How does Poole College prepare graduates for business careers? By founding our programs and approaches on business insights.

At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, Poole College students are thrust into an entrepreneurial ecosystem that gives them every opportunity to grow and thrive.

Case in point: To instill an entrepreneurial mindset in our students, we have them work with real entrepreneurs. In our award-winning Entrepreneurship Clinic, we’ve applied the hospital teaching model to the hottest startups. Students are immersed in HQ Raleigh, a key collaborative off-campus hub, and consult with some of the Research Triangle’s newest ventures.

By teaming up with working professionals, Poole College undergraduates are taught to recognize the growing pains and growth opportunities of real companies — and to apply those lessons themselves.

“It’s about giving them the tools to execute and launch their own ideas,” says Lewis Sheats, the clinic’s director and assistant vice provost for entrepreneurship at NC State. “The thing that drives me is seeing what happens after they leave, seeing the success that follows.”

For Cortney Cox, who earned her bachelor’s in business administration in 2017, the Entrepreneurship Clinic was the first step toward building her own business, Simplifeye Cosmetics. The next was being accepted into the Andrews Launch Accelerator, a three-month startup boot camp backed by pro bono support services and $20,000 in equity-free grants. Made possible by donors Chip and Lyn Andrews, the accelerator is just one more innovative NC State program that prizes experiential learning above all.

“They take real-world experiences and bring that into the class,” says Cox. “Without the programs we have at Poole College, my company wouldn’t exist.”

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