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.

2025 NVC Competition Live Stream

2025 NVC Awards Live Stream

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.

A student standing with a faculty member holding big winning checks from the New Venture Challenge 2024.

Start up

Build up your venture idea.

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A student smiling and standing in front of his venture display at the 2024 New Venture Challenge.

Family business

Explore the Alternative Entrepreneurial Pathways category at NVC.

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A close-up of the Prusa i3 MK3 printer in the entrepreneurship makerspace, the IDEA Den in Grawn Hall 166.

Product and prototype design

Create and patent your ideas.

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Innovation

Explore your ideas and build your skills.

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Computer science department gets thumbs-up from ABET

by Robert Wang

The Central Michigan University Department of Computer Science just scored a big win – they've been officially accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the big name in accrediting computing and engineering programs worldwide. This means that our Bachelor of Science in Computer Science has passed all the tough standards ABET set.

ABET isn't some faceless organization; it's made up of volunteer professionals who are experts in the field. These folks, through what they call the Computing Accreditation Commission, outline criteria and guidelines on standards needed to meet their rigorous requirements to be accredited. And our Computer Science program met every requirement they threw at it.

Getting this accreditation wasn't a walk in the park, it was a journey that started back in 2015. The department had to sweat it out, tweaking the curriculum and rules to fit ABET's standards. They even wrote up a whole report to show ABET just how hard they've been working. And in 2022, ABET came for a visit to see for themselves.

They had to jump through hoops, proving they were up to snuff on everything from advising students to making sure the faculty was top-notch. Plus, they had to make sure they were teaching all the right stuff – algorithms, programming languages, you name it. They had to pass every test in the book.

But now that they've got the stamp of approval from ABET, students can breathe easy knowing their education here meets the high standards of the computing world. And employers? They love seeing that ABET seal of approval. It tells them our grads are ready to hit the ground running.

ABET isn't just about getting the badge and calling it a day. They're all about getting better and better. So, the CMU Computer Science Department isn't resting on its laurels. They're going to keep on listening to feedback, making improvements, and churning out grads who are ready to take on whatever the tech world throws at them.