Despite the rise in scrutiny of bachelor’s degrees, research shows that having access to college is a key indicator of future economic and financial success as well as physical and emotional well-being.

Studies show that people with bachelor's degrees have 57% more job opportunities than people with high school diplomas, and 60% of workers with bachelor’s degrees reported being highly satisfied at work, while only 38% of workers without college degrees reported being highly satisfied.

If a degree can play such a pivotal role in someone’s overall future success, how can access to college be expanded so that students can not just get in but thrive while they’re in school and graduate? Tara Hardison, assistant dean for undergraduate programs at the David Eccles School of Business, works on that question every day.

She joins host Frances Johnson to chat about the real-world impacts a college degree can have on someone’s life, the ways Eccles is helping first-generation and low-income students, and why that support doesn’t end after students have been handed a degree.

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

Access critical to business education

[08:32]: Access is so critical for what we do here, and when we talk about a business education, we've got a large chunk of business-specific courses, but it's nestled in a broader liberal arts education, which does a lot for our students in everything that they'll do. We are teaching them about business fundamentals and practices in a series of topical areas. Finance, accounting, operations, right? We've got a series of majors. But the liberal arts piece is incredibly helpful, too. We absolutely teach critical thinking in our business education, but they learn these valuable skills in other aspects of humanities and social sciences, as well as their business-specific curriculum.

What got Tara into academic advising?

[24:06]: This is a 100 percent why I got into student affairs and why I started in academic advising. Because when I thought about what I wanted to be or, like, what I could do and how I could make an impact, I was like, "Oh, advising. Like that is the single most important impactful thing." And so I am incredibly passionate about our students' experiences, and I'm incredibly passionate also about our staff experiences, right? Because I don't think we can have good student experiences if we don't have good staff experiences and faculty experiences, right? We really think about the ecosystem, not these sort of different groups of what makes our ecosystem in silos necessarily.

What makes David Eccles Business school unique?

[12:48]: I think one of the things that makes us the strongest in the David Eccles School of Business is our ecosystem, in that it does not just include staff, faculty, and students; it really is a much broader ecosystem of our alum and the broader business community, which is something that makes us unique.

• Eccles Basic Needs Initiative
• First Ascent Scholars Program
• Opportunity Scholars Program
• Tara Hardison | David Eccles School of Business

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, small businesses employ nearly half of the American workforce and represent 43.5% of the country's GDP. However, not everyone in the American economy has the same access to the tools and resources needed to launch and sustain a new business successfully.

The Master of Business Creation (MBC) program at the David Eccles School of Business is working to address some of these gaps by offering a degree program committed to helping entrepreneurs grow their startup companies.

Paul Brown and Rena Vanzo will join me today to discuss the program and its impact on creating equitable opportunities for entrepreneurs. Paul Brown is Co-Director of the Master of Business Creation program at the Eccles School.

Rena Vanzo is a graduate of the Executive MBA at the Eccles School and is currently enrolled in the Master of Business Creation program. She is the founder of The Boob Bus, which offers mobile breast imaging services.

They sit down with host Frances Johnson to explore the MBC program's unique approach to entrepreneurship education, combining aspects of an accelerator with an accredited master's degree program and focusing on practical, immediate application of business concepts. We will also hear how the MBC program helps founders from diverse backgrounds to develop successful businesses.

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

When people create jobs they also create value

[11:55] Paul Brown: I really am just a firm believer, Frances, that when people create businesses and create jobs, wherever they are, they're just adding to the overall productivity and wealth of a society. And it's a miracle to me, and I love it, whether it's a nonprofit dance company in Rose Park, a software company in Chicago, Rena's company here in Utah, the Boob Bus, or somebody having a food products company in Botswana. They're creating jobs; they're creating value. People are trading money for the products and services they have, and they're getting satisfaction and value out of that. So, I just want to continue to help hundreds and ultimately thousands of entrepreneurs create businesses that make our lives better. It's amazing. I love it.

Business is impactful in a positive way

[21:44]: Paul Brown: I believe business is inherently impactful in a positive way. So I'm not one of these people who believes that markets, capitalism, and free enterprise are somehow icky, and the only way they can be good is if they're explicitly pursuing a social purpose.

Running a business can not only contribute economically but also to the community

[16:45]: Rena Vanzo: The health impacts and potential health improvements of the Boob Bus, I think, are exponential, and they're really exciting. We literally launched within the last week. The bus was here. We've started seeing patients, and so far, 90 percent of my patients are women who have never had a mammogram before. They've called, and they've said, I haven't felt comfortable going, or it's been harder for me to get to the hospital. Simply the access that the mobile environment provides, and I think just the welcome atmosphere of a more outpatient facility that doesn't even feel like a clinic, you know, that isn't affiliated with a hospital, is a really big deal.

How MBA gave Rena confidence

[23:17]: Rena Vanzo: I think my MBA gave me some confidence and maybe develop that knack for me, but it's like the MBC; I'm developing the blueprint for my business that probably would have taken me years to do on my own, frankly.

• Master of Business Creation (MBC)
• Paul Brown | David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah
• Paul Brown | LinkedIn
• Rena Vanzo | LinkedIn
• The Boob Bus
• The Boob Bus - Instagram
• The Boob Bus - facebook
• The Boob Bus | LinkedIn

In today's episode, we're focusing on the role of higher education in creating lifelong economic opportunities. Research shows that the average college graduate is 24% more likely to be employed than their peers who have only completed a high school degree.

At the same time, college is not accessible to everyone. According to the National Center for Education statistics, over 85% of college students receive some form of financial aid. Here to talk about the role of scholarships in increasing college access and lifetime economic opportunity is Mbe Agbor.

Mbe spent his career in the consumer packaged goods industry where he worked for Unilever and Reckitt. Mbe now invests in real estate and small start-ups. He also owns and operates Sosega Nigeria FZE, a cashew farming and processing operation in Nigeria.

MBE earned his BS in marketing and business management at the David Eccles School of Business and earned an MBA from the Eccles School in 2001.

Mbe and host Frances Johnson will delve into his personal journey and how his family influenced his pursuit of higher education, the added stress of overcoming financial barriers, and Mbe’s belief that college is a great equalizer, providing students with the confidence to pursue their ambitions.

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

The impact of meeting your scholarship donor

[11:55] When we talk about what kind of impact we could have in the lives of young people, we could all give something. It might not be money, right? It might be time and these resources, just to the fact that we just have more road miles than these college students and we've seen and maybe been through some pitfalls, that we can give a little bit of advice and be a sounding board.

That was a part that I really enjoyed, even though I got to see Jack once a year. It was great; he asked about how school was going, and it was just great to talk to somebody that is directly involved in and invested in my future and my success.

Real happiness comes from contributing

[24:05]: I think this whole thing comes down to being happy. I think we substitute education for that and substitute money for that. We substitute a whole bunch of things for that. But at the end of the day, when we get to achieve the things that we set out to achieve, yes, happiness is quantified by a certain income level, but once we reach that, we don't have to worry about food for shelter and safety and have a car that works and things like that, and we're able to be happy, and not only happy, I want to be happy, but also happiness also comes from contributing, and so if that happiness can be shared by giving of themselves, whether financially or their time to someone else that needs a boot, then no matter where they go in life, no matter how successful they are, if they're happy and are contributing, that's making it right. That's being successful in life.

Mbe’s biggest takeaway from college

[23:17]: College gave me the confidence to know that the only limit is me, and that's probably the biggest takeaway I took from the experience.

On pulling yourself up by your bootstraps

[09:05]: I think one thing that people don't realize is that there are a lot of people who don't have boots. And everybody just assumes that everybody has boots to pull themselves up by. And really, I think what scholarships do is give everybody boots, or bootstraps, I guess. I think once we get to the playing field, people can show what they're capable of. But if we can't even make it into the stadium, right? How is somebody going to get an opportunity to perform?

• Black History Month - The David Eccles School of Business
• Mentoring Moments
• First Ascent Scholars Program | Undergraduate Advising Resources