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Priority Application Deadlines
January 15th
February 15th
March 15th
* Applications may be accepted on a rolling basis thereafter.Apply now
We’re looking for ambitious, bold, creative thinkers with an insatiable desire to start something that makes a difference in the world.
Business+Engineering+Design
The MSIVD program is a transdisciplinary partnership between three leading schools at Arizona State University
Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering + W. P. Carey School of Business + Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
STEM Certified
Leave with a road map for successful ventures, whether you’re looking to start something on your own or lead innovation inside a large organization. Every project is road tested, with the goal of delivering financial, social and environmental value simultaneously.
Students become entrepreneurs from the day they walk in, working with a small founding team to make things happen.
Students will be in a failure-friendly space with the goal of learning faster. Instructors will mentor students and help them find the resources needed to achieve their goals.
Students create, develop and defend their ventures supported by the resources and academic rigor of ASU. Work will be honed, tested and challenged by like-minded peers, mentors and successful venture capitalists and leaders helping to refine learning and execution.
We believe that the need for MSIVD is more clear and present than ever. To tell you why and answer questions, we’re holding a series of information sessions with our faculty and advisors.
Jackie Collens is the Graduate Coordinator for the Master of Science in Innovation and Venture Development. She has worked at Arizona State University since 2016. She assists MSIVD students throughout the admissions process and as an academic advisor.
If you would like to schedule a call or Zoom meeting to discuss the program, please contact Jackie at Jacklyn.Collens@asu.edu or 480-727-1865.
We’re asking the most exciting leaders and thinkers we know to share the challenges they’d like MSIVD teams to address — a pain point, a need, what they hope someone will invent something to solve. Scroll through what your future mentors think, or come up with challenges of your own.
1 | Discover + Insight
The tools and experience to explore and immerse in industry or sector customer needs, competitive landscape and cultural context; where to begin, evaluate information, develop insights.
Edward Brachocki
CEO, Omneo Products International
Katy Campanini
Infrastructure Partner Leader, Nationwide
Ji Mi Choi
Associate VP, Entrepreneurship + Innovation, ASU Knowledge Enterprise
Chris Clark
Faculty Emeritus, Michigan State University
David Frakes
Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Tracy Johnson
Senior Program Officer, User Experience & Innovation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Jeff Kunowski
Associate Director of Innovation Programs, Global Sport Institute, Arizona State University
Torence Lu
Owner & Director, Spanner Product Development
Michael Marks
Analyst, Nationwide
Lisa Parker
Minority Owner, Sacramento Kings
Ivy Ross
Vice President, Hardware Design, Google
Tyler Shaw
Head of Advanced Manufacturing, Ping
Ryan Taylor
CEO, Dash
Karel Vredenburg
Director of Global Academic Programs, IBM
Tomorrow’s entrepreneurial leaders need to be facile, creative thinkers, cross-disciplinary problem solvers and inspirational leaders who develop these same skills in others. They need not only to master their own field of expertise, but also to be conversant with the other disciplines required to scale a successful enterprise.
MSIVD is a transdisciplinary degree, erasing traditional academic siloes. Venture development and leadership require a cross-section of knowledge and skill, and thus, the curriculum cuts across business, engineering and design, the three academic disciplines that are most often cited by innovators and leaders as the key to innovation.
Students are expected to create and develop a start-up venture and defend it. They will go through each step of the process, so that by the time they graduate, they will have lived experience in innovation and venture development. Their work will be honed, tested and challenged by peers, faculty, mentors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurial leaders from within and outside ASU.
Absolutely. This program teaches not only entrepreneurship but also intrapreneurship. Your learning and experience will be valuable to an existing organization and its growth just as it would be valuable in a startup or early stage environment.
In addition to the MSIVD program requirements, applicants must fulfill the Graduate College admission requirements. Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor’s or master’s degree in any field from a regionally accredited institution. They will need to submit the online graduate application and application fee, official transcripts, professional resume, statement of intent, and proof of English proficiency (international students).
The priority deadline for this program is April 15th for Fall admission. We will continue to accept applications following the deadline on a rolling basis, dependent on space availability.
Anyone with an undergrad degree can apply. There is no requirement for a degree in one of the three main disciplines of the program.
An MS in Innovation and Venture Development – from the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, the W. P. Carey School of Business and Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
In addition to ASU’s standard tuition cost per credit hour and mandatory student fees, there is a program fee of $4,000.00 per semester associated with the MSIVD program. This is a one year, 30 credit hour program during which students will enroll in 12 credits in the fall and spring semesters, following by 6 credits in the summer. The current cost per credit hour can be viewed by using ASU’s online Tuition Estimator tool.
Competitive scholarships will be available through the program. Additionally, all students are encouraged to use the ASU Scholarship Search to locate scholarships available to students of The Design School. The MSIVD program also has a STEM designation, which activates expanded benefits for veterans, as well as scholarship programs structured to support students in STEM-related fields.
The program is a full time one year graduate degree program and is very challenging. It is not possible to complete it on a part-time basis. However, we are actively recruiting for students who have had some work experience and now want to expand their horizons at the graduate level, but they will need to be able to work on the degree full time.
Because the program is venture-based, assignments and experiences will evolve throughout the year. It is a campus-based program, and the interaction between team members is a core experience and one of the most valuable elements.
We define venture in the broadest way possible: inside corporations, independent enterprises, for-profit, social ventures, systems, products and services.
No. In fact, part of the learning is for students to choose a “pain point” and develop an idea that solves the problem they identify. Pain points may come from industry partners, from faculty and from students.
Because it’s important to learn to identify needs, we are looking for students with a problem they want to solve, or an issue they care about more than an answer. MSIVD is not an incubator, where founders and teams who are already working on an idea come for guidance and support.
Not really.
Yes, ASU has long had a strong global perspective and this program furthers that philosophy. Startups can be working on local, regional, national or international problems.
ASU has many resources dedicated to helping develop successful entrepreneurs, as well as providing seed funding through competitions and other avenues. However, those are aimed at students of varying academic levels pursuing individual and/or team concepts. This is a formal multi-disciplinary MS degree that teaches critical thinking skills to make connections, synthesize different perspectives, and acquire new knowledge -- all toward supporting the development of invaluable new solutions to existing problems. In addition, this is a venture-based learning experience where students will also learn the nuts and bolts of starting and managing a real business.
There is a growing recognition within the business community that transdisciplinary knowledge and experience are keys to success in a rapidly changing world. Successful entrepreneurs and business leaders have been deeply involved in the development, implementation and funding of this unique program. ASU has long had a focus on transdisciplinary learning and MS Innovation and Venture Development is a major step in the University’s commitment to that concept.
Deep interaction with the business community, whether for-profit or non-profit, is an integral part of this program. Validated marketplace pain points will be sourced and vetted from industry partners, internal and external entrepreneurial ecosystems, faculty, donors, and friends of the University. Student ventures will be formed to address these identified “pain points”. One of our donors commented that “for many students in the program this will be like an extended one year job interview”.
Graduates from transdisciplinary programs that provide experience in the innovation process frequently get jobs where the mandate is to lead change; launch new products or divisions, lead the ‘Innovation lab’ or other key roles in organizations that are disrupting the status quo.
Because MSIVD graduates define their own ventures, they tend to work at things they love, and bring additional ability to innovate in those fields, to actually enhance and expand them. MSIVD helps you think about your own potential in a fresh, bigger way, then go out into the world prepared to make big things happen.