Narayanamurti said TECH would offer students a range of possible involvement in the high-tech world, and would cater to undergraduates from a variety of concentrations--not just computer science.

Alpert said possible TECH offerings include a high-tech lab for students to develop ideas for commercial products; a program to provide start-up capital, office space, and alumni mentorship to student entrepreneurs and a program to attract prominent speakers in the high-tech world to the center.

Narayanamurti said that, above all, he wants to make sure that students are able to pursue their interests at Harvard. Narayanamurti noted that when Bill Gates was an undergraduate, he dropped out of school to build Microsoft.

"If [students] do start a company, we want them to know its a nurturing thing," he said. "We're proud of it. Previously, we never really acknowledged our entrepreneurs."

Been There, Done That

Other schools, however, have had similar programs in place for years.

Stanford's Mayfield program--which has consistently drawn national media attention as a symbol of student entrepreneurship--has paired a select group of students with mentors at technology companies for the past five years.

And Tina L. Seelig, assistant director of the Stanford Tech Ventures Program, said Stanford's emphasis on entrepreneurship extends far beyond that.