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Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship

We are a dedicated institute for student entrepreneurs across campus and beyond. We aim to maximize your success by fostering your entrepreneurial mindset, promote inter-disciplinary collaboration and provide support for the creation and development of your new ventures. Jumpstart your ideas and get involved today!

Tune in for excitement!

Passion. Potential. Pitches. Don't miss any of the 2025 New Venture Challenge excitement.

Tune in Friday, April 11 at 1 p.m. for great ideas and fierce competition. Then, join the judges, mentors, spectators and teams as they see who is going home with thousands of dollars in venture financing. The awards broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. and one team will walk away as the overall best venture. 

Start your entrepreneurial journey

Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration is the home of the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship and the first Department of Entrepreneurship in the state of Michigan. We are a student-centric hub where experiential, curricular, and external entrepreneurial opportunities intersect.

Our mission is to maximize student success by fostering a campus-wide entrepreneurial mindset that promotes inter-disciplinary collaboration and the creation of new ventures.

We aim to create innovative programming, boost cross-campus and ecosystem collaboration and provide a comprehensive mentoring program.

Our institute provides extracurricular opportunities and is open to all undergraduate and graduate CMU students.

Student opportunities

  • Meet experienced alumni, faculty, entrepreneurs, investors, and other business and political leaders.
  • Learn practical skills, innovative thinking, and connect with mentors and entrepreneurial resources.
  • Attend skill-building workshops and compete in pitch competitions and Hackathons.
  • Take part in special scholarship programs and travel experiences.
  • Pitch your venture at our signature New Venture Challenge event and compete for up to $20,000 in cash awards.

      Find your path

      Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur?

      Every journey is unique. Explore the opportunities that interest you.

      CMU joins national STEM diversity effort

      by Sanjna Jassi
      CMU joins national effort to increase diversity of STEM faculty and inclusive teaching practices.

      Central Michigan University has joined 19 other universities in a national effort to increase the diversity of their STEM faculty and use of inclusive teaching practices.

      This group joins an inaugural set of 15 institutions that made the commitment earlier this year.

      Institutions participating in Aspire: The National Alliance for Inclusive & Diverse STEM Faculty, will assess their current recruitment, hiring and retention practices and implement action plans to drive change. The movement is funded by the National Science Foundation.

      “We are excited to have been chosen to join this valuable consortium of universities working to diversify the faculty ranks, along with incorporating more inclusive classroom and learning environments and techniques,” said A.T. Miller, vice president and chief diversity officer at CMU.

      “This is a significant addition to our recent NSF ADVANCE Catalyst Award to increase representation and advancement opportunities for women in STEM, and we look forward to making notable progress in these areas in coming semesters,” he said.

      A 2019 NSF analysis showed that underrepresented minority faculty occupied 9% of professorships in STEM fields at four-year institutions.

      Research has shown that underrepresented students taught by diverse faculty achieve at significantly higher rates, eliminating as much as 20-50% of the course achievement gaps between minority and majority students, Aspire reported.

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