McNair Center for
Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

Serve Society Through Entrepreneurship

About the Center

Think Like an Entrepreneur

The McNair Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas aims to cultivate a sense of agency among people. The broad range of programming offers students the opportunity to engage with the biggest issues that face the modern world. At the center, students realize that, in solving real-world problems, they can serve those around them economically, environmentally and socially.

Entrepreneurial thinking is simply creativity combined with knowledge that is expressed in an economic context. UST is a place uniquely positioned to bridge classical and business education while providing its students with the direction needed to think deeply and execute on their plans.

At the Center’s core are:

Freedom

Stewardship and responsibility

Pursuit of common good

Innovation

Practical wisdom

Deep thinking

Perseverance

Humility

Our Courses

Integrate Creativity, Philosophy in Entrepreneurship

From academic courses to experiential learning opportunities, students put into practice creative thinking and a philosophic mindset that is honed through the University’s liberal arts curriculum.

The Center supports a market-based economy. We think that free enterprises are a necessary condition for a free polis. At the same time, the Catholic Church’s social teaching provides us with clear guidance on how to use that freedom to provide for the temporal needs of our neighbours, not to seek self-interested profitmaking. Students are taught that the call of the entrepreneur is best summed up by the charge to be both “as innocent as doves, but as wise as serpents,” Matthew 10:16.

Academic Opportunities Include

The undergraduate minor in Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

You can find out more about the classes offered in the undergraduate minor in Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship by clicking here.

The Master of Business Administration concentration in Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

Young professionals and UST alumni who are interested in diving deeper into these topics and discovering how entrepreneurship might be a particularly effective tool to enact/achieve social change should consider enrolling for our new graduate certificate in Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship. Enrollment information will be released during the fall with classes beginning Spring 2027. The certificate requires four courses and will provide students with a rigorous overview of the philosophy of modern economics seen through the lens of St. Thomas Aquinas paired with necessary business concepts.

The second half of the certificate provides students with the opportunity to ideate innovative solutions to societies biggest problems, grow those ideas into viable business endeavors and develop a path to funding that suits the nature and aspirations of their business.