, or cre­at­ing pos­i­tive social impact through devel­op­ing new ven­tures. There are 22 cred­its in the major core cur­ricu­lum, with 8 cred­its required in elec­tive coursework.

The uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1919 and was accred­it­ed by the Asso­ci­a­tion to Advance Col­le­giate Schools of Busi­ness (AACSB) in 1920. They are wide­ly known for their inno­va­tion and under­grad­u­ate teach­ing as well as notable alum­ni. The uni­ver­si­ty is set on the banks of the Mis­sis­sip­pi Riv­er with­in a vibrant met­ro­pol­i­tan com­mu­ni­ty. There are numer­ous arts and cul­ture areas to vis­it, in addi­tion to learn­ing all about the Twin Cities and every­thing it has to offer.

Degree: Entre­pre­neur­ial Man­age­ment, BS

Uni­ver­si­ty of Min­neso­ta BS in Entre­pre­neur­ial Man­age­ment

5. Arizona State University

The Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Busi­ness Entre­pre­neur­ship is offered as a major or minor designed for stu­dents who are seek­ing an inno­v­a­tive change in the busi­ness world, or those wish­ing to launch a busi­ness of their own. The afford­able entre­pre­neur­ship degree pro­gram offers a sol­id foun­da­tion in prod­uct devel­op­ment, lead­er­ship, com­mu­ni­ca­tion, col­lab­o­ra­tion, team build­ing and strate­gic planning.

This pro­gram is unique in that is offers col­lab­o­ra­tive work­spaces, accel­er­a­tor pro­grams, inno­va­tion expe­ri­ences and struc­tured work­shops, sem­i­nars and com­pe­ti­tions for seed fund­ing. The uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1885 and accred­it­ed in 1962 by the Asso­ci­a­tion to Advance Col­le­giate Schools of Busi­ness (AACSB).

Degree: Busi­ness Entre­pre­neur­ship, BS

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Busi­ness Entrepreneurship

6. Indiana University — Bloomington

The Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Kel­ley School of Busi­ness Man­age­ment & Entre­pre­neur­ship Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree in Entre­pre­neur­ship & Cor­po­rate Inno­va­tion is designed as a major or minor for stu­dents inter­est­ed in the cre­ation and man­age­ment of small busi­ness­es. Stu­dents will take 18 cred­it hours of required cours­es and 3 cred­it hours of approved electives.

The Kel­ley School of Busi­ness was found­ed in 1920 and is known as one of the top busi­ness schools in the nation. They are accred­it­ed by the Asso­ci­a­tion to Advance Col­le­giate Schools of Busi­ness (AACSB). A his­toric cam­pus, stu­dents enjoy a big col­lege cam­pus in a small city. There are numer­ous fes­ti­vals and shows to enjoy, as well as oth­er activ­i­ties to keep stu­dents busy.

Degree: Entre­pre­neur­ship & Cor­po­rate Innovation

Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Kel­ley School of Busi­ness Man­age­ment & Entrepreneurship

7. University of Illinois at Chicago

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois at Chica­go BS in Entre­pre­neur­ship is designed for stu­dents who are plan­ning a career by start­ing their own busi­ness or oper­at­ing at high lev­els in a stand­ing orga­ni­za­tion. Stu­dents learn in-depth knowl­edge through 18 core cred­it cours­es such as New Ven­ture Plan­ning, Social Entre­pre­neur­ship, Fam­i­ly Busi­ness Man­age­ment, Inter­na­tion­al Entre­pre­neur­ship, Entre­pre­neur­ial Finance and Con­sult­ing and New Ven­ture For­ma­tion. Stu­dents will also be required to com­plete 9 cred­it hours in busi­ness electives.

Found­ed dur­ing the 19th cen­tu­ry, the school is an acclaimed research insti­tu­tion gov­erned by The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois Sys­tem. There are tons of things to do on and off cam­pus that allows stu­dents to expe­ri­ence life as a col­lege stu­dent and real-life expe­ri­ences. They have an array of pro­grams that allow stu­dents to grow per­son­al­ly and pro­fes­sion­al­ly through com­mu­ni­ty-cen­tered projects.

Degree: Entre­pre­neur­ship, BS

Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois at Chica­go BS in Entrepreneurship

8. University of Central Missouri

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Missouri’s BSBA in Entre­pre­neur­ship and Social Enter­prise pro­vides a hands-on approach for stu­dents who want to learn by doing in an inno­v­a­tive way. In this afford­able entre­pre­neur­ship degree pro­gram, stu­dents are taught how to become entre­pre­neurs and founders, con­nect­ing with oth­er stu­dents with the same mind­set. Stu­dents will learn how to devel­op inno­v­a­tive solu­tions and put them into action.

Stu­dents have expe­ri­en­tial learn­ing class­es at the core of the pro­gram which include The Inte­gra­tive Busi­ness Expe­ri­ence (IBE), Entre­pre­neur­ial Busi­ness Plan­ning, Social Enter­prise for Entre­pre­neurs, Small Busi­ness Oper­a­tions Analy­sis, Com­mer­cial­iza­tion and Entre­pre­neur­ial or Social Ven­ture Start-up. Accred­it­ed by the AACSB and the High­er Learn­ing Com­mis­sion, the uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1871. The uni­ver­si­ty is cen­tral­ly locat­ed, close to almost every­thing with­in the city. Their grounds in War­rens­burg are nation­al­ly rec­og­nized for their beau­ti­ful cam­pus grounds.

Degree: Entre­pre­neur­ship and Social Enter­prise, BSBA

Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Mis­souri BSBA in Entre­pre­neur­ship and Social Enterprise

9. University of North Texas

The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Texas BBA in Entre­pre­neur­ship degree is designed to pro­vide an over­all under­stand­ing of busi­ness dur­ing the first three years, with a high­ly con­cen­trat­ed cur­ricu­lum dur­ing the senior year. The fac­ul­ty have pre­mier rep­u­ta­tions and are known for out­stand­ing research, inno­va­tion in teach­ing and ser­vice to the profession.

Stu­dents will gain mar­ketable skills such as lead­er­ship, com­mu­ni­ca­tion, cross-dis­ci­pline busi­ness prin­ci­ples and the abil­i­ty to address com­plex busi­ness sit­u­a­tions. The col­lege stands by their vision to pre­pare glob­al busi­ness lead­ers and schol­ars in an envi­ron­ment where they are intel­lec­tu­al­ly stim­u­lat­ed through teach­ing, research and ser­vice. Part of the UNT sys­tem, they are a Tier 1 research uni­ver­si­ty found­ed in 1890. Stu­dent life at the Uni­ver­si­ty of North Texas includes per­son­al devel­op­ment and growth with a num­ber of events and orga­ni­za­tions giv­ing back to the com­mu­ni­ty. There are also numer­ous edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties on cam­pus and through­out the city. This area is known for its beau­ty and end­less things to do.

Degree: Entre­pre­neur­ship, BBA

Uni­ver­si­ty of North Texas BBA in Entrepreneurship

10. University of California, Berkeley

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Berke­ley BS in Man­age­ment, Entre­pre­neur­ship & Tech­nol­o­gy is a dual-pro­gram that com­bines edu­ca­tion from the top-ranked Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing and the Haas School of Busi­ness. There are sev­en aca­d­e­m­ic tracks, includ­ing: Engi­neer­ing Unde­clared + Busi­ness; Bio­engi­neer­ing + Busi­ness; Civ­il Engi­neer­ing + Busi­ness: Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing & Com­put­er Sci­ence + Busi­ness; Indus­tri­al Engi­neer­ing & Oper­a­tions Research + Busi­ness; Mate­ri­als Sci­ence & Engi­neer­ing + Busi­ness; and Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing + Business.

These afford­able entre­pre­neur­ship degree pro­grams are designed to pro­vide close men­tor­ing and hands-on sce­nar­ios that devel­op ideas into real-world solu­tions with an inte­grat­ed foun­da­tion of tech inno­va­tion. Stu­dents are pre­pared to start their own com­pa­nies, con­tribute to an exist­ing firm or lead inno­va­tion as a con­sul­tant with­in the indus­try. The uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1868 and is a high­ly-sought research insti­tu­tion. Locat­ed in an urban set­ting, there are many events and attrac­tions around Berke­ley designed to con­nect the col­lege expe­ri­ence and real life. This area is well-known for its arts, fes­ti­vals, shop­ping and oppor­tu­ni­ties for stu­dents to con­nect with the com­mu­ni­ty and learn on a more per­son­al lev­el. A beau­ti­ful cam­pus and city worth explor­ing, stu­dents are able to mesh the col­lege expe­ri­ence with one of learn­ing and devel­op­ment year-round

Degree: Man­age­ment, Entre­pre­neur­ship & Tech­nol­o­gy, BS

Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Berke­ley BS in Man­age­ment, Entre­pre­neur­ship & Technology

Can I Get an Entrepreneurship Degree for Free?

Although you may be able to earn a por­tion of your entre­pre­neur­ship degree for free through the use of grants and schol­ar­ships, most degree pro­grams aren’t free. Some uni­ver­si­ties and com­mu­ni­ty col­leges may offer free entre­pre­neur cours­es online to stu­dents who are will­ing to audit the class and pro­vide valu­able feed­back. Free online cours­es for entre­pre­neurs are avail­able if the stu­dent meets spe­cif­ic cri­te­ria and do pro­vide valu­able infor­ma­tion. It’s impor­tant to remem­ber, how­ev­er, that to get an actu­al degree, there will be some form of cost.

Stu­dents can defray the major­i­ty of their costs, how­ev­er, by using oth­er strate­gies. In addi­tion to apply­ing for grants and schol­ar­ships, they can also ask their employ­er to assist in pay­ing part or all of their tuition. In most cas­es, the stu­dent will have to pay for the class­es upfront. Once they have com­plet­ed the class and passed, the employ­er will pro­vide them with the funds to cov­er the cost of their edu­ca­tion. If the employ­ee needs the class­es to main­tain their cur­rent cer­ti­fi­ca­tions, the com­pa­ny may choose to pay for them pri­or to the stu­den­t’s com­plet­ing the coursework.

With employ­er reim­burse­ment, your com­pa­ny will reim­burse you for all of or part of your edu­ca­tion­al costs once you have suc­cess­ful­ly com­plet­ed each course. This ensures that you com­plete the work and, in return, you pro­vide them with the skills you learned through your class­es. It also opens the door to pro­mo­tions and advance­ment that you would not have had in the past.

Will an Entrepreneurship Certification Help My Career?

Entre­pre­neur­ship cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams offer grad­u­ates sev­er­al ben­e­fits. A cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in entre­pre­neur­ship is ide­al for some­one who needs the cred­i­bil­i­ty of cer­ti­fi­ca­tion but does­n’t nec­es­sar­i­ly need to have an actu­al degree in the field. Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams work well for stu­dents who have already been cer­ti­fied but need to com­plete sev­er­al con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion hours to keep their cre­den­tials active and in good stand­ing. With entre­pre­neur­ship cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams adding new cours­es each year, it makes it easy for those who require con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion pro­grams to main­tain their certifications.

For indi­vid­u­als who have worked with­in their cho­sen career field for sev­er­al years with­out hav­ing an actu­al degree, receiv­ing their cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in entre­pre­neur­ship may be just what they need to earn a man­age­r­i­al posi­tion. If they have already been employed in their field, return­ing to col­lege for a full degree pro­gram may not be nec­es­sary. Their many years of expe­ri­ence has pro­vid­ed them with the knowl­edge and tools they need to con­tin­ue mov­ing for­ward. Earn­ing a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion through an online degree or cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­gram may, how­ev­er, boost their earn­ing poten­tial by ver­i­fy­ing their cred­i­bil­i­ty and by assert­ing that they do have the skills they need to succeed.

How Much Can I Make with an Entrepreneurship Degree?

The field of entre­pre­neur­ial stud­ies is extreme­ly var­ied. Depend­ing on your lev­el of knowl­edge and expe­ri­ence, you can make as lit­tle as $15,000 per year or as much as $156,000. The type of cer­ti­fi­ca­tion or entre­pre­neur­ship degree salary you earn will be great­ly deter­mined by how much effort you put into your career. If you are just start­ing out, a low­er salary will mean start­ing out at the very bot­tom of the peck­ing order. Along with that, how­ev­er, you will be able to learn even the most basic con­cepts that you can build the foun­da­tion of your career upon. This is one case in which “the more you learn, the more you earn” tru­ly applies.

Indi­vid­u­als who were mak­ing a medi­an wage of $50,000 could pos­si­bly dou­ble their earn­ings if they returned to school to com­plete an online Bach­e­lor’s degree in Entre­pre­neur­ial stud­ies. By com­bin­ing the years of expe­ri­ence a stu­dent already has with the infor­ma­tion and tools they receive through the degree pro­grams, grad­u­ates are able to use what they know from both to cre­ate pos­i­tive, for­ward-think­ing solu­tions that can move their busi­ness forward.

Relat­ed Rankings: 

Best Bach­e­lor’s in Entrepreneurship

Top Online Bach­e­lor’s in Entrepreneurship

Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Entrepreneurship