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Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship

We are a dedicated institute for student entrepreneurs across campus and beyond. We aim to maximize your success by fostering your entrepreneurial mindset, promote inter-disciplinary collaboration and provide support for the creation and development of your new ventures. Jumpstart your ideas and get involved today!

Tune in for excitement!

Passion. Potential. Pitches. Don't miss any of the 2025 New Venture Challenge excitement.

Tune in Friday, April 11 at 1 p.m. for great ideas and fierce competition. Then, join the judges, mentors, spectators and teams as they see who is going home with thousands of dollars in venture financing. The awards broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. and one team will walk away as the overall best venture. 

Start your entrepreneurial journey

Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration is the home of the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship and the first Department of Entrepreneurship in the state of Michigan. We are a student-centric hub where experiential, curricular, and external entrepreneurial opportunities intersect.

Our mission is to maximize student success by fostering a campus-wide entrepreneurial mindset that promotes inter-disciplinary collaboration and the creation of new ventures.

We aim to create innovative programming, boost cross-campus and ecosystem collaboration and provide a comprehensive mentoring program.

Our institute provides extracurricular opportunities and is open to all undergraduate and graduate CMU students.

Student opportunities

  • Meet experienced alumni, faculty, entrepreneurs, investors, and other business and political leaders.
  • Learn practical skills, innovative thinking, and connect with mentors and entrepreneurial resources.
  • Attend skill-building workshops and compete in pitch competitions and Hackathons.
  • Take part in special scholarship programs and travel experiences.
  • Pitch your venture at our signature New Venture Challenge event and compete for up to $20,000 in cash awards.

      Find your path

      Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur?

      Every journey is unique. Explore the opportunities that interest you.

      Cybersecurity program earns prestigious NSA designation

      by User Not Found

      Central Michigan University has been recognized as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity by the National Security Agency, the highest designation awarded by the nation’s top information gathering security agency.

      Susan Helser, CMU Cybersecurity Program Director, says this is not only a major accomplishment for the program, but also gives CMU students who complete the program an upper hand in the job market.

      “Being recognized externally by this caliber of an entity shows that the program merits whatever industry standards are set, in this case, by the NSA,” said Helser. “When students go to a prospective employer with this on their resume, that’s something they want to see.”

      Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing, in-demand jobs in the U.S., a trend expected to continue for years to come. According to Cyberseek.org, there are currently more than 10,000 cybersecurity job openings in Michigan alone due, in part, to a lack of qualified candidates.

      CMU earned the Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense designation, one of the three types of designations institutions can pursue, making CMU’s Cybersecurity Certificate Program a CAE-certified program.

      The CMU College of Business Administration offers the program at both the graduate and undergraduate level and is now the largest four-year institution in Michigan to hold the prestigious designation. The designation also provides additional resources for the CMU Cybersecurity Program, encourages collaboration with other CAE programs on research and grants, and affords the ability to pursue NSF grants and scholarships, which Helser and program leadership are already working towards.

      “This endorsement certifies that we are providing the U.S. with a source of qualified cybersecurity professionals,” said Helser.

      Learn more about CMU’s Cybersecurity Certificate Program, including its signature events and learning opportunities at cmich.edu.

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