Entrepreneurship & Social Impact Course at Northwestern University

Summary:

You may have what it takes to become an entrepreneur. Learn from Northwestern University Professor Joseph Patton. Take a pre-college online course and discover how to complete the Final Capstone Project.

Key Points:

• Sign up for Northwestern University’s pre-college online course on entrepreneurship.
• Hear from Professor Joseph Cotton on what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
• Learn the details of the Final Capstone Project you’ll be expected to complete.
• Pitch your own idea of a new product, how you’ll bring it to market, and how you'll message its benefits to consumers.

Are you a high school student who sees yourself one day as an entrepreneur? Are you intrigued by the success of people like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk? Do you see yourself taking pre-college courses for business? You may be interested in exploring a pre-college online course focused on entrepreneurship. One of the best is through Northwestern University. It’s called Business: Strategies, Innovation, and Success. 

Successful entrepreneurs share particular talents; they understand the fundamentals of how business operates, what it takes to find backers for a new enterprise, how to develop a strategy, identify the target customer, and bring the product to market. These are just some of the skills you’ll learn in this dynamic course. First, let’s look at what it means to be an entrepreneur.

What is entrepreneurship?

According to Investopedia, “An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business or service, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards.” Another key source notes that there are approximately 31 million entrepreneurs in the U.S., accounting for about 16% of the workforce. However, nearly 55% of adults have launched a business at some point in their lives, and 26% have started two or more businesses.

If you see yourself as part of the entrepreneurial community, you’ll want to take the Northwestern pre-college online course. It features a Final Capstone Project that, upon successful completion, earns you a Certificate of Completion from Northwestern. In this article, Professor Joseph Patton, Sr., associate director of career advising and education lecturer, will take you through the details of this compelling assignment.

The course is an excellent introduction to online programs for high school students, and the best way to know if you are up to the exciting challenge of launching and maintaining a business of your own one day.

But what does this course entail?

A brief overview of the course

Business: Strategies, Innovation, and Success provides a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of business. In it, you’ll learn about:

• Business strategy
• Financing
• Marketing
• Sales
• Identifying your target customer
• Manufacturing and distribution
• Operations and supply chain

Once you’ve mastered the various elements of this intriguing course, you’ll be asked to come up with your own product concept and pitch your idea. What follows is the outline for your Final Capstone Project as described by Professor Joseph Patton.

“Your Final Capstone Project entails coming up with a product idea that serves a real-world issue. Here are some of the questions you’ll answer:

• How do I align a business strategy to support this?
• What product will I come up with, and how do I bring it to life?
• How am I going to tell the story and message it out to consumers in a way that makes them want to purchase it?
• What are some of the critical steps I need to take into account to produce or manufacture something like this?
  

“Everything you come up with will be put into a compelling presentation, and you will deliver it as a business pitch. This will not only solidify your learning but immerse you in the world of entrepreneurial business.”

Prelum, Powered by Kaplan, partners with top universities nationwide to offer these college prep classes in high school. Our flexible format is served up in dynamic videos with interactive tools. You’ll enjoy the support of mentors who will answer your questions and support your learning experience. 

Ready to go from lemonade stand to a top-selling brand? Join our course today!

This was last reviewed by Ashley Simmons on 07/11/2025.