ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Business students at Bishop Kearney High School have been studying Tom Golisano’s book, “Built Not Born,” for years.
“It’s the foundation for being a successful entrepreneur. You can be successful by following the principles he lays out in his book and in his institute,” said Fred Tillinghast, one of Kearney’s business professors.
The Golisano Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship will welcome its first class of students in fall 2023.
“A two-year program where you have to take classes that you know you might not really need for what you want to do; you can just take all the business classes and get through a lot more programs a lot faster,” said Dexter Kichline, a senior at Bishop Kearney and one of many students across the state learning about this opportunity.
A four-year training course will be transformed into a two-year certification program at the Golisano Institute by not requiring students to take elective courses.
“It’s a little less of a burden knowing that I don’t have to worry about math or English or this and that,” senior Samuel Furioso said.
Instead, they offer a shorter day of class followed by an afternoon of hands-on experience in the job market.
This will allow Generation Z to make up nearly 10% of the workforce by 2030, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“It’s really cool to be able to intern somewhere right out of school and learn in the real world of business,” Kichline said.
And the program would save students much more than time.
“This business school is for those who maybe can’t afford a four-year degree,” senior Isabella Vaseur said. “He really emphasized that he was really worried about student debt.”
It’s something Vaseur remembers because of his mother’s experience with student debt. Student loans have already left Americans with more than $1.6 trillion in debt.
As college graduates await student loan relief from the Biden administration, money remains a significant factor in high school students’ decisions about where and whether to go to college.
“I know my mom is still paying off student debt from over 20 years ago,” Vaseur said. “She works three jobs just to pay all the bills and I think if she had an opportunity like that with her career path, I think it would have really helped her.”
A shortened education at a reduced cost could be the solution to helping the next generation get to where they want to be.
“I see myself going there. I don’t know if I want to go to a four-year school and spend another four years learning all this stuff when I could do it in two,” Kichline said.
