U of M One of Only 15 Colleges Selected to Compete for Kauffman Foundation Grants
For release: July 16, 2003
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

The University of Memphis is one of 15 schools chosen to compete for grants of up to $5 million to make entrepreneurship education common and accessible. Given by the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, the grants will be awarded to between five and seven universities. The goal is to make entrepreneurship an integral part of the college experience.

In June, the Kauffman Foundation invited 15 schools from a pool of 30 to develop program proposals that integrate entrepreneurship into the college curricula. Each of the schools received a $50,000 planning grant to assist with development of a comprehensive proposal that will be presented to Kauffman Foundation judges in December. Selected universities will receive grants of up to $5 million based on their creativity and commitment to experiential learning to students in a wide range of disciplines.

The program is based on the Kauffman Foundation's belief that entrepreneurship is vital to the American economy and that colleges are in the best position to reach the country's future entrepreneurs - innovators and leaders who will invent, create jobs and fuel economic growth.

Other universities selected to compete for the grants are North Carolina, Purdue, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Rochester, Howard, Wisconsin, Illinois, Washington, New Mexico, Florida International, Texas-El Paso, California-San Diego, and Maryland-Baltimore County.

More than 1,500 colleges and universities offer some form of entrepreneurship training, a trend that began in the 1980s and continues to grow.

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