Military Officer’s Masters in Entrepreneurship (MSE-MIL)

The Online Master’s in Entrepreneurship (MSE-MIL) provides active duty, National Guard and reserve Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard officers stationed around the world with a rigorous immersion into the nature of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial process. Core content is coupled with a strong commitment to experiential learning. Students work on a start-up venture while in the Program. The Program is a component of the university-wide entrepreneurship emphasis at Oklahoma State University. It is targeted to students with a passion for entrepreneurship in for-profit, non-profit, and public sector contexts. It consists of 33 credit hours of coursework.

Admission Requirements

  • Bachelors degree required
  • GMAT or GRE recommended but not required
  • Proposal for a venture or innovative concept
  • Entrepreneurial and other work experience preferred but not required

Target Audience

This is a part-time Masters Program for military officers on active duty or in the National Guard or reserves. We seek highly motivated students with an interest in entrepreneurial behavior, which can include innovative actions taken as part of one’s military career as well as entrepreneurial ventures one might want to pursue once out of the military. Importantly, competencies such as opportunity recognition, creative problem-solving, resource leveraging, and guerrilla skills have important application in a successful military career. Incoming students who have taken equivalent graduate level courses can petition to substitute these for foundation-level or entrepreneurship requirements, but still must complete at least 27 hours within the Program.

Apply to the Program

To apply to the Program, one should:

STEP ONE: Graduate College Application

  1. Go to the Graduate College Application Website and either
    1. Start a new account (if s/he has never submitted an application) or
    2. Enter their current account information
  2. On the main menu, choose “Create A New Application”
  3. When the applicant arrives at the “Degree Program” screen, s/he can enter the keyword “Entrepreneurship” or simply press “next”
  4. Select from the pull down menus the “Entrepreneurship – (MS)” listing
  5. Continue through the application and include transcripts from each institution attended, including Oklahoma State University.
  6. At the end of the application, submit with an application payment.
Semester of Application U.S. Citizen Deadline International Student Deadline
Fall 2012 July 1, 2012 March 1, 2012
Spring 2013 November 1, 2012 August 1, 2012

STEP TWO: Materials to be sent to the School of Entrepreneurship

  1. Go to the fall 2012 or spring 2013MSE Online Application and
    • Create a new account using your preferred email address.
  2. The EEE application requires the following:
    • Three recommendation letters : name, address, and email
    • One-two page proposal for a venture you might like to pursue
    • Statement of Interest explaining why you want to join the program
    • Current Resume
    • While not required, we strongly encourage students to submit a GMAT OR GRE score

If you have any questions about the program application process, please contact the Spears School of Business Graduate Programs office at 405-744-2951.

Program Objectives

The MSE Program for military officers strives to accomplish the following objectives:

  1. Enhance students’ self-efficacy regarding their ability to successfully pursue entrepreneurial ventures in new and established organizations;
  2. Develop within students the ability to conceptualize the complex challenges inherent in the venture creation process, and employ research, analytical skills and creativity in identifying plausible solutions to overcome such challenges;
  3. Improve student ability to employ intuitive, imaginative thought to critically evaluate opportunities, ideas, processes, experiences, and outcomes associated with new venture creation;
  4. Enhance student competencies in such areas as opportunity recognition, risk management, resource leveraging, and business planning;
  5. Develop within students a first-hand appreciation for the nature of the entrepreneurial experience itself;
  6. Increase the appreciation among students for the need to engage in entrepreneurial behaviours that reflect high ethical standards, create ventures that contribute to societal well-being, and give back to the communities that make their ventures possible.

A Competency-based Approach

We believe that entrepreneur is more than something one does at a point in time. It is a lifetime philosophy. Our program encourages students to think and act in entrepreneurial ways throughout their professional and personal lives. The program is focused on helping students improve in eleven key competency areas:

  • Recognizing Opportunity
  • Assessing Opportunity
  • Mastering Your Creativity
  • Leveraging Resources
  • Guerrilla Skills
  • Mitigating and Managing Risk
  • Planning When Nothing Exists
  • Innovation—Developing Ideas that Work
  • Building and Managing Social Networks
  • The Ability to Maintain Focus Yet Adapt
  • Implementation of Something Novel or New

These entrepreneurial competencies are critical for successful pursuit of entrepreneurial behaviors both within a military context and after leaving the military.

Curriculum

The MSE Program for military officers consists of 33 credit hours, which can be completed in twelve months on a full-time basis, and typically requires two to three years on a part-time basis.

  • Business Foundation (12 credit hours)
    • ACCT 5183 Financial Accounting and Analysis
    • ACCT 5283 Managerial Accounting
    • FIN 5013 Business Finance
    • MGMT 5113 Management and Organizational Theory
  • Entrepreneurial Core (15 credit hours)

The following two courses (6 credit hours) are required:

  • EEE 5113 Entrepreneurship and Venture Management
  • EEE 5663 Imagination in Entrepreneurship

The student must select three courses (9 credit hours) from the following set of entrepreneurship electives:

  • EEE 5653 Venture Capital
  • EEE 5223 Entrepreneurial Marketing
  • EEE 5200 Special Topics in Entrepreneurship
  • EEE 5200 Social Entrepreneurship
  • EEE 5313 Emerging Enterprise Consulting
  • EEE 5263 Corporate Entrepreneurship
  • EEE 5133 Dilemmas and Debates in Entrepreneurship
  • MKTG 5973 New Product Management

Entrepreneurship Field Experience (6 credit hours)

  • EEE 5610 Advanced Entrepreneurship Practicum

Involvement in the Entrepreneurship Empowerment in South Africa Program or the Riata Entrepreneurial Internship can also meet the field experience requirement so long as six credit hours are completed.

Business Creation Requirement and Portfolio

While the Program does not require a thesis, a requirement for graduation is that the student completes a business plan for an original idea, make a formal pitch to an investor and meet other experiential learning requirements. The student must be able to demonstrate to the Program faculty that the venture is scalable. Aspects of this requirement can be fulfilled as part of a number of the courses offered within the Program. On-line students will have the opportunity to work in a “virtual incubator” where they collaborate at a distance with our full-time, in-residence students who are running businesses in the MSE New Venture Lab on the OSU campus.

Three of the six hours in the Entrepreneurship Practicum (EEE 5610) will consist of a course that formalizes the business start-up requirement. This three-hour course will culminate in submission of a written portfolio demonstrating how the student has met various aspects or criteria associated with the business creation requirement.

All students are also encouraged to maintain a portfolio of other entrepreneurship-related experiences and projects. Examples of portfolio items include business plans, business models, feasibility projects, consulting engagements, entrepreneurial audits, marketing inventions, technology commercialization plans, patent applications, interviews of leading entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship study abroad projects and other experiential learning accomplishments.

Total Immersion and Support

While students in the on-line MSE program are typically working full-time and most reside some distance from Stillwater, they are still able to get involved in many of our entrepreneurial immersion programs. Our strong commitment to experiential learning is reflected in the ability of MSE- MIL student to enter to Riata Business Plan Competition, participate in Riata Entrepreneurial Internships, work on ventures as virtual tenants of the MSE New Venture Lab, participate in the Entrepreneurship Empowerment in South Africa (EESA) Program, and otherwise get engaged in entrepreneurial activities.

Financial Aid and Tuition Rates

Some financial assistance is available based on need. The tuition rate the Spears School offers active duty military is currently $275 per credit hour, regardless of location.

The Military Rate is for active-duty personnel ONLY. It does not apply to spouses or dependents, or to retired military. A copy of Active Duty Orders or most recent LES paperwork is required at the time of enrollment to receive this rate. There are no exceptions.

Career Prospects

The focus of the Program is students creating their own ventures and jobs. As such, graduates will be prepared to start, manage, grow and exit ventures that they create alone and with partners. The skill set associated with successful venture creation can clearly add value in a wide range of professional contexts both in the public and private sector. However, the prime emphasis is on new venture creation.

Faculty

  • Dr. Bruce Barringer (MSE Program Director)
  • Dr. Michael H. Morris (Head, School of Entrepreneurship)
  • Colonel Kevin Kriner
  • Dr. Robert Baron
  • Dr. Gary Frankwick
  • Dr. Justin Webb
  • Dr. Rubin Pillay
  • Dr. Brandon Mueller
  • Dr. Craig Watters
  • Dr. Tom Westbrook
  • Professor Vance Fried
  • Mr. Steve Wood
  • Mr. Jon Wiese
  • Ms. Patricia Henriques
  • Ms. Nola Miyasaki