The effect on economic development of entrepreneurship at Haywood Community College

The purpose of this study was to conduct a program review of Haywood Community College's entrepreneurship course related to business start-ups. The study utilized a survey to obtain data from Haywood Community College students who completed the Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning (REAL) course. One hundred forty-two participants returned the survey leading to a response rate of 52 percent. Qualitative interviews were conducted with two REAL graduates to provide additional insight related to students' experiences with business start-ups, the experiential learning approach used by the REAL course, and economic contributions by business owners. The results indicated that 26.8 percent of respondents started a business and that 8.5 percent expanded a business after the completion of the REAL course at Haywood Community College. Additionally, 34.5 percent of participants indicated that their future plans included some type of business start-up. Future research suggestions included continuing to identify the role community colleges play in economic development, examination of programs of study that should have an entrepreneurial education focus and an examination of other community colleges' REAL courses throughout the North Carolina Community College System.