18 universities introduce entrepreneurship mindset courses for UG students

Punjab’s Department of Higher Education has introduced a mandatory course on entrepreneurship mindset for undergraduate students in the state. The initiative has already been adopted by 18 private and government universities.

As part of the curriculum, students have to develop, reine, and execute a business or service idea in each semester of their degree program. Progress will be measured against clearly defined semester-wise benchmarks, including viability, innovation, and revenue generation. The universities will evaluate students based on real-world performance.

“We have asked universities to introduce entrepreneurship-oriented programmes in higher education. Under this, students can be given a target to earn Rs 10,000 in each semester. This will boost their marketing and entrepreneurship skills,” said a senior government functionary.

Secretary, Higher Education and Languages, Anindita Mitra, in an advisory sent out by the Vice-Chancellors of all government and private universities, has emphasised a phased rollout strategy of the program. The course has been introduced for BTech, BCom, BBA and BVoc degrees for the 2025-26 academic session, with plans to extend it to other undergraduate courses in the next year.

The Punjab government will create a multilingual digital platform for real-time monitoring and execution of the course.

The semester-wise curriculum includes defining your niche and understanding marketing through content creation for the first semester. Other semesters will include earning from content, ads, and collaboration; expanding clientele; and using AI tools for content ideation, writing, and posting.