We wanted to see if there was a connection between education and entrepreneurialism so we looked at education from the top level, starting nationwide and then going to states and counties. According to the U.S. Department of Education, over 1,600,000 bachelor's degrees conferred in 2010–11, “the largest numbers of degrees were conferred in the fields of business (340,000), social sciences and history (164,000), education (106,000), and health sciences (102,000).”

According to Business Week, enrollment for business majors is up 10-15% at some schools. Having a degree in business is seen as “practical.” Statewide and countywide, business degrees were still the dominating degrees conferred at both the bachelors and masters degree levels. Los Angeles County boasted consistently high percentages of business degrees granted, beginning and ending with 18.7% of degrees conferred in the field of business.

It’s noteworthy to mention that CSUF churned out the highest number of degrees overall (in the peer group) with about 8000 degrees granted in 2011. Also, CSUF accounts for 73.3% of all business degrees granted from Orange County universities, which make CSUF the numerical leader of business degrees granted in the California counties surveyed.

Currently about 800 students are enrolled in the CSUF business graduate programs, which include master’s in economics, accountancy, taxation and information systems, as well as three M.B.A. options and an online master of science in information technology degree program. The MBA program has a current enrollment of over 550 MBA candidates.

The business degree has remained consistently popular for years. It has time and again ranked among the top three majors since the 1970s. A degree in business is increasingly relevant and practical in times of economic instability.

The real question is how many entrepreneurial founders have business degrees? Or, do they just hire people who have business degrees?