Kellogg: Zell Fellows and ETA at Northwestern

At most business schools, entrepreneurship through acquisition is a single elective on the margins of the curriculum. At the Kellogg School of Management, ETA has its own track inside the Larry and Carol Zell Fellows Program, one of the most selective entrepreneurship fellowships in graduate management education. Since 2013, approximately 20 students per year have entered the Zell Fellows ETA track, gaining access to dedicated coursework, mentorship from seasoned operators, and a direct pipeline into the acquisition entrepreneurship community. For students who want to get started in ETA with structured institutional support, Kellogg offers a combination of resources that few peer programs can match.

Kellogg sits in Evanston, Illinois, minutes from Chicago Booth. That proximity is not incidental. The two schools co-host the Booth-Kellogg ETA Conference, the largest ETA-focused event in the United States, and their combined alumni networks create one of the deepest talent pools for aspiring searchers in the Midwest. Students at Kellogg can tap into Chicago Booth's Polsky Center events and speaker series while benefiting from Kellogg's own entrepreneurship infrastructure.

This cross-school synergy distinguishes Kellogg from programs that operate in isolation. Where other schools must build their ETA ecosystem from scratch, Kellogg shares one with a peer institution that has its own ETA Fellows program, dedicated faculty, and course offerings. The result is a wider network of investors, operators, and alumni than either school could sustain alone. For students weighing the MBA-to-ETA pathway, this collaborative dynamic is a meaningful differentiator.

The Larry and Carol Zell Fellows Program is Kellogg's flagship entrepreneurship initiative. Within it, the ETA track has operated since 2013, selecting roughly 20 students each year who are committed to pursuing acquisition entrepreneurship after graduation. Fellows receive mentorship from experienced operators and investors, a structured curriculum that pairs theory with live deal analysis, and membership in a tight-knit cohort of peers on the same career path.

The ETA track is not merely an academic exercise. It functions as a pre-search incubator, designed to compress the learning curve that aspiring searchers face during their first months of independent deal sourcing. By the time Zell Fellows graduate, they have already evaluated real acquisition targets, modeled transaction structures, and engaged with the investor community that funds search vehicles. This operational readiness is a core part of what makes the program valuable, and it aligns with the broader guidance on pre-search preparation that experienced searchers recommend.

The fellowship structure also builds lasting professional relationships. Alumni of the Zell Fellows ETA track form a network that extends well beyond Kellogg, connecting graduates to deal flow, co-investment opportunities, and operational advice long after they leave campus.

The ETA curriculum at Kellogg is anchored by Alex Schneider, an Adjunct Lecturer who serves as Director of the Zell Fellows ETA track. Schneider brings more than 20 years of experience in private equity and investment banking to the classroom, combining institutional finance rigor with the practical demands of small-business acquisition. He teaches both of Kellogg's dedicated ETA courses and oversees the mentorship and deal evaluation components of the Zell Fellows program.

Schneider's dual role as faculty member and program director ensures continuity between what students learn in class and how they apply it during the fellowship. Unlike programs where ETA courses are taught by rotating adjuncts with limited connection to the broader curriculum, Kellogg's structure concentrates ETA instruction under a single practitioner who is deeply embedded in the school's entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Kellogg offers two dedicated ETA courses, both taught by Alex Schneider:

ENTR-905 serves as the entry point, covering the fundamentals of search fund formation, deal sourcing, valuation, and investor relations. At half a credit, it is designed to be accessible even to students who are still exploring whether ETA is the right career path. ENTR-910 is the more intensive follow-up, a full-credit course that moves into the operational realities of acquiring and managing a small business: due diligence, transaction structuring, post-acquisition value creation, and the leadership challenges that define the first year as an owner-operator.

Together, the two courses cover the full lifecycle of an acquisition from initial search through post-close management. Students who complete both are well-prepared to evaluate whether a search fund career is the right fit and, if so, to launch one with a solid foundation.

Beyond the formal curriculum, the student-led ETA@Kellogg Club serves as the social and professional hub for acquisition-minded students. The club has over 100 active members, making it one of the largest student-run ETA organizations at any business school. Its programming includes speaker panels with search fund operators and investors, workshops on deal sourcing and financial modeling, and networking events that connect current students with Kellogg alumni who have completed acquisitions.

The club also plays a critical role in connecting students to the broader ETA investor community. For aspiring searchers who need to understand how finding investors works in practice, ETA@Kellogg provides early exposure to the individuals and firms that fund search vehicles. These relationships, formed during the MBA, often carry forward into the fundraising process after graduation.

The club's scale matters. A 100-member organization generates its own internal deal-sharing network, creates accountability structures for students who are actively preparing to search, and produces enough alumni each year to sustain a growing post-MBA referral network.

The annual Booth-Kellogg ETA Conference is the flagship event for the ETA community in the central United States. The 11th edition, held in November 2024, drew approximately 1,000 attendees from 13 countries and 47 universities. The conference brings together searchers, operators, investors, and academics for a day of panels, workshops, and structured networking.

The conference's scale and longevity reflect the depth of the Chicago-area ETA ecosystem. With two top-10 MBA programs jointly organizing the event, the Booth-Kellogg conference attracts a caliber of speaker and attendee that standalone school-level events struggle to match. For Kellogg students, the conference is both a learning opportunity and a relationship-building exercise, offering direct access to the investors and operators they will need to engage once they begin their own search.

The conference also serves as a signal of institutional commitment. When a school co-hosts an event that consistently draws 1,000 participants, it demonstrates that ETA is not a peripheral interest but a core part of the entrepreneurship curriculum.

The 2-year program is the standard path for ETA-focused students, as it allows time to complete both dedicated courses, participate fully in the Zell Fellows program, and build relationships through the ETA@Kellogg Club and the annual conference. At $86,370 per year, the total tuition cost for two years is approximately $172,740 before living expenses.

The 1-year accelerated program, at $119,996, offers a faster path but limits the time available for fellowship participation and relationship-building. Students considering the 1-year option should weigh the cost savings against the reduced access to Kellogg's ETA-specific programming.

For a detailed analysis of how MBA tuition costs compare to expected search fund outcomes, see the MBA ROI for search fund careers guide.

Among US programs, Kellogg occupies a distinctive position. It does not claim the historical lineage of Stanford GSB, where the search fund model was invented in 1984, nor the case-study depth of Harvard Business School. What Kellogg offers is a structured fellowship pathway, a collaborative relationship with a peer institution, and a conference that draws more attendees than any other school-organized ETA event in the country.

Compared to Yale SOM, which excels in academic depth through A.J. Wasserstein's 100+ case studies, Kellogg's strength lies in its programmatic infrastructure. The Zell Fellows ETA track provides a level of structured support that goes beyond coursework alone, embedding students in a fellowship cohort with dedicated mentorship and resources.

The Booth-Kellogg relationship is perhaps the single most important differentiator. No other pair of top MBA programs collaborates this closely on ETA programming. The joint conference, shared speaker networks, and overlapping alumni communities give Kellogg students access to a broader ecosystem than their tuition alone would suggest.

Kellogg is best suited for students who value structured programming over pure academic exploration. The Zell Fellows ETA track is designed for students who arrive at business school already interested in acquisition entrepreneurship and want a defined pathway from classroom to search. If you are the type of candidate who thrives in a cohort model with clear milestones and mentorship, Kellogg's approach will feel natural.

• Fellowship seekers: The Zell Fellows program offers institutional support that goes beyond a single course or club.
• Midwest-oriented searchers:Kellogg's location provides direct access to the Midwest deal market, where valuations tend to be lower and competition less intense than on the coasts.
• Network builders: The 100+ member ETA@Kellogg Club and the Booth-Kellogg Conference provide unmatched networking density for ETA-focused students.
• Collaborative learners:Kellogg's culture emphasizes teamwork, and the cross-school dynamic with Booth extends that collaborative ethos to ETA programming.

Students who prefer deeper academic immersion in ETA theory or who want the broadest possible case-study library may find that other programs are a better fit. But for structured, fellowship-driven preparation with strong institutional backing, Kellogg stands among the best options in the country.