TOP business schools at local universities are adjusting their entrepreneurial education for MBA students in response to government policy supports encouraging people to start their own businesses.

At Antai College of Economics and Management at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, survey results show the number of students considering establishing their own businesses jumping from 45 percent in 2011 to 74 percent.

To support current and would-be student entrepreneurs the college started cooperation with the city’s Technology Entrepreneurship Foundation for Graduates in 2011. This partnership saw the creation of a branch foundation with a 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) contribution from each side for MBA students and graduates. So far, the foundation has invested in 45 programs, according to Dong Zhengying, an associate professor and innovation program director at the college.

At the School of Management at Fudan University, more MBA students are talking about business startups, said Sun Jinyun, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the school.

The school began offering courses on innovation and business startups as one of its six optional curriculum modules for MBA students two years ago.

“Traditional MBA education actually produces professional managers who are rigorous about targets and averse to uncertainty,” said Sun. “But starting up a new company involves all kinds of uncertainties.

“The courses were launched not to encourage all students to establish companies, but to help those interested in doing so to realize whether it’s suitable for them and learn how to go forward. This includes finding business opportunities, financing and controlling risk. Though the government has introduced many favorable policies, this does not mean everybody is capable of starting up a business.”

The Antai College launched a compulsory course on the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurial management in 2007, inviting entrepreneurs to give lectures to students and organizing group discussions of case studies and classmates’ business projects.

This year, the course was made optional and more entrepreneurial management courses were added in an effort to draw more students with a real interest in startups.

“The government and society have already done too much to create a mania around startups, so we need to cool the heat as an educational institute,” said Dong. “We try our best to let students know what creating a startup really means and what they will face.”

Both Dong and Sun said MBA students have obvious advantages when it comes to starting up businesses compared with university students without prior work experience.

“They have more access to business opportunities because they’ve got their own jobs and classmates who are also mature professionals,” explained Sun. “When they decide to start a business project, they usually realize results faster as they have more experience and greater access to investment and clients.”

Han Yunyun used to work at Shanda Group, one of China’s largest online game and literature companies. She entered the Fudan Management School to advance her career.

“I was really glad to see so many people who are seeking change like myself,” she said. “They are from different industries and bring many creative ideas to classroom discussions and after-class talks.”

Han said she had been thinking about forming a startup when she entered the university’s MBA program in 2014, but had no clear idea about how to proceed.

Through her studies and interactions with classmates and friends, she learned that a celebrity news website had recently shut down due to internal disagreement.

“A friend and I believed this was a good opportunity, so we established a new company to buy the website out at the end of 2014,” she said.

Under their management the website added new content, such as live broadcasting with celebrities and entertainment shows. The site now has more than 30 million subscribers and 3 million app users.

“When entering the program, I got connected with a professional team of teachers and a huge alumni group with rich resources; the members of which provide free consultation for me any time I need help,” she said.

“And the courses also give me a clearer picture of the macro economy, allowing me to cultivate better insights of trends,” she added. “And I can pick up courses I need immediately, such as finance and equity financing, as I’m seeking round-A investment now.”

Dong also pointed out that MBA students usually have more mature plans and are able to adjust their strategies quickly, which all leads to a higher rate of success.

Lu Lei, an Antai MBA student that graduated in 2012, is one alumni who has benefited from his ability to respond to changing circumstances.

He was an employee at a state-owned company and entered the college with sponsorship from his employer. As part of a business-design contest in a class on entrepreneurship, he developed a website enabling users to draw cartoons using preset models. Lu, who came out on top in his class, then went on to compete with other MBA students in China.

In the end, Lu won first prize and was granted 300,000 yuan in investment by the Antai branch of the Shanghai Technology Entrepreneurship Foundation for Graduates in 2011.

“My plan was discussed by my classmates, judges and investors during the competitions,” Lu said. “I was confident enough to quit my job to start up a company.”

He funded his venture with 500,000 yuan of his own savings, plus 200,000 yuan raised from a classmate as well as the competition prize. His cartoon-making website and mobile app attracted 2 million users in half a year. After a while it became difficult to find new investment, and Lu could hardly pay his employees by the beginning of 2014.

Rather than bow out of the startup game, he and his team produced another application named “Soap Comic,” which allows users to create comic images of themselves and their friends and then post them in social media.

“It attracted investors with its market potential,” he said. “And we got 2 million yuan to continue our company.”

With the new investment, they launched a large-scale market survey and developed yet another app called “Face Cover,” which puts cartoon images on the faces of social media users to protect their privacy.

Since February 2015, it has attracted more than 1 million users and helped the company to win an additional 10 million yuan in investment.

Other institutes are also developing their entrepreneurial education.

At the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance at the Jiao Tong University, a pilot innovation finance lab is set to be established later this year to help students practice evaluating business projects and venture-capital investment with programs from alumni, current students and investors. It will also initiate a venture capital investment competition to encourage students to start up their own businesses or to invest in projects with potential.