University Research Corridor released a new report last week that highlights some encouraging statistics about how large percentages of graduates from Michigan's three research universities are embracing entrepreneurship and succeeding at it.
Wayne State University is one of the Great Lakes State's three research universities, along with the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. The report was commissioned by the
University Research Corridor, a nonprofit that represents the three universities, and authored by Anderson Economic Group. It touched base with more than 40,000 alumni from the three universities. Among its findings include:
• 19 percent of graduates from the universities have started a business.
• More than half of those businesses are in fields different that the alumni's degree.
• The rate of entrepreneurship for University Research Corridor graduates between 1996 and 2011 is about twice the national average of people with a college degree when the University Research Corridor survey is compared to a similar national report from the
Kauffman Foundation.
• Nearly half of the companies started by University of Research Corridor alumni are based in Michigan.
• The entrepreneurial success rate for University Research Corridor graduates from 2005 to today is nearly 70 percent compared to nearly 45 percent nationally.
"The survival rate is higher than the national average," says Jeff Mason, executive director of University Research Corridor. "That is pretty fascinating."
Source: Jeff Mason, executive director of University Research Corridor
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.