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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Four CMU graduate programs ranked in nation’s top 100

by Aaron Mills

Four graduate programs at Central Michigan University are ranked among the top 100 nationwide by U.S. News & World Report.

CMU’s audiology program was ranked 29^th best in the nation in the magazine’s annual rankings. The program also was the highest ranked audiology graduate program in Michigan. Healthcare Management (62^nd overall, 2^nd in Michigan), Speech-Language Pathology (74^th overall, 3^rd in Michigan) and Statistics (92^nd overall, 3^rd in Michigan) were also among the top 100 programs in their respective categories.

In total, 13 CMU graduate programs made the U.S. News & World Report 2025 Best Graduate Schools rankings:

Audiology: #1 in Michigan (#29 overall)
Healthcare Management: #2 in Michigan (#62overall)
Speech-Language Pathology: #3 in Michigan (#74 overall)
Statistics: #3 in Michigan (#92 overall)
Physical Therapy: #4 in Michigan (#154 overall)
Mathematics: #4 in Michigan (#173 overall)
Psychology: #4 in Michigan (#214 overall)
Public Health: #5 in Michigan (#137 overall)
History: #5 in Michigan (#141 overall)
Public Affairs: #5 in Michigan (#179 overall)
Biological Sciences: #5 in Michigan (#203 overall)
Clinical Psychology: #6 in Michigan (#170overall)
Fine Arts: #9 in Michigan (#178 overall)

The CMU College of Medicine also received recognition in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 rankings, earning a place among the top 20 medical schools in the country for placing graduates in rural areas and in health professional shortage areas.

This year's edition of U.S. News Best Graduate Schools features rankings of more than 7,000 degree-granting programs at more than 1,100 universities. Rankings are calculated using objective measures and opinions of peers and recruiters.