Kids. Used to be they went to college to learn skills that fit the jobs waiting for them when they got out there.

Now they want more.

They're tired of watching their down-sized, laid-off parents get pushed around by corporate America.

So they're creating their own jobs, like never before.

They're opening businesses while they're still in college -- pulling together dating services and software companies, building lofts in dorm rooms and furniture out of driftwood.

"A lot of the evidence is anecdotal, but it just seems crystal clear that the number of businesses being started by students is higher than ever," says Gerald Hills , director of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago .

"A significant factor may be the poor job market. It's not like employers are knocking the doors down to hire undergraduate students."

But it's not just about money.

The biggest reason students want to become entrepreneurs, says Tony Mendes, director of college initiatives for the Kauffman Foundation, is to have more control over their lives.

"And to make a difference."

"I think that's why we're seeing the big increase in social entrepreneurship," he says.

That's using business strategies to solve social problems. It's a hot topic these days. At the University of Notre Dame, there's a social entrepreneur internship program and an annual competition for the best social entrepreneurship plan.

It's part of what Mendes calls a big trend in the teaching of entrepreneurship -- moving it out of America 's business schools and into the humanities, the arts, all areas of academia.

Why, Mendes asks, should a dance major have to get an MBA to start a dance company? Why shouldn't she be able to take entrepreneurship in the arts while she's an undergraduate?

That's why the Kauffman Foundation has asked 15 colleges across the country -- Wake Forest University and UNC Chapel Hill among them -- for proposals on how to teach entrepreneurship all across campus.

In December, Mendes says, the foundation will give five to seven of the schools up to $5 million each to create that change in their culture.

"Our economy is driven primarily by entrepreneurial activity," he says. "It's not driven by corporate growth.

"Today's entrepreneurs are creating the economy of tomorrow."

Entrepreneur Profile: Adam Witty

It was Adam Witty's parents who taught him that one man's trash is another man's treasure. He founded his company, at 19, on what his folks threw away.

Witty grew up in Florida with parents who had season tickets to the Orlando Magic and schedules too hectic to make it to every game.

"I saw my father throwing these tickets in the garbage can," says Witty, who graduated from Clemson University in May. "One hundred and twenty five dollars worth of tickets going to waste."

Why not create an online store for unused tickets, Witty asked. Season ticket holders have the best seats in the house.

In 2001, his sophomore year, he opened ticketadvantage.com, charging buyers and sellers 10 percent of ticket prices. It would be nice to say that business took off from there.

"The old adage `if you build it, they will come' is a bunch of hogwash," the 22-year-old says. "I'm here to tell you, it doesn't work."

So Witty did what marketing majors are trained to do. He went after customers.

He advertised: in alumni magazines, on radio broadcasts of games and in one unique way.

He and a dozen buddies drove from Major League Baseball park to Major League Baseball park last summer, holding "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" singing contests and peanut-eating competitions. They provided other entertainment, too, for arriving fans. And, while they were at it, handed out literature about Ticket Advantage and marketed products for nine other companies who picked up the tab for the trip and paid Witty to advertise for them, too.

That was the beginning of his marketing business, Advantage Networks. Together, the two had total revenues of $250,000 this year and about $40,000 in profits.

Now, Witty's creating a new marketing tour, similar to the baseball one, that will travel to NCAA Southern Conference basketball games with slam-dunk and three-on-three competitions. He'll make money selling corporate sponsorships and advertising for companies that provide game prizes and other freebies.

"A big part of entrepreneurship is identifying opportunities," Witty says. "It amazes me, every day, the ways you can make money."