Schulze School of Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas

05/12/2026

Recently students from the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship visited Best Buy headquarters for an Idea Jam focused on innovation, collaboration and customer experience.

During the event, students worked in teams made up of Schulze Scholars from different cohorts to develop solutions to a business challenge and present their ideas to a panel of Best Buy leaders and alumni judges.

The panel was impressed by ideas centering on personalized recommendations, customer-centered design and fresh approaches to the shopping experience.

Thank you to the Best Buy team, St. Thomas alumni and executive judges who made the day such a welcoming and valuable experience for our scholars.

04/28/2026

Join us for the 10th Annual e-Fest® 2026.

From nearly 200 teams across North America, the top 25 are heading to the St. Thomas Minneapolis campus to compete live.

e-Fest is a three-day celebration of undergraduate entrepreneurship, bringing together students, alumni and our community for competition, collaboration and connection.

You’re invited to attend:

April 23 at 6:30 p.m. | Pitch Slam!
90-second pitches. Live audience voting. Keynote from Dick Schulze.
RSVP for Pitch Slam: https://ow.ly/SsI450YNGy5

April 25 at 1 p.m. | Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge + Awards
Top 5 teams pitch. $250,000 in prizes awarded. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m.
RSVP for Championship Round: https://ow.ly/Elvm50YNGy4

Come experience the energy and ideas driving the next generation of entrepreneurs!

04/20/2026

Calling all 2026 graduating entrepreneurship seniors 🎓

The Entrepreneurship Graduation Reception is just for you.

Join us to celebrate your journey, connect with your fellow graduates and learn about resources to support your next chapter after graduation.

📅 May 12
📍 McNeely 100
🕛 Noon–1 p.m.

Lunch and a free gift provided.

RSVP here: https://tommielink.stthomas.edu/event/12406292

03/04/2026

Big ideas took the stage last Friday at the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship.

Students and alumni founders pitched their ventures during the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge and the St. Thomas Business Plan Competition Finals, sharing solutions designed to improve healthcare access, expand financial inclusion, advance sustainability and more.

Congratulations to this year’s winners:

Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge
First Place: IGNITE
Second Place: Ruta’al
Third Place: Judi Wine
Finalists: MERIS
Finalists: AI Multimodal Systems

Business Plan Competition – Undergraduate Division
First Place: CognitionIQ
Second Place: RE:BORN
Third Place: Weha Life
Finalists: IGNITE
Finalists: Ruta’al

Business Plan Competition – Graduate & Recent Alumni Division
First Place: Medvo
Second Place: Nuubi
Third Place: Weber Blooms and Orchard, LLC
Finalists: HelioHeater
Finalists: Halo

We are grateful to the judges, mentors and community members who helped guide these founders and support their next steps.

Entrepreneurship at St. Thomas is about more than ideas. It is about turning vision into action!

03/03/2026

Schulze School alumni continue to make an impact as mentors, leaders and champions for the next generation of Tommiepreneurs. Your involvement strengthens our community in powerful ways.

We invite you to share your voice through the 2026 Alumni Engagement Survey and let us know how you would like to stay connected. Please respond by Friday, March 6. Five participants will receive an Alumni Prize Pack, including a $25 gift card to the Tommie Shop.

Take the survey here: https://stthomas.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3sgYBjvDak9uxF4

11/25/2025

Thank you to everyone who made the 17th Annual Fowler Business Concept Challenge such a successful day. This year we received a record 115 submissions, and students from 42 different majors and programs took part. The range of ideas and the quality of pitching were truly impressive.

To our student entrepreneurs, congratulations on your semifinal pitches. You brought energy, creativity and passion into every room, and we are so proud of the work you shared.

To our judges and volunteers, thank you for giving your time, insight and encouragement. Your support is what makes the Fowler possible each year.

Congratulations to our 2025 Fowler winners.

Business Concept Track
Winner, $15,000 scholarship: Waste Outfall Water Energy Recovery System (WOWERS)
Xinsheng Tang ’26, MS Data Science

Second place, $7,000 scholarship: GoDetail
Grayson Spronk ’27, Entrepreneurship & Real Estate Studies

Third place, $4,000 scholarship: Arthouse
Daniel Jungwirth ’29, Entrepreneurship

Fourth place, $2,000 scholarship: Aberuca AI
Itamar Perez Ryan ’26, Biochemistry & Physics

Social Venture Track
Winner, $15,000 scholarship: Bloom
Kaiya Daley ’29, Entrepreneurship

Second place, $7,000 scholarship: Droplet
Lauren Bauer ’25, Entrepreneurship
Madeline Bent ’26, Entrepreneurship

Third place, $4,000 scholarship: Typhi Guard
Atongajua Nadia Khumbah ’27, Neuroscience

Fourth place, $2,000 scholarship: Ruta'al
Sambhav Lamichhane ’26, Data Analytics & Financial Management
Ruben Hapaki Lorenzo Quintana ’26, Mechanical Engineering

Thank you for being part of this community and for supporting student innovation at St. Thomas. We are already looking forward to next year. Check out the event highlights reel below.

11/12/2025

Exciting news from the Schulze School! The Princeton Review has ranked our program #11 on its list of Best Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs - an eight-spot jump from last year.

In this past year at the University of St. Thomas:

- Students from 85 majors (that's 70% of all majors at St. Thomas) took an entrepreneurship-related course.

- The Schulze School awarded $2.69 million in scholarships and grants to undergraduates studying entrepreneurship.

- Students earned $1 million in cash and in-kind prizes through competitions, including a record 115 submissions to the Fowler Business Concept Challenge.

- More than 100 Schulze School alumni volunteer as mentors, judges and advisers, showing the full-cycle journey from student entrepreneur to experienced mentor.

With the support of our incredible faculty, staff, mentors, and university leaders, Tommies are learning, creating, and building together.

Read the full announcement in the Newsroom:
https://ow.ly/q3Wk50XqATV

11/04/2025

Today is Tommie Give Day!

Your support for the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship helps Tommies bring bold ideas to life. From student startups and business competitions to scholarships and mentorship, your gift empowers future founders lead, grow and make an impact through innovation.

When you give $100 or more, you can receive or gift a pair of Tommie Choppers in support of Catholic Charities Twin Cities.

We’re grateful for your generosity and support on Tommie Give Day!
👉 https://www.givecampus.com/schools/UniversityofStThomas/tommie-give-day-2025/pages/Opus-Business

10/15/2025

Last Friday, students from across St. Thomas spent the afternoon turning big ideas into real impact at the 3rd Annual U.S. Bank Idea Jam. Guided by mentors from U.S. Bank, they tackled the challenge of creating sustainable solutions to support WORK, a global nonprofit focused on reducing waste and building dignified livelihoods.

Hosted in partnership with U.S. Bank’s innovation team, the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship, University of St. Thomas-Center for the Common Good and the Office of Sustainability Initiatives, this event brought together creativity, purpose and innovation in action.

10/08/2025

We’re proud to see the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship highlighted alongside schools like Yale and Boston College!

The article, “Can Colleges Attract Students With Promises of Early Entrepreneurship?” highlights how universities are finding new ways to engage Gen Z students who want to launch businesses earlier than ever. Our Freshman Innovation Immersion is part of that movement, giving first-year students a chance to experience entrepreneurship before classes even begin.

Read the full piece by Ali Donaldson here:

Universities face an enrollment crisis. Teenagers want to start businesses earlier than ever. Creating space for freshman founders could be a solution.