Halfway into a five-year, $5 million grant to spur entrepreneurship, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has started a host of programs designed to help get students into business.
The university has used the money to roll out new initiatives, from an arts enterprise club to a specialized dorm community and an event similar to speed dating, only with experienced entrepreneurs, said Charles B. Hoslet, senior special assistant to the chancellor and managing director of UW Madison's office of corporate relations.
The ranks of the self-employed have declined 0.6% in the last 10 years, according to an analysis of U.S. labor statistics by Case Western Reserve entrepreneurship professor Scott Shane.
But the rocky economy and the desire of young people to run their own businesses has led to heightened interest in entrepreneurship around the country.