The Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience will connect aspiring founders with entrepreneurship education, industry mentors, experiential learning and the Greater New York innovation ecosystem.
Adelphi University has been awarded $982,000 through the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency’s Parren J. Mitchell Entrepreneur Education Program to establish the Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience. Fully funded by the grant, this regional program is provided at no cost to a select group of undergraduate and graduate students in the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business (WSB) as well as nonmatriculated participants. The initiative is designed to position aspiring entrepreneurs to launch, grow and sustain new ventures—and prepare them for real-world 21st-century opportunities.
This program focuses on high-growth sectors—such as AI, cleantech and software—identified by Empire State Development, New York state’s chief economic development agency. It will also address high-need, under-resourced public sectors facing critical local shortages, such as behavioral health, eldercare and social services, and will connect participants with real-life project-based externships.
“Adelphi is proud to be nationally recognized for its commitment to social mobility. The Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience will further advance that focus across and beyond the Greater New York City region,” said MaryAnne Hyland, PhD, dean of the Willumstad School of Business. “The program will support new businesses in high-growth and high-demand industries in New York, and the program participants will have a holistic experience that will support strong outcomes in a new model for economic development.”
Launching the Next Generation of Student Founders
The Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience connects aspiring entrepreneurs with the New York area’s business and innovation scene. Over nine months, Adelphi students will complete six four-week sprints, developed by Adelphi business faculty, to build the knowledge and skills to launch a venture. Enrolled student entrepreneurs will learn from a faculty-led curriculum, discussions and lectures with experts, and support from coaches and peers.
Launching in February 2027, the program’s first two cohorts of 20 students (Spring 2027 and Fall 2027) are open to both Adelphi students and nonmatriculated individuals seeking to launch their own business. Eligible entrepreneurs must live, work or attend school in one of the following counties:
- New York: Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk
- New Jersey: Essex, Hudson
Adelphi will partner with CVL Economics to provide strategic and comprehensive consulting for this program, tapping into the firm’s data-driven, human-centric expertise in equitable development and sustainable growth building. An additional partnership with Extern, a platform that facilitates project-based externship experiences, will allow the Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience to provide hands-on opportunities for participants to develop go-to-market strategies, products and fundraising skills.
The Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience targets startups within two sectors:
- High-Growth: Biotech, cleantech, software/AI and fintech, aligned with Empire State Development priorities.
- High-Need: Healthcare, behavioral health, social services and EdTech, aligned with Adelphi’s nursing and public health, psychology, business administration, artificial intelligence, social work, education, and the sciences offerings to address regional workforce gaps.
Strengthening the Greater New York City Ecosystem
Leveraging Adelphi’s Garden City campus and its midtown Manhattan Center, the initiative connects student founders across Greater New York, including all five New York City boroughs, Long Island and northern New Jersey. Local government, nonprofit and regional startup partners are also invited to engage with this opportunity.
Applications to the program are open now through January 19, 2027, for the inaugural February cohort, and ongoing for Fall 2027 enrollment. Applicants must be the original founder of their startup idea.
Rooted in Top-Ranked Business Education
The Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience builds on the academic prestige and proven track record of the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business. Accredited by AACSB International, a distinction only held by fewer than 6 percent of business schools worldwide, Adelphi’s WSB ranks as the No. 1 undergraduate business school on Long Island by Poets&Quants and is recognized among the best in the nation by The Princeton Review.
Furthering its reach across the region, the school has expanded its programs to Adelphi’s Manhattan Center, offering flexible learning pathways such as its new Flex MBA, enabling students to earn a degree in as little as one year.
For more information on applying, investing, partnering and mentoring, visit the Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience site, and contact aee@adelphi.edu with questions.