The Entrepreneurship Minor
About the minor
The Entrepreneurship Minor is the most popular minor on campus, drawing students from both the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering. Students learn to work and think like entrepreneurs and speak the language of business by taking the equivalent of five courses taught by award-winning entrepreneurs and investors.
What you’ll learn
The ENT minor will help you develop the mindset and skillset you can apply to your life after graduation — whether you’re entering graduate school, starting or working for a startup or small business, joining a larger organization (for-profit or non-profit), or even joining a government agency.
Earning the minor
Requirements
Students can earn the minor by taking one foundational course plus 12 additional credits, at least six of which must be comprised of core courses. The balance may comprise courses drawn from the core or elective lists. ENT courses range from 2 to 4 credits. See course list below.
Restrictions
For students in the School of Arts and Sciences, a maximum of two courses used to fulfill a foundation, distribution or concentration requirement may be used toward fulfillment of the minor. There are no restrictions for students in the School of Engineering.
Course attributes
All ENT courses include the following class attributes: BFA-Social Science, LA-Distribution-Social Sciences, SoE-HASS-Social Sciences.
New for Fall 2023
Increased flexibility
In Fall 2023, students will have increased flexibility in how they earn the minor. The new requirements — and courses that fulfill those requirements — effective September 2023 are listed below. These changes are 100% backwards compatible with the legacy requirements. If you have already planned your courses with the legacy requirements, you will automatically qualify for the minor under these new requirements.
Electives

EC 03 – Financial Accounting

EC 50 – Introduction to Finance

EM 153 Management of Innovation

EM 51 Engineering Management

EM 52 Technical and Managerial Communications

ENT100 Creativity, Innovation & Entrepreneurial Thinking

ENT109 | CVS149 Societal Aspects of Design

ENT141 Innovative Social Enterprises

ENT142 Nonprofits, Philanthropy and Impact

ENT162 Bringing Products To Market

ENT163 Entrepreneurial Business Law

ENT164 Introduction to Making

TGI110 | ENT180J Preparing New and Aspiring Leaders

TGI111 | ENT181 Developing Financial Literacy (2 Credits)

TGI 112 | ENT182J Communication Skills (2 credits, First Half)

TGI 113 | ENT183J Essentials of Marketing (2 credits, Second Half)

TGI114 | ENT184J Planning your career pathway (2 credits)

TGI 115 | ENT185J Living a Life of Purpose: The Leader as Seeker (2 credits, Second Half)

ENT193.01 Building Your Entrepreneurial Toolkit

ENT193.02 Paths to Entrepreneurship (2 credits, Second Half)

ENT193.05 Team and Talent Management (2 credits)

ENT193 | NUTR280J Nutrition and Entrepreneurship (Boston Campus)

ENT193.09 Innovating for Impact (2 credits, First Half)

ENT193.04 Art Entrepreneurship

ENT194.01Inside the Classroom

ENT198 Entrepreneurial Internship

ENT199 Entrepreneurial Field Study

TPS 58 – Public Speaking

UEP 130 | CVS 183 Negotiation, Mediation, & Conflict Resolution
How to get the minor
Declare the minor
Students must declare the minor with the Registrar’s office. Please visit the Major and Minor Declaration page to learn more about this process. You can complete this process at any point during your experience with the Entrepreneurship Minor.
Complete Minor Certification Form
After declaring the minor with Student Services, students must complete the Minor Certification Form. This can be completed before you have finished all required courses and before you have received final grades. Once the form is approved, we will return a signed copy to the student’s email address. Students will then bring the signed form to Student Services before their graduation period’s deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have a question not listed here?
Please reach out to Carol Denning, Assistant Director of the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at: entstudent@tufts.edu.
What is the difference between “Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies” (ELS) and “Entrepreneurship” (ENT)?
ELS (Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies) was the original name for our minor. In 2020, we changed the name of the minor to ENT (Entrepreneurship). The name better reflects the focus of our courses and minor.
As a title, “Entrepreneurship” more clearly encompasses all of the courses offered within the minor. Any ELS courses that have been successfully completed will count towards the ENT minor. Students completing the minor’s graduation requirements on or after June 2020 can receive the ENT minor. Students who matriculated in 2019 or earlier have the option to receive the ELS minor if preferred. Registration for Fall 2020 forward will use the ENT course coding; however, the numerical course identifiers will not change.
I heard that there is an exciting expansion coming to the ENT Minor. What is that about?
Exciting changes are coming for the ENT Minor effective from September 2022 onward! We are moving to more flexible requirements to allow students the opportunity to obtain a solid foundation in entrepreneurship along with the flexibility to pursue courses that align with students’ interests. These requirements are 100% backward-compatible with existing requirements, so students who are on track to earn the minor will not need to change their plans. Students who have not yet completed their minor requirements will have more flexibility to choose courses in their area of interest while receiving a solid foundation for the entrepreneurial method.
Are the changes only relevant for incoming freshmen?
No. The changes are relevant for anyone graduating in Fall 2022 and beyond. We understand that if you are graduating in 2022, you may have already planned to take courses according to the old requirements. Don’t worry – you can earn the minor on time because the changes to the minor are 100% backward-compatible.
Do the new requirements mean I don’t have to take all core courses, for example, Entrepreneurial Finance?
Yes, you can earn the minor without taking all the core courses. You only need to earn 12 credits — 6 of which need to be chosen from the core courses. That said, we strongly recommend all ENT students take at least one course in accounting or finance. For AY2022-23, if you elect not to take Entrepreneurial Finance (4 credits) — a must-have for students contemplating a career in investment banking or financial services in any capacity — you can choose to take EC3 Financial Accounting or EC 50 Introduction to Finance. For AY2023-24 and beyond, we anticipate introducing additional finance courses at an introductory level (2-3 credits) for entrepreneurial students.
What is a good course progression for a student interested in building software ventures?
Following is an example course progression for a student interested in building software ventures.
- Freshman year:
- ENT100 Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking (3 credits), ENT193.01 Introduction to Making (2 credits) or ENT193.02 Paths to Entrepreneurship (2 credits)
- Sophomore year:
- ENT151 Entrepreneurship for Computer Science (3 credits – CS majors only) or ENT101 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning (3 credits – all students)
- ENT103 Entrepreneurial Finance – a core course (4 credits)
- Junior and Senior years:
- ENT105 Entrepreneurial Marketing (3 credits) or ENT107 Entrepreneurial Leadership (3 credits) – both core courses
- Additional electives drawn from the Core and Elective lists to make up 12 credits
What is a good course progression for a student interested in a career in finance?
Following is an example course progression for a student interested in building software ventures.
- Freshman year:
- ENT193.21 Developing Financial Literacy (2 credits) or ENT193.02 Paths to Entrepreneurship (2 credits)
- Sophomore year:
- ENT101 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning (3 credits – all students) or any other qualifying foundational course
- ENT103 Entrepreneurial Finance – a core course (4 credits)
- Junior and Senior years
- ENT105 Entrepreneurial Marketing – a core course (3 credits)
- A leadership or management course including ENT107 Entrepreneurial Leadership and other options from the core and elective lists
- Additional finance courses from the electives list
What is a good course progression for a student interested in product design and product management?
Following is an example course progression for a student interested in product design and product management
- Freshman year:
- ENT100 Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking (3 credits), ENT193.01 Introduction to Making(2 credits) or ENT193.02 Paths to Entrepreneurship (2 credits)
- Sophomore year:
- ENT161 Consumer Product Ventures (3 credits) or any other foundational course
- ENT105 Entrepreneurial Marketing or ENT106 Entrepreneurial Sales – both core courses (3 credits)
- Junior and Senior years:
- ENT107 Entrepreneurial Leadership – a core course (3 credits)
- ENT162 Bringing Products to Market (3 credits)
- A finance course drawn from the core and elective list
What is a good course progression for a student interested in creative and media arts?
Following is an example course progression for a student interested in creative and media arts.
- Freshman year:
- ENT193.01 Introduction to Making(2 credits), ENT193.21 Developing Financial Literacy or ENT193.02 Paths to Entrepreneurship (2 credits)
- Sophomore year:
- ENT101 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning (3 credits) – a foundational course, or any other foundational course
- ENT105 Entrepreneurial Marketing – a core course (3 credits)
- Junior and Senior years:
- ENT107 Entrepreneurial Leadership – a core course (3 credits)
- ENT100 Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking (3 credits),
- Additional finance courses are strongly recommended
What new courses are you planning to add in AY2023-2024?
We will be adding three new sections in 2023-2024.
- We will be offering a fourth section to the foundational course, ENT 101 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning
- We will be offering a new exploratory course focused on creativity in the food and beverage space in the Spring – Open to all students, including freshmen.
We also added cross listed courses from our parent organization, Tufts Gordon Institute (TGI) in areas spanning financial literacy, career pathfinding, marketing, communications and more. Look for cross-listed courses with the TGI prefix in the course list above.
I took courses at another institution (for example I am a transfer student, or I wish to study abroad), can I transfer these credits?
Yes, you can find complete details about the transfer credit process on this Tufts website. During this process, if you request ENT course credit, then your request will be routed to the Undergraduate Transfer of Credit Department Representative listed here for Entrepreneurship. In conjunction with faculty, this person determines the acceptability of the content of your requested course(s). When you input your request in SIS, it is imperative that you include a link to the course syllabus. If you are accessing the syllabus through the student portal of another university, then the Tufts representative will not be able to access the syllabus through the link you use. You will need to copy the syllabus, perhaps to a Google document, and upload an accessible link in SIS. If you wish for your request to be considered for equivalency to an existing course, then please indicate this in your SIS request. Please note that transfer credits are not typically issued for core course equivalencies. Transfer credits are only issued for elective course credit. Transfer credit requests are reviewed on a monthly basis. If you do not receive a response to your request in SIS within one month, then you can please reach out to ENTstudent@tufts.edu.