ELIGIBILITY: Undergraduate Students Only
- Eligible U.S. Students and International Students: Only currently enrolled undergraduate college students taking classes during the 2024-25 academic school year (August 2024 – May 2025) are eligible. Students who completed their studies and will graduate in December 2024 are also eligible, provided they have not started graduate school or are taking graduate-level courses at the time of the competition.
- Ineligible Students: Undergraduate students who completed courses and graduated prior to December 2024, are enrolled in a graduate program, or are taking graduate courses are ineligible to compete. They may be listed on the team, provided there are at least two undergraduate students also on the team. Graduate and graduated students on the teams may attend the competition, but will not be permitted to pitch, present or take part in any Q&A.
- Ventures that have participated and won money in previous Values and Ventures® Competitions are not eligible.
- TCU Values and Ventures® events, activities and presentations are open to the public. TCU can't assume any responsibilities or provide any guarantees with respect to confidentiality of contestant team proprietary information. While the judges will be expected to use discretion with respect to proprietary information, they cannot guarantee non-disclosure. All participants must acknowledge the public nature of the competition and assume all risk associated with any disclosure during the competition.
- All submissions must be the original work of the students. Proposals and plans that constitute "academic dishonesty" will be disqualified even if discovered after the competition ends.
- Teams will be disqualified and all prizes revoked if the recipients are found to have violated any of the competition's rules, regulations and guidelines.
Fees and Expenses
- We do not charge a fee to participate.
- If selected and invited to campus, the TCU Values and Ventures program will cover the costs for lodging, local transportation within Fort Worth and most meals. Participants are responsible for their own travel to and from Fort Worth.
Team Composition and Participation
- A university may have as many applications/ventures as they would like, but a maximum of only 1 team/plan per university will be selected for the competition.
- Teams are to be composed of a minimum of 2 undergraduate members but may have more with a maximum of 5.
- At least 2 undergraduate team members must participate in the presentation. More may do so.
- Team members may represent any discipline of study and are not limited to the business school.
- Teams must have a faculty/staff sponsor who will authenticate that the business plan was prepared under faculty supervision or as part of regular university coursework. Faculty members are not required to attend the competition.
Pitch Presentations for Finalists
Teams are assigned times to pitch to judges with the following time limits strictly enforced:- 10 minutes for presentation with visual aids
- 10 minutes to respond to questions from judges
Criteria for a Values-centered Venture
A values-centered venture contributes to the well-being of specific internal or external stakeholders through products, services and/or profits.- Ventures submitted for the Values and Ventures competition must be for-profit, values-centered enterprises. Nonprofit ventures are not allowed.
- Plans must demonstrate a societal or environmental need to be filled, as well as the profitability of the business.
- Plans that are not in keeping with the values of TCU or otherwise deemed unethical or objectionable will not be considered.
- For-profit businesses that also support the social or economic goals of customers, communities, employees, suppliers and/or the environment
- Contributions to sustainability
- Innovations in health, life or energy
- Opportunities for underrepresented groups in business
Learn more about the common components of a values-based company.
