Role of universities in developing entrepreneurial potential of students

The article considers the role of the academic environment of universities in developing the entrepreneurship among students. The entrepreneurship in the Russian Federation is currently going through a new stage of development, a separate area of support is developing the youth entrepreneurship, including the student entrepreneurship, which is expressed, among other things, in launching the Federal Project “Platform of University Technological Entrepreneurship”. There has been analyzed the methodology of The Princeton Review & Entrepreneur ranking of the US and European universities that develop students’ entrepreneurship including a list of educational courses, measures to support student entrepreneurial initiatives, and a system of educational entrepreneurial events. The rating of entrepreneurial universities of the Russian Federation developed by the Expert RA agency is considered. This rating does not take into account the degree of development of the internal entrepreneurial environment of universities; the basis for the formation of the rating is the career results of the graduates. A standardized survey of students of the Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship conducted in one of the leading universities of the Volga Federal District demonstrates a rather high interest among students in the development of entrepreneurial competencies and recognition of the importance of the university platform for the development of their business ideas. Two models for the development of the internal entrepreneurial environment of the university are proposed: educational and financial. It has been stated that the leaders of modern universities introducing elements of the development of entrepreneurial competencies in the main educational programs must take into account the difference in students’ interest groups. The degree of mastering the entrepreneurial competencies by a group of students should not affect their academic results.