In just its second year, a new degree offered through Carleton University’s Technology Innovation Management program is attracting significant interest, though its explosive growth may lead to tough decisions.
Quickly launched last fall, TIM’s Master of Entrepreneurship (MEnt) program received only 19 applications by the end of August, according to program director Tony Bailetti. This year, the program has received 81 completed applications, an increase of more than 300 per cent.
This rapid growth outpaces the other two degree offerings from TIM, the Master of Engineering (MEng) and Master of Applied Science (MASc). Across the all three programs, the school currently has 112 students enrolled and has received 200 applications for the fall.
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Though an increase in applications is never bad news, Bailetti says the difficult decision that arises with such rapid growth is knowing how many to accept and how best to balance it with the moderate growth in the other two programs.
Bailetti believes three factors are contributing to the entrepreneurship program’s popularity. Firstly, the distinctness of the degree.
The Masters of Entrepreneurship program is a project-based curriculum designed for students either looking to grow their own companies or the ecosystems surrounding them. Courses teach skills to help startups go global right away, including instruction in cybersecurity and supply chain management. By the end of the program, Bailetti says most students will have their own intellectual property to take from their studies.
That focus on building global companies is the second factor the longtime Carleton faculty member believes contributes to the increase in applications, with the final being the recent recognition Ottawa has received as a tech hub. Last month, Expert Market named the capital the best tech hub in Canada as part of its recent study.
“We can see tangible evidence that things are bubbling in Ottawa, it’s absolutely great,” Bailetti says
