Why Business Should be A Core Curriculum in all High Schools

by Alice Jenkins

In an era where 53% of college graduates are jobless or underemployed future graduates have little to look forward to with all of the education and skills they have acquired besides sitting in front of a computer and applying to low level jobs on craigslist. These people have all of the education and credibility to earn a living but not the entrepreneurial skills to make one. A 2011 survey comprised of people between the ages of 16 and 39 revealed that 23% of them started a business of their own. Over 15% of these people said they were still in college. In that same survey, 88% of the people said that entrepreneurship education is extremely important to surviving in today’s economy but almost 75% saying that they had no access to any useful entrepreneurial resources on campus.

When I was in high school we had the option taking an Economics or Business Marketing class as an elective. Going into business for yourself used to be a viable option and now as the economy continues to be flooded with overeducated scholars with nowhere to go, it may be the only option. It is amazing nowadays what people don’t know about business. If you asked half of this year’s college graduates how they would go about starting a business of their own the most common reply would be something along the lines of “Find a large source of money”. Here is the more depressing part, if you asked them about getting a loan from a bank, credit union, or other suitable place they ask “What do I need for that?” To me this says that most people nowadays don’t even know where to begin when it comes to running a business. Sure they understand the big picture but the little details of groundwork is what is missing and those need to start being learned early on at the core of high school education. The classes should not be just about general “Business” or “Economics” but more specific in areas of business such as financing, advertising, product management, fundraising, or even branding. 

There are numerous ways schools can get more aggressive in their teaching methods for business and entrepreneurship. For advertising, they can teach them about branding useful utensils such as customized pens, koozies, and other useful items to market a business. Doing a fundraising project could not only be a valuable learning experience but fun too. The most important aspect of business that young people should learn about early is finance. Having the students come up with effective budgeting plans for a start-up with only a certain amount of money will teach them how to find cost-effective ways to get their business going. Many projects like these are done to a smaller extent but if a class for each area is constructed and mapped out they could really teach students the small details that those out in the real world seem to be missing. One thing is for sure, job opportunities are becoming more scarce year after year. It may be time for the people who are looking for jobs to start creating them for themselves.

Alice Jenkins is marketing consultant who writes for PensXpress, a leading supplier of commercial and personalized pens.