New Innovation & Entrepreneurship Certificate builds career-ready skills at UC Santa Cruz
Open to all majors, Crown College’s new I&E Certificate combines coursework, community projects, and practical experience to help students build skills and apply what they learn beyond the classroom.
June 25, 2025
UC Santa Cruz’s Crown College has launched a new Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E). Combining academic learning with community collaboration and hands-on experience, this certificate helps students build career-ready skills and turn ideas into action.
The new I&E Certificate, which received provisional approval by UC Santa Cruz’s Academic Senate, is open to undergraduates in any major, offering a flexible, high-impact path for students to engage in project-based learning, develop transferable skills, and build professional networks that connect their academic work to future careers.
“This certificate reflects UC Santa Cruz’s commitment to preparing students for a future where innovation and entrepreneurial thinking are essential.”
Nada Miljkovic
With a curriculum developed and offered over the past decade by Manel Camps, Crown College provost and faculty director of the UCSC Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development (CIED), and Nada Miljkovic, continuing lecturer at Crown College and project manager at CIED, the program was created in close partnership with local entrepreneurs, who developed and teach several of the certificate classes. The Certificate involves a close collaboration between Crown College, CIED, Cowell College, the School of Engineering, and the Department of Economics, made possible by support from the Dean of Undergraduate Education and the Executive Vice Chancellor/Campus Provost’s Office.
“Our goal was to create a program that’s inclusive and grounded in community,” said Miljkovic. “This certificate reflects UC Santa Cruz’s commitment to preparing students for a future where innovation and entrepreneurial thinking are essential.”
Students earn the certificate by completing four components:
Introductory courses on entrepreneurship and personal finance
An upper-division course on the practical aspects of building or scaling a venture
A hands-on practicum working with real clients on a community-focused project
A business pitch competition with community and industry participation
The certificate’s modular structure allows students to take classes in any order, and most courses satisfy general education (GE) requirements. The full certificate, open to students from all disciplines, can be completed in just 20–25 units, usually without extending the time to graduation.
“The certificate fills a gap by complementing, rather than duplicating, existing majors,” said Camps. “Entrepreneurship brings together leadership, collaboration, communication, and initiative. These are skills that are increasingly vital in today’s job market. That’s the strength of the colleges. We can innovate in ways that support students across disciplines and help them build skills and connections for what comes next.”
“The certificate fills a gap by complementing, rather than duplicating, existing majors.”
manel camps
The innovative nature of the certificate and its impact on career development was recognized with a Pedagogical Innovation Award from the 2024 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers Conference.
More than 1,000 students have already taken courses that are now included in the certificate. Many of these courses involve consulting projects, internships, or startup collaborations, and the program has become a launchpad for students pursuing entrepreneurial and social impact careers.
“The development of this certificate shows what’s possible through collaboration across colleges, departments, and with the local business community,” said Richard Hughey, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education and Global Engagement. “The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate will give students practical tools and experiences that integrate classroom learning with applied, community-based academic work.”
Enrollment is now open for UC Santa Cruz students. For full program details or to connect with an advisor, visit cied.ucsc.edu/certificate or contact operations manager Marina Glagolev at mglagole@ucsc.edu.
Programs that combine classroom learning with practical projects can help students develop valuable skills for future careers. Entrepreneurship, in particular, requires more than creative ideas. Students also need to understand budgeting, financial planning, and how to evaluate business decisions.
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I like the practical structure of UC Santa Cruz’s I&E Certificate, especially the combination of entrepreneurship, personal finance, real client work, and a business pitch competition. Since understanding personal finances is part of the foundation, students may also find a tool like NettoTasca useful for seeing how gross salary translates into actual take-home pay after taxes and contributions.
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