EFFECT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ON ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION AMONG SELECTED UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Entrepreneurship education is increasingly recognised as a policy instrument for developing entrepreneurial intention and encouraging graduates to consider entrepreneurship as a career pathway in Nigeria. However, the extent to which specific dimensions of entrepreneurship education influence students’ entrepreneurial intention remains empirically unclear. This study examined the effects of entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, innovation and creativity, and entrepreneurial knowledge on entrepreneurial intention among undergraduate university students in Ondo State, Nigeria. The study used a quantitative survey design, and researchers collected data from 242 undergraduate students using a structured questionnaire. The researchers analyzed the data using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings revealed that entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, innovation and creativity, and entrepreneurial knowledge all had positive and significant effects on entrepreneurial intention. Innovation and creativity exerted the strongest effect on entrepreneurial intention (β = 0.343, t =, p < 0.001), followed by entrepreneurial self-efficacy (β = 0.285), entrepreneurial skills (β = 0.208), and entrepreneurial knowledge (β = 0.172). The study concludes that entrepreneurship education can strengthen students’ entrepreneurial intention by developing practical entrepreneurial capabilities, confidence, creative thinking, and relevant knowledge. The study recommended that universities should strengthen and encourage entrepreneurship education through practical business projects, problem-solving activities, innovation-focused learning, and entrepreneurship laboratories that enable students to develop and test innovative business ideas.