The future of entrepreneurship education: teaching the digital economy

Discover how nearly 100 universities are using Whop to teach real-world entrepreneurship, with students launching live businesses for $0 before they graduate.

A survey by College Pulse found that 40% of college students have a side hustle today.

University entrepreneurship centers support students interested in commercialization products and raising venture capital, but what are universities doing to support the 40% with different business ambitions?

Teaching entrepreneurship - The big opportunity for classes and programs

University entrepreneurship centers have become powerhouses of programs, courses, and innovative spaces designed to support students with big ideas. But there’s a trend in another direction. 

Linda Dickerson Hartsock, Founder of the Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse University and Advisor for Strategic Initiatives shares why she thinks students are moving towards creative entrepreneurship:

“Now, more than ever, students are interested in creative entrepreneurship. While they are so talented, their challenge around content creation is community building and sales strategy to monetize their creative output — whether as a side hustle or full-time gig. 

That’s the big opportunity this next generation of innovators is chasing, and it’s changing the way we think about entrepreneurship.”

And there’s data to support this observation. According to a 2023 survey by the Digital Marketing Institute, 22% of college students have already monetized their social media presence in some form, and over 20% are actively trying to build an influencer presence on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

So, what can universities do to support these ambitions?

How to teach entrepreneurship in the digital economy

Universities are interested in evolving with the times, and some are starting to add programs, classes, and events that support this new trend (and necessity!) for students to understand how to use the digital economy, whether for themselves or a company they may work for some day. 

The tool they’re using? Whop. 

Whop is a platform where anyone can start a business in minutes, selling everything from courses, paid communities, and coaching to SaaS products and digital downloads. It's completely free to get started. Whop's mission is to deliver everyone a sustainable income - giving merchants a no-code platform to build, launch, and monetize products, with access to a built-in marketplace to connect with potential customers from day one.

Whop removes many of the barriers students face when starting a company on their own:

• No upfront cost or tech expertise required: Whop is free to get started and entirely no-code
• Built-in marketplace access: students can reach potential customers without building an audience from scratch
• End-to-end business infrastructure: payments, community, content, and analytics, all in one place

Universities are using Whop as a complementary tool in classrooms, Whopathons, accelerator programs, and more. Traditional classroom instruction is paired with real-world application on Whop - and students don't just gain hands-on experience with entrepreneurship in the digital economy, they have the opportunity to create a real, sustainable income on the platform.

And a digital footprint that speaks to their unique skills and talents.

Universities teaching entrepreneurship with Whop

Nearly 100 universities have now claimed their university pages on Whop - free to set up, with faculty training included - and Whop is approaching 4,000 student businesses launched through these efforts. The goal for 2026: 1,000 universities and 100,000 students building companies.

As John Hill, VP of Story at Whop, puts it:

"Every student builds a Whop. Every student learns to build that business in class or through entrepreneurial center support. Every student graduates with a sustainable income."

Here are a few examples of how universities are using Whop:

Michigan State University: redesigning entrepreneurship as curriculum

Michigan State University, ranked 8th on Princeton Review's Top 50 Entrepreneurship undergraduate list, offers one of the most compelling examples of what's possible when universities stop teaching entrepreneurship and start practicing it.

Ken Szymusiak, Managing Director of Operations for the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, redesigned his curriculum around a single requirement: every student launches a real business before the semester ends. He partnered with Whop to make it happen, and over 350 MSU students have now launched their own businesses on Whop before graduating.

His five-week sprint looks like this:

• Week 1: Students set up their Whop account, join the MSU whop, and work through the university playbook provided by Whop. They submit their business idea along with their reasoning.
• Week 2: Students build out their whop and create at least one product offering, then submit their storefront link to Ken.
• Weeks 3 & 4: With a live product, students shift focus to finding real customers and refining their offering based on what they learn.
• Week 5: Students reflect on the full journey - what worked, what didn't, and whether the business is worth continuing beyond the class.

Student businesses coming out of Ken's class span everything from wellness to design to lifestyle apps.

MSU is also running its first Whopathon - a time-boxed build-and-launch event where students pitch their ideas for a chance to win a cash prize.

As Ken puts it:

"The most exciting thing about Whop as a platform for entrepreneurship education is how flexible it is to bring an idea to life. Because the platform is free and has so many no-code tools, it allows students to move quickly, and the marketplace gives them immediate access to potential users and customers."

The University of South Carolina uses Whop for an Innovation and Design course

Innovation and Design is an undergraduate class at the University of South Carolina that uses an innovation tournament structure to teach problem solving and design skills.

This year, they added Whop to the course materials so students could not only develop business ideas, but actually launch them.

After some ideation and filtering, each student is building the Whop that best suits their individual idea. They will also launch team whops to further develop top opportunities.

Students have already canvassed existing whops, come up with novel concepts (especially those geared to college audiences), and made multiple pitches and refinements live in class. 

“Whop takes an already fun, experiential class and adds a little extra juice due to the ease of getting student ideas launched and the fact that real dollars are immediately available.”

- Joel Wooten, Academic Director, MSBA Program and Associate Professor

Caroline Crowder, Executive Director at Boyd Innovation Center and Adjunct Professor at the University of South Carolina, had this to say about using Whop:

Since sharing those words, Caroline has joined Whop full-time as Director of University Partnerships & Operations - a move that speaks for itself.

The University of Buffalo uses Whop for 3-week incubator and 48-hour hackathon-like event.

The University of Buffalo used Whop in multiple different ways during their hackathon.  

1. The Digital Monetization Incubator: The instant hustle program

This three-week incubator is designed to help selected students build, launch, and monetize digital products on Whop. Participants are guided through product development, marketing, and sales strategies.

The program starts with an introduction to Whop and digital products, including sessions such as ‘Monetizing an existing audience’ (Creators with a following) and ’Building a following around a product’ (Marketing-first approach).

The incubator concludes with a presentation of whops created and results.

2. Whopa-ton Program: 48 hour digital product sprint

Participants build, launch, and monetize a digital product on Whop in real-time. The event is structured to maximize fast execution, marketing, and sales and starts with introduction material and a discussion on what business models work on Whop.

The students then ideate on new models and build a product roadmap, including a sales & marketing plan. One the second day students receive mentorship, and have the opportunity to present their results with prizes in various categories.

Whop is supporting this event by developing a live dashboard where students can see live results of user growth and revenue.

North Carolina State University: Whop as a growth campaign

At NC State, a senior capstone class treated Whop adoption as a growth challenge in itself - tasking students with getting at least 100 student whops on campus and reporting back on which outreach channels drove the most results. The project was supported by Haley Huie, Director of the NC State Entrepreneurship Clinic.

GA Tech and Startup Exchange: Whopathon in 8 days

GA Tech and Startup Exchange facilitated a Whopathon in just eight days, packing a room full of students ready to build and launch products on Whop in real time.

Take your entrepreneurship class or program to the next level with Whop

The universities leading this shift share a common belief: entrepreneurship is best learned by doing it. Every semester, hundreds of students are launching real businesses for $0 - dealing with real customers, real feedback, and real outcomes —-and walking away with something no textbook can offer: actual experience.

That's the model Whop Higher Education is bringing to universities across the country. The Whop Higher Education team has collectively spoken at 249 universities and continues to build out the program.

Professors don't need any tech experience to get started, and students can have their own product live in under ten minutes.

Visit highered.whop.com to request a university Whop, schedule onboarding with the team, and get your students building from day one.