Providing Military Students the Key to Career and Entrepreneurship Success

SDSU’s Fowler College of Business offers former and current members of the U.S. military specialized assistance and tools that pave the way to post-service career success.

Open the image full screen.

When a congressional staff delegation of the Subcommittee on Economic Development within the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee paid a visit to SDSU on July 10, they wanted to explore economic and educational opportunities for students who are military veterans or active-duty service members.

One stop during the delegation’s visit was to the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, within SDSU’s Fowler College of Business. While there, the group learned about some of the resources available through the center that can assist SDSU’s entrepreneurial-minded student veterans.

“SDSU is ranked #50 among public universities (#70 overall) as a Best College for Veterans out of 166 G.I. Bill-approved educational institutions”

According to Dan Moshavi, Thomas and Evelyn Page Dean of the Fowler College of Business, there’s no mystery as to why student veterans might follow a path to entrepreneurship.

“Many of our military-affiliated students come to SDSU already equipped with the leadership, discipline and strategic thinking skills that make them excellent candidates to establish businesses,” said Moshavi. “It’s not unusual for SDSU student-veterans to pursue entrepreneurial ventures, and Fowler strives to provide them with the tools they need to succeed.” 

During the group’s visit to the center, they met Isaac Youngclarke, a former U.S. Navy electrician's mate. Youngclarke, who earned his finance degree from the Fowler College of Business in May 2025, shared his thoughts on how the Veterans Administration and the Veteran Readiness and Employment program (also known as Chapter 31) could be enhanced for future students who are former or current U.S. service personnel.

As part of the discussion, Youngclarke — now an SDSU MBA student — shared how his experience in the Lavin Entrepreneurship Program provided him the guidance and connections he needed to pursue his chosen career path of working for a venture capital firm.   

“Joining the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center was the best thing I did at SDSU,” said Youngclarke. “The center turned my curiosity about venture capital into a potential career by connecting me with attorneys, investors, analysts and VC professionals through their mentor program.”

Along with assisting student veterans and active-duty military personnel with valuable career and business connections, the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center also hosts the Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC), which conducts semi-annual one-day workshops for former and current military students who are aspiring entrepreneurs.

In addition to the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, another source of assistance for veterans is Fowler’s Center for Student Success which has added resources and trained staff to specifically focus on the needs of the college’s military-aligned students. 

“Our veteran and active-duty students often have requirements that set them apart from other students,” said Tam Lieu, assistant dean at the Fowler College of Business. “Our staff at Fowler’s Center for Student Success has been trained to advise them on the academic credits they may have earned during their service. We also help ease their transition to civilian life by ensuring they know about resources that support their health, family, finances, and sense of community within both the college and the wider university.”

For veterans transitioning into their civilian careers, the college’s Partrick-Clayes Center for Career Development offers resources that ready them for the job search process.

“We have readily accessible information on our portal created especially to assist veteran students,” said Tina Tan, the center’s director. “For example, we offer military-affiliated student resources such as tips on networking, links to online military assistance and handouts that help  veterans translate military language and roles into civilian terminology. This helps them to clarify job descriptions and create effective resumes.”  

“The average GPA for student veterans is 3.24. (Source: SDSU's Joan and Art Barron Veteran Center)”

SDSU student veterans and active-duty military personnel can also rely on the Joan and Art Barron Veterans Center, which offers assistance with GI Bill benefits, career development, and connections to military-affiliated organizations and events at the SDSU campus.

“The Joan and Art Barron Veterans Center quickly became my rendezvous point because many of their staff are fellow veterans and they understood how to answer military-affiliated topics related to my education,” said double alumnus and Navy veteran, JakeBryan Bonifacio (’21, marketing and ’25 MBA). “The military helped me build leadership and collaboration skills, but my education helped me fine-tune those skills to create networking connections, memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.”