Building an entrepreneurship education program in a technology-rich environment: Virginia Tech’s entrepreneurship ecosystem

In recent years, the entrepreneurship ecosystem at Virginia Tech has rapidly evolved into one of the leading global university entrepreneurship programs. Through an integrated mix of curricular and co-curricular programs and initiatives, Virginia Tech is leading the way in building a world-class entrepreneurship ecosystem throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia to serve the students, faculty and staff, Commonwealth citizens, and the entrepreneurship community at large. Building on the historic strengths as a pre-eminent STEM-focused institution, Virginia Tech’s comprehensive ecosystem encompasses a unique blend of academic courses and programs, student experiential learning, and a broader support system to advance technology commercialization and entrepreneurship efforts. Dedicated to entrepreneurship education excellence, Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge acquisition and generation by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to prepare students to be leaders and problem-solvers. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and a leading research institution, Virginia Tech’s entrepreneurship ecosystem spans multiple campuses across the Commonwealth and is anchored by our primary campus in Blacksburg, VA. These innovative and comprehensive efforts and demonstrated success have led to Virginia Tech’s winning the National Model Program Award for entrepreneurship education from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship in 2022.