Plan, launch, and grow the startup of your dreams
The 12-month Master of Science in Entrepreneurship degree program was built for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs. As rigorous as an MBA, our program follows the same path as a startup—with a curriculum designed to guide you through a real-world entrepreneurial process used to develop new companies.
It’s the one-year launchpad that will make the most difference in your business, by equipping you with the tools, skills, and connections to confidently lead your next company to success.
Seattle is a global innovation hub and the ideal place to gain the confidence, competence, and community to launch and grow your new venture.
Confidence
Our curriculum equips you with proven strategies, techniques, and frameworks across a wide variety of functional and leadership topics. With access to the latest research insights that give you an edge, you’ll develop skills that will enable you to confidently build and lead your future company to success. Considering that Foster has been ranked the #16 business school in the country and UW has been classified as the #1 most innovative public university in the world, you can also be confident that you will be attending a world-class institution.
Competence
Turn learning into practice with a wide variety of opportunities for ‘roll-up your sleeves’ experiences. Engaging workshops focus on the Seattle entrepreneurial ecosystem, becoming an entrepreneur, building teams, leveraging data, sales, metrics & dashboards, and more. Compete in startup competitions and apply all your new business development skills and knowledge directly to the startup you envision.
Community
The UW Master of Science in Entrepreneurship attracts a diverse set of students who will come to form your supportive peer group, advisory board, and future network. Meet mentors, funders, and even potential customers and employees. Guest speakers, experts, and entrepreneurs share first-hand experiences, lessons learned, and tell it like it is about starting new businesses and surviving challenges. The university offers a wealth of community resources as well: the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, Startup Hall, CoMotion, and two campus makerspaces. All of this set against the backdrop of the vibrant Seattle entrepreneurial ecosystem.
There is nowhere I’d rather be than Seattle. The supporting ecosystem is strong. The entrepreneurship scene and resources are woven into the fabric of the city and only growing stronger.
— Korion, MS in Entrepreneurship graduate
Entrepreneurial to the core
The Master of Science in Entrepreneurship curriculum follows the four-stage startup experience. Moreover, the program draws on the competences of both Foster faculty and local entrepreneurs and practitioners.
- Opportunity Recognition and Validation
- Competitive Strategy
- Essentials of Accounting for Entrepreneurs
- Entrepreneurial Marketing I
- Entrepreneurial Leadership – Leadership as a Personal Journey
- Venture Planning and Execution
- Workshops and Mentor Meetings
- Entrepreneurial Strategy and Decision Making
- Essentials of Finance for Entrepreneurs
- Successful Negotiations
- Entrepreneurial Leadership – From Idea to First Customer
- Venture Planning and Execution
- Workshops and Mentor Meetings
- Entrepreneurial Finance
- Entrepreneurial Marketing II
- Legal Essentials for Entrepreneurs
- Persuasion: Pitching, PR, Public Speaking
- Entrepreneurial Leadership – From First Customers to Financial Viability
- Venture Planning and Execution
- Workshops and Mentor Meetings
- Strategies for Funding Ventures
- Digital Media Marketing
- Sales Essentials for Entrepreneurs
- Entrepreneurial Leadership – Leading change
- Venture Planning and Execution
- Dempsey Startup Competition
Application deadlines for the June 2020 Cohort
| Round | Application deadline |
|---|---|
| 1 | October 14 (Open to all applicants) |
| 2 | January 13 (Open to all applicants. International applicant final deadline) |
| 3 | March 9 (Open to domestic applicants) |
| 4 | May 18 at 12:00pm PST (Domestic applicant final deadline) This includes US citizens, permanent residents with green cards, international applicants who currently have an L2 and other visas, including transferring an I-20 |
Class of 2020 profile
Attend an event
Entrepreneurship blog posts
MS in Entrepreneurship alumni, Zachary Dodds, had been thinking about the concept of working with artists in concrete for a…
The Master of Science in Entrepreneurship is Foster’s 12-month degree that embodies the startup process — from ideation and formation…