Entrepreneurship and Innovation, MS

The MS in Entrepreneurship and Innovation is a transdisciplinary degree, erasing traditional academic siloes. Venture development and leadership require a cross-section of knowledge and skill, and thus, the curriculum cuts across business, engineering and design, the three academic disciplines that are most often cited by innovators and leaders as the key to innovation. 

Students are expected to create and develop a start-up venture and defend it. They will go through each step of the process, so that by the time they graduate, they will have lived experience in innovation and venture development. Their work will be honed, tested and challenged by peers, faculty, mentors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurial leaders from within and outside ASU.

Absolutely. This program teaches the process for developing and managing innovation, be it in a start-up (entrepreneurship) or within an existing organization (intrapreneurship). We encourage students who have some work experience and want to expand their horizons in a transdisciplinary program to apply for the MS in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Applicants must fulfill the requirements of the Graduate College, the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, and the W. P. Carey School of Business.

Applicants can apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree in business, design, engineering or a related field from a regionally accredited institution.

Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.

Applicants are required to submit:

1. graduate admission application and application fee
2. official transcripts
3. professional resume
4. written statement
5. proof of English proficiency (international students)

Additional Application Information

An applicant whose native language is not English must provide proof of English proficiency regardless of their current residency.

The applicant's written statement should describe an instance from the professional background outlining the applicant's use of innovation and entrepreneurial experience.

After your application is reviewed, we may reach out for an interview. The interview will be 20-30 min, over Zoom. You can expect an admissions decision within 2 weeks of your interview. 

We accept all undergraduate degrees. A strength of the program has been the broad range of degrees represented in each of the cohorts.

Tuition estimate Fall 2023 admits*: 

AZ Resident = $30,508
Non-Resident = $61,769
International = $69,789 

*This estimate includes tuition, program fees, graduate student support fee and the student-initiated fee. Its does not include, room and board and textbooks. 

Additional tuition information can be found at https://tuition.asu.edu/cost/tuition-estimator.

The MS in Entrepreneurship and Innovation is a full-time one-year graduate degree program and is very challenging. However, the studios and other classes are structured and scheduled to facilitate students who may have full-time jobs.

MS E&I stands as a pioneering collaboration between the design and business schools. Its curriculum seamlessly blends these disciplines along with others, offering a comprehensive understanding of innovation and new venture development. Faculty, hailing from engineering, business, and design backgrounds, collaborated to craft this unique curriculum. They often co-teach in the studios. Lecturers from different disciplines and fields also share their knowledge and experience, and executives from the business community are in the classroom every week serving as mentors to the ventures.

Studio-based means the student founders work together on their ventures in a hands-on format, forming small groups to help each other succeed and complete the different phases of innovation and the development of their ventures.

We define venture in the broadest way possible: start-ups, inside corporations, independent enterprises, for-profit, social ventures, systems, products and services.

No. In fact, part of the learning is for students to identify a “pain point” and develop an idea that solves the problem. Pain points may come from industry partners, from faculty and from students.

Great! Having identified a problem you want to solve is an important step in the innovation process. But know that the MS in Entrepreneurship and Innovation is not an incubator, where founders and teams that are already working on an idea come for guidance and support. If you have an idea for a new product or service, you will still go through all the phases of the MS E&I learning process; your ideas will be challenged to ensure you have identified a real need, understand your customer, and that you can prototype, test, and, if necessary, refine your solution and develop a realistic venture around it.

Yes, ASU has long had a strong global perspective and this program furthers that philosophy. Startups can be working on local, regional, national or international problems. Students in the program have come from all over the world bringing unique insights into some of the pain points in their home countries and regions.

ASU has many resources dedicated to helping develop successful entrepreneurs, as well as providing seed funding through competitions and other avenues. A number of ventures in MS E&I have been awarded funding and other support through ASU’s E&I (Entrepreneurship + Innovation) initiatives. This is a formal multi-disciplinary MS degree.

There is a growing recognition within the business community that transdisciplinary knowledge and experience are keys to success in a rapidly changing world. Successful entrepreneurs and business leaders have been deeply involved in the development, implementation and funding of this unique program. MS E&I teaches critical thinking skills to make connections, synthesize different perspectives, and acquire new knowledge -- all toward supporting the development of invaluable new solutions to existing problems.

ASU has long had a focus on transdisciplinary learning and MS E&I is an important example of the university’s commitment to that concept.

Because MS E&I graduates define their own ventures, they tend to work at things they love, and bring additional ability to innovate in those fields, to actually enhance and expand them. MS E&I helps you think about your own potential in a fresh, bigger way, then go out into the world prepared to make big things happen.

Graduates from programs that provide real experience in the innovation process frequently get jobs where the mandate is to lead change. They might launch new products or divisions, lead the ‘Innovation Lab’ or other key roles in organizations that are disrupting the status quo.

Potential applicants should have a basic understanding of business finance and accounting. If you don't have this background, we can recommend free or low-cost courses before the program starts. The program teaches essential skills for developing a venture, presenting it effectively, and leading an organization from start to growth. Success depends on being open-minded and willing to step out of your comfort zone.

Everyone in the MS E&I program is expected to care about, and wants to solve, a specific problem. Therefore, it’s likely that co-founders - who care as deeply as you do - may not be enrolled in the program with you. Since the problem-solving process in the MS E&I program is venture-based, we want it to mirror, as much as possible, what happens in the real working world – where problems get solved by teams at your kitchen table, in your garage, or at the workplace. And if you need to bring in people from outside the MS E&I program or from within the program, we will help guide you as part of the program’s venture development process.