A B.S. in entrepreneurship is anything but

Little-known Grand Canyon University plans to open the first College of Entrepreneurship, with $4.5M in startup money for students with great ideas.

By Jessica Seid Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Entrepreneurship is the fastest-growing course of study on campuses nationwide, but never before have would-be moguls been able to get a degree in the field.

Until now. Grand Canyon University's College of Entrepreneurship, slated to open in January, will be the first fully accredited college in the country devoted exclusively to the study and practice of entrepreneurship.

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Grand Canyon University will open the first College of Entrepreneurship of its kind in the U.S.

Based in Phoenix, the facility will offer an "Entrepreneur Factory" to house startup businesses, a student organization called "Club Entrepreneur" and an e-lab.

There will also be a venture-capital fund with $4.5 million set aside for students who propose a potentially successful entrepreneurial project.

Entrepreneurship classes will be taught by business owners with entrepreneurial experience and most are also available as online courses. Tuition is $360 a credit or approximately $12,000 per year.

"Entrepreneurship is, by nature, anything but academic," acknowledged Brent Richardson, chief executive officer of Grand Canyon University.

But "we identified a growing need to teach aspiring entrepreneurs as they deserve to be taught," he said, "in a setting rich with the spirit of entrepreneurship."

"We're looking to create the only 'pureblood' B.S. in entrepreneurial education, a new gold standard in the field," Entrepreneur-In-Residence Peter Burns said in a statement. "All too often, entrepreneurship is poorly taught, with theory trumping practice," said Burns.

Burns originally proposed the initiative to Richardson, who in turn agreed to invest approximately $2 million upfront.

Grand Canyon University is a private Christian university with about 11,000 students enrolled.

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.