Students Aren’t Waiting for Jobs Anymore, They’re Building Startups With AI in College

Gone are the days when students wait four or five years to finish school before thinking seriously about starting a business. A growing number of students are now trying to do both at once, building companies while still attending classes.  

Bloomberg, in a recent report, said this event is playing out across US campuses, where “undergraduate entrepreneurship classes once seen as niche electives are now packed, with long waitlists, while on-campus accelerator programs are already at capacity.” For example, a suite of startup incubator programs that drew just 50 applications five years ago at Johns Hopkins University attracted interest from more than 860 students this school year. 

One of the biggest drivers is artificial intelligence (AI), which now makes tools that once required large teams, technical expertise, or significant funding, to be tested and built much faster. Students are also using AI to research markets, create prototypes, automate tasks, and launch products earlier than previous generations could.  

Jill Tipograph, a career coach who works with students and recent graduates, told Bloomberg that more of her college-age clients are pursuing entrepreneurial side gigs as job opportunities become tougher to land. Even when those projects don’t become full businesses, she said the initiative and resilience required to build something from scratch can stand out to recruiters.