Which Types of Entrepreneurship Education for Student Startups Are More Effective?: Evidence from Universities in Korea

This research examines how university entrepreneurship programs influence student startup activity and business performance. Four hypotheses are developed to explore the connection between entrepreneurship courses and programs with both the number of student startups and their success, while accounting for various university resources to isolate the impact of entrepreneurship education on startup activities. The study employs panel-data analysis using information from 130 universities in South Korea collected between 2017 and 2023. The findings of the research show that student startup counts at universities exhibited a significantly positive relationship with the total entrepreneurship courses, the number of major-specific entrepreneurship courses, and the number of practical entrepreneurship courses. However, there was no significant relationship between student startup counts and the number of general education courses or theoretical courses offered. In contrast, the relationship between entrepreneurship education and student startup sales was less clear. Furthermore, the number of student startup clubs at universities provided a strongly significant positive impact on student startup counts. However, these clubs did not have a significant impact on student startup sales performance. Recognizing varying impacts of entrepreneurship courses on student startup activity and business performance, university administrators should develop more customized programs to create a more effective set of entrepreneurship programs for their students. In particular, specialized programs or training initiatives should be introduced to help student entrepreneurs achieve better business performance. Our finding suggests that university administrators should place greater emphasis on the later stages of business operations, as participation in startup clubs does not necessarily lead to improved business performance.