Entrepreneurship and Small Business

How to start, finance and run a business of your own. ⚠⚠⚠ In Florida it is overwhelmingly a SHORT CERTIFICATE rather than a degree: 2,102 credentials across the two codes and 1,811 of them — 86% — are certificates of under a year. Only 144 bachelor's and 110 master's in the whole state system. ⚠⚠ Which is arguably the right shape, because the opportunity cost of four years is exactly what an intending founder cannot afford.

The degrees this program covers

⚠⚠⚠ THIS IS A CERTIFICATE FIELD AND THAT IS PROBABLY CORRECT. Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies (52.0701) produced 1,425 credentials at 28 Florida public institutions — 1,171 short certificates, 144 bachelor's, 110 master's. Small Business Administration/Management (52.0703) added 677 at 20 institutions — 640 short certificates and 37 associate degrees. ⚠ Valencia College alone awards 514 across the two codes, Broward 338, Seminole State 305. ⚠⚠ A cheap certificate taken alongside a job, or while a business is starting, is a sensible purchase. A four-year degree in entrepreneurship is a large opportunity cost for someone whose plan is to start something, and the credential itself persuades no customer, no landlord and no lender. ⚠⚠⚠ THE PREFIX CANNOT AGREE ON ITS OWN NUMBERS, WHICH SAYS SOMETHING. Florida carries Introduction to Entrepreneurship as ENT1000 at 11 institutions and ENT2000 at 7, with NO institution carrying both; and Small Business Management as SBM2000 at 14 and SBM1000 at 3, again with no overlap. ⚠ All four are lower division, so no baccalaureate credit is at risk — the cost is purely transfer matching, and the fix is to send the syllabus. ⚠ Note the one pair that is NOT a duplicate: USF carries both ENT3003 and ENT3004, which is good evidence those two are genuinely different courses rather than one subject filed twice.

Careers this program leads to

Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end, and the sources behind it.

Small Business Owner and Entrepreneur

⚠⚠⚠ Half of new US businesses are gone in five years and two-thirds in ten — BLS tracks it, and the rate barely moves between cohorts: 79.6% survive year one, 50.2% survive five, 34.7% survive ten. ⚠⚠ Every entrepreneurship page should open with that and almost none does. ⚠ Florida's own answer is a cheap certificate rather than a degree: 86% of the 2,102 credentials in this field are certificates of under a year.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

Chef, Cook and Baker

⚠ For the cook who wants their own restaurant, bakery, food truck or catering business, where costing and cash flow decide survival more than the food does.

Cosmetologist, Barber, Nail and Skin Care Specialist

⚠⚠ For the self-employed majority: booth rental, pricing, bookings and taxes.

Farmer, Rancher and Agricultural Manager

⚠ Two-thirds of the occupation runs its own business. The entrepreneurship courses cover starting one from nothing, which agricultural programmes treat lightly.

Film and Video Editor

⚠⚠ 35% of film and video editors and camera operators are self-employed. Nothing in a film programme covers rates, contracts, insurance or estimated tax, and Florida teaches short business certificates at 30 institutions.

Graphic Designer and Animator

⚠⚠ 20% of graphic designers and 63% of animators are SELF-EMPLOYED. For a large minority this is a business rather than a job, and nothing in a design degree teaches pricing, contracts or quarterly estimated tax. ⚠ Florida teaches short business certificates at 30 institutions, 86% of them under a year.

Real Estate Agent, Broker and Analyst

⚠⚠ Named because a licensed sales associate IS a self-employed small business, and most new agents do not realise it until the first tax year. ⚠ Florida teaches short business certificates at 30 institutions, and one of those is a better use of a semester than another real estate course.

Programs similar to this one

Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers. ⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.

Business Administration and Management 45 Florida schools

⚠⚠ The degree route, if a degree is what you want. General business is far more widely taught and far more portable — an entrepreneurship bachelor's is rare in Florida (144 a year) and signals less to an employer than a business degree does if the venture does not work out. ⚠ Take the entrepreneurship certificate alongside it rather than instead of it.

Accounting 50 Florida schools

⚠⚠⚠ The single most useful adjacent subject, and the one most founders wish they had taken. Cash flow, not profit, is what closes small businesses, and the owner who can read their own books survives longer. ⚠ GEB4891 Strategic Planning is carried by 13 Florida institutions but accounting is carried by 32.

Marketing 21 Florida schools

⚠ Named because customer acquisition is the actual constraint on most new businesses, not the idea. ⚠⚠ MAR2011 Principles of Marketing is carried by 24 Florida institutions, all state colleges — the same places that teach the entrepreneurship certificates, so the two stack cheaply.

Hospitality and Tourism Management 23 Florida schools

⚠ Named for realism about where Florida's small businesses actually are: restaurants, bars, lodging and events are among the commonest things people start in this state, and they are also among the hardest to survive. ⚠⚠ The food-safety manager certification is a legal requirement for a licensed food establishment.

Child Care and Early Learning 39 Florida schools

⚠ Named for the same reason: a licensed child care centre is a small business, and Florida requires its DIRECTOR to hold the Florida Director Credential. ⚠⚠ Where the business you intend to start is regulated, the operating credential matters far more than the entrepreneurship one.

Cosmetology, Barbering, Nails and Skin Care 44 Florida schools

⚠⚠ BLS reports 80% of barbers and 48% of hairdressers are self-employed, so most people in this trade run a small business: renting a chair or booth, pricing, booking and taxes. The licence teaches the craft; the entrepreneurship courses teach the business.

Agricultural Business and Food and Resource Economics 5 Florida schools

⚠ Two-thirds of farmers are self-employed, so a farm is a small business before it is anything else — and the entrepreneurship courses cover the part agricultural programmes treat lightly: starting one from nothing.

Culinary Arts, Baking and Culinary Management 46 Florida schools

⚠ Many cooks aim at their own restaurant, food truck, bakery or catering business. The kitchen skills are necessary but not sufficient: costing, cash flow and leases decide whether the business lasts, and the entrepreneurship courses cover them.

Graphic and Digital Design 41 Florida schools

⚠⚠ Named because 20% of graphic designers and 63% of animators are SELF-EMPLOYED. This is a freelance field for a large minority of the people in it, and nothing in a design degree teaches pricing, contracts or quarterly estimated tax. ⚠ Florida teaches short business certificates at 30 institutions.

Film and Video Production 19 Florida schools

⚠⚠ 35% of film and video editors and camera operators are SELF-EMPLOYED. This is a freelance industry for more than a third of the people in it, and nothing in a film programme covers rates, contracts, insurance or quarterly estimated tax. ⚠ Florida teaches short business certificates at 30 institutions.

Florida public institutions offering this program

30 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Associate, Bachelor's, Certificate (12 weeks-1 year), Master's. A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.

Broward College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

College of Central Florida

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Daytona State College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Eastern Florida State College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Florida Gateway College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Florida Gulf Coast University

Bachelor's · Master's

Florida SouthWestern State College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Florida State College at Jacksonville

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Florida State University

Bachelor's · Master's

Gulf Coast State College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Hillsborough Community College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Indian River State College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Lake-Sumter State College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Miami Dade College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Northwest Florida State College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Palm Beach State College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Pasco-Hernando State College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Pensacola State College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Polk State College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Saint Johns River State College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Santa Fe College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Seminole State College of Florida

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

South Florida State College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

St Petersburg College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

State College of Florida-Manatee-Sarasota

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Tallahassee Community College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

The College of the Florida Keys

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

University of Florida

Master's

University of South Florida

Bachelor's · Master's

Valencia College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only — the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023 will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.

Updated 22 September 2026. ⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.