Startups, not classrooms

Lackluster students can shine as business owners and entrepreneurs

When Chen Fangyi, a 28-year-old businessman in Xiamen, Fujian province, looks back at his university years, it is not the cloistered towers of academia he misses so much as the garage where he wrote computer programs with other students.

"I relished reading about entrepreneurs in Western countries at college and especially read a lot about Steve Jobs," Chen said. "His garage startup is what impressed me the most."