Babson College First-Year Student Entrepreneurs Raise More Than $20,000 For Charity

WELLESLEY, MA – First-year students from the Babson College Class of 2019 raised more than $20,000 for local social service agencies through the college's award-winning Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME) course that requires all first-year undergraduate students to start and run a business, and donate profits to charity.

In FME, students work in teams to invent, develop, launch, manage, and liquidate a business. Since 1999, all profits generated by FME businesses are donated to local community service agencies.

“Our first-year students embraced their yearlong immersion into the business world, receiving the appropriate business background and real-world context needed for all of their Babson courses — and their future career — while learning the importance of corporate social responsibility," says Rob Major, Babson College associate dean and the director of the Office of Academic Services.

Student businesses have donated more than $470,000 to local charities since the start of FME program.

Classes of up to 40 students formed teams of 15, and Babson loaned up to $3,000 as startup money for each business. FME students were entirely responsible for coming up with the business ideas and the business plans, and were encouraged to think about how their businesses would meet a human need.

Student teams then partnered with local social service agencies to donate 80 hours of community service per team, while learning the value and importance of corporate social responsibility. At the end of the academic year, the FME businesses combined donated more than $20,000 in profits to charity.

About Babson College
Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader of Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. Visit www.babson.edu.

Featured

  • StarRez Releases 2025 State of Student Housing Report

    Student housing software solutions provider StarRez recently released its second State of the Student Housing Industry Report, according to a news release. The report is based on the results of survey data from more than 400 higher education institutions around the world, both StarRez clients and not.

  • AP Construction Breaks Ground on Two Projects for Austin ISD

    Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) recently announced that it has broken ground on two renovation projects for the Austin Independent School District, according to a news release. The work at McCallum and Anderson High Schools totals 97,350 square feet and is scheduled for completion in January 2027.

  • New Kent State Academic Building Earns LEED Silver Certification

    Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, recently announced that its newest academic building, Crawford Hall, has earned a LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to a news release. The facility was recognized for its innovative design, water conservation technologies, energy-efficient systems, and sustainable construction materials, among other features.

  • Anderson Brulé Architects Rebrands as ABA Studios

    Anderson Brulé Architects, based in San Jose, Calif., recently announced that it is celebrating 40 years of service by rebranding under a new name, according to a news release. The architectural, interior design, and planning firm will now be known as ABA Studios to refresh its identity underneath a new generation of leadership.

Digital Edition