The Effect of Entrepreneurship Learning on Students' Entrepreneurial Interest: Evidence from a Public University in Eastern Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia's entrepreneurship ratio remains low at 3.29 percent, while open unemployment among university graduates rose to 6.23 percent in February 2025. Higher education is expected to shift graduates from job seekers to job creators, yet evidence on whether entrepreneurship courses actually build entrepreneurial interest remains context-dependent. This study examines the effect of entrepreneurship learning on the entrepreneurial interest of management students at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Halu Oleo, Indonesia. Using a quantitative causal-associative design, data were collected through an online five-point Likert questionnaire from all 62 students who had completed the Entrepreneurship course (census sampling). The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4. The measurement model met all criteria for convergent validity (outer loadings 0.712–0.901; AVE > 0.50), internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability > 0.88), and discriminant validity (HTMT = 0.742). The structural model shows that entrepreneurship learning has a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial interest (β = 0.782; t = 12.431; p < 0.001), explaining 61.2 percent of its variance (R² = 0.612). The findings support Human Capital Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior, indicating that the quality of course content, teaching methods and media, practical projects, and business mentoring are key determinants of students' entrepreneurial interest. Universities are encouraged to strengthen project-based learning and practitioner mentoring so that interest translates into actual venture creation.