Author: By Marie C. Franklin, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, February 21, 1999

Page: C5

Section: Learning

The history of entrepreneurial education goes like this: from neglect to doting attention. Proof starts at Babson College, one of the hottest business schools in the world for Bill Gates wannabes.

US News and World Report has named Babson the number one graduate business school for entrepreneurship for the past four years. But it wasn't until 1967 that the business college in Wellesley offered a course in small business start-up. By 1971, Babson was one of only 15 schools in the country to offer classes in the field and, by 1979, among a limited number of colleges and universities to offer an entreprenurial studies major. Today, 20 percent of Babson's student body concentrates in entrepreneurial management. Those who don't, take many classes in financial planning, start-up capital, and cash-flow analysis.

"With the present economy and the success of so many new business start-ups, the study of entrepreneurship is in vogue," says Robert Turner, associate professor of accounting at Babson.

"In the 1950s, students studied business preparing to go to work for GM or IBM for the rest of their careers," he says. "Today, many come to learn how to start new businesses."

And Babson is not alone.

Entrepreneurial studies is reshaping business education the way the Internet is changing the communications industry. From MIT's Sloan School of Management and the Harvard Business School, to a short list of local institutions including Northeastern University, Bentley College, Suffolk University, Simmons College, University of Massachusetts, and Middlesex Community College, students are signing up in record numbers to learn more about business start-up. And the professors who teach them are tackling small business topics such as product development, distribution, and marketing, in almost every class.

"Entrepreneurship used to be in the second class of business education, but that has changed dramatically in the last 10 years," says Bonita Betters-Reed, a business professor at Simmons College who specializies in entrepreneurship. "Entrepreneurship is no longer an add-on. It's highly integrated into every aspect of our business curriculum."

At Babson, where all first-year students take the year-long FME, or Foundation for Management Experience, disciplines such as finance, accounting, and marketing are integrated, as they would be in a new business venture. FME students also start a business with other students, a project they and their professors say intensifies the entrepreneurial theme underlying their education.

"Instead of taking accounting and saying, `Oh, I'm finished with that,' or studying finance or marketing and saying, `OK, I can forget about that,' each class gives a skill that can be useful later on for business decision making," says Turner.

At Northeastern, some business majors concentrate in small business and entrepreneurship, according to Jim Mulloy, assistant dean. In one course, students consult with a real business in need of extra skills, Mulloy said. Northeastern also sponsors an Entrepreneur's Club so students can network among themselves, their professors and guest speakers, many of whom are entrepreneurs.

At the University of Massachusetts-Boston, minority students are encouraged to review their start-up plans with staff in the Minority Business Center.

Even at many high schools, such as Framingham High School, the business department offers at least one class in entrepreneurship. In Lexington, at Minuteman Vocational/Technical High School, 11th-graders create hypothetical businesses under teacher Sebastian Parquett. In "English for the Entrepreneur," Parquett encourages students to start businesses according to their interests. "They also study income tax, how advertising works, how to sign a lease, and then how to apply all of these to their business," Parquett said.

Nationally, the National Foundation for the Teaching of Entrepreneurship sponsors workshops in business start-up aimed at inner city teenagers. In Cambridge, the Lemelson-MIT Awards Program brings famous inventors face to face with elementary school students in a program designed to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Even the Girl Scouts have formalized their efforts to teach business skills. Cookies and Dough teaches Cadet Senior Girl Scouts, grades 7 through 12, to run a cookie business as a tool to teach marketing and goal setting skills, said Joan Reilly of the Patriot Trail Girl Scouts.

Critics of entrepreneurial studies argue that entrepreneurs are born, not made. The qualities needed to start and run a successful business are innate, they say, and that passion, creativity, and drive cannot be taught. But those who teach and study in this fast-growing learning field say it takes more than passion to launch and grow a business. Having a good idea is one thing, but turning it into a business opportunity is another.

"The born salesman still has to go through training," said Jim Nahill, 40, an MBA student in entrepreneurship at Babson. "Creativity and drive are good to have, but alone, they won't give you the know-how to run a successful business."

Betters-Ree teaches entrepreneurship at the women's college Simmons. She says there are more than 7.7 million female business owners in the country.

"Increasingly, we are more sensitive to the fact that entrepreneurship isn't just about getting rich," she says. "It's also about a lifestyle that might help your family, a way of providing independence, and not just financial."

In the world of business education, things are changing so rapidly it's hard to know today what skills will be expected in the future. One thing is certain: Learning how to run a business in the classroom won't hurt when students enter the workforce.

At Babson, the Hatchery Program helps students such as Nahill finance a start-up. The college gives students equipment and office space, conference rooms, and faculty consultants for free. One of the consultants might be Babson graduate Steve Spinelli, a co-founder of Jiffy Lube and a faculty member at the college. The program made it possible for Nahill to start Access Health Networks, a discount card for health care services.

"The great thing about the Hatchery Program is that Babson gives me everything I need," he says. "I can go to classes, and then come back to my office and tend to the company."

For most would-be entrepreneurs, undergraduate programs are the traditional route to acquiring the skills to run a successful business. For 18-year-old David Robbins, the decision to study entrepreneurship as a Babson undergraduate already has paid off in practical experience. Robbins is co-CEO of Babson Calendars, a company he launched with fellow students.

"I learned right off that I couldn't do everything. Robbins says. "I needed to delegate if we were going to get it done."

Others return to study business after college, traditionally going after earning a masters degree in business administration. Nahill, a graduate student at Babson, already has an undergraduate pharmacy degree, an education he intends to combine with his business skills.

At Northeastern, professor Marc Meyer says his night course in entrepreneurial studies attracts managers from the high-tech industry eager to learn start-up skills. "I tell them to put aside the technology and focus on the marketing," Meyer says.

Often, adult learners who have an idea for a business move more slowly into entrepreneurship. Many hold onto their day jobs, and go to school at night to learn more about starting a business. For example, this winter, would-be-entrepreneurs had several choices of reasonably priced, short-term classes at the Boston Center for Adult Education. Among them: "How to Start and Succeed at Your Own Business," "A Five Step Plan to Starting Your Business," and "Inventions, Ideas and Patents: Getting Your Ideas to Market."
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