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 following the principles that he lays out in his book and his institute,” said Fred Tillinghast, one of Kearney's business teachers.

What You Need To Know

  • The Golisano Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship will welcome its first class in the fall of 2023

  • The Institute will offer a two-year certification program by not requiring its students to take elective courses

  • Students will take classes from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. and then spend the rest of their day getting hands-on experience in the workforce

  • Tuition will be $8,900 a year

The Golisano Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship will be welcoming its first class of students in fall 2023.

“A two-year program where instead you have to take classes that you know maybe you don’t really need for what you want to do; you can just take all business classes and get through a lot more curriculum a lot faster,” said Dexter Kichline, a senior at Bishop Kearney and one of the many students across the state learning about the opportunity.

A four-year education will be cut into a two-year certification program at the Golisano Institute by not requiring students to take elective courses.

“It’s a little bit less a burden knowing I don’t have to worry about math or English or this and that," said senior Samuel Furioso.

Instead, they are offering a shorter day in class followed by an afternoon of hands-on experience in the workforce.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, this will help guide Generation Z to make up almost 10% of the workforce by 2030.

“It’s really great that when you get out of school, you have time to go intern somewhere and actually learn in the real business world,” Kichline said.

And the program would save students more than just time.

“This business school is like for those people that maybe can’t afford that whole four-year degree," said senior Isabella Vaseur. "Like, he really emphasized that he was really worried about the student debt."

It's something Vaseur remembers because of her mother's experience with student debt. Student loans have already left Americans in more than $1.6 trillion worth of debt. 

While college graduates await student loan relief from the Biden administration, money is still an important factor in high schoolers' decisions on where and if they’ll go to college.

“I know my mom is still paying off her student debt from however many, 20+ years ago," said Vaseur. "She’s working 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 may be the trick to helping the next generation get to where they want to be.

“I can see myself going to this. I don’t know if I want to go to a four-year school and spend another four years learning all that stuff when I could do it in two," said Kichline.