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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.

      Impactful work drives CMU’s research reputation

      by Eric Baerren

      Grants to help train teachers in rural school districts and monitor local wastewater systems for disease outbreaks were among the efforts that helped Central Michigan University maintain its reputation as a high research activity institution.

      CMU Spent $25.4 million on research in 2023 and awarded an average of 77 research-related doctorates each year between 2020-23, according to the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research’s Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

      “Since initially obtaining its high research activity status, CMU has continued to grow its research presence with a doubling of externally funded research in 2025 compared to the amount of research done when CMU was first elevated,” said Bradley Swanson, interim vice president for research and innovation. “The work done by our faculty, staff and students benefits Michigan and the USA economically and scientifically through the knowledge produced by these endeavors.”

      One of those projects is a $15 million grant through the Michigan Department of Education to create a credentialing hub to help the state meet a critical need for teachers in rural school districts.

      “The need to attract, develop, and retain educators in rural regions is crucial for the health and well-being of children, families, communities, and our state,” said Paula Lancaster, CMU’s provost and who at the time the grant was awarded was dean of the College of Education and Human Services. “We are proud to lead collaborative efforts and build a truly unique consortium of educator preparation programs and preschool-12 school districts that will address the persistent problem of educator shortages in rural communities across our state.”

      Another project that directly benefits communities across mid-Michigan is a multi-year federal grant to monitor wastewater in rural communities. The program is expected to help rural communities stay safer in the event of another disease pandemic.

      In their most recent award, CMU received $638,000 from the Centers for Disease Control to continue the program.

      Producing 77 research-related doctorates a year also meets one of two criteria to qualify for the top tier of research institutions.

      CMU first qualified as a high research activity institution in 2015, Swanson said.

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