There is a compelling need to educate more entrepreneurial leaders of the 21st century with new and innovative approaches; and, higher education is poised to respond. Entrepreneurship plays a critical role in fueling local, national, and global economies and in providing prosperous livelihoods to diverse people, communities, and societies. And while entrepreneurial activity is an economic engine, the fuel is entrepreneurially minded people who engage in and lead new venture creation and innovation in organizations. The United States experienced declines in new venture creation, especially among young people; a key source of economic growth and global competitiveness. While young people have high interest in engaging in and leading entrepreneurial activities, the majority lack the confidence to do so and feel they need more education. Higher education, particularly institutions teaching business and entrepreneurship, has an opportunity to design new methods for teaching entrepreneurship in ways that will better prepare more young people for entrepreneurial leadership in the 21st century. Best practice approaches that foster an entrepreneurial mindset and learning through action are advancing entrepreneurship education today; however, methods are largely based on research about adult entrepreneurs in existing ventures, not college-aged students. With primary focus on pedagogies in the classroom, little attention has been paid to the campus environment and its influences on entrepreneurial leadership development examined through a student development lens. This grounded theory study generated "A Theory On Becoming An Entrepreneurial Leader" which explains students' process of becoming entrepreneurial leaders and how it was influenced by their lived learning experiences in the campus environment. Based on six theoretical domains, students embarked on a developmental journey from a compliance-based to a creation-driven mindset through a process of discovering their entrepreneurial drive; building their entrepreneurial agency; negotiating degrees of entrepreneurial freedom; and, engaging in an iterative process of thinking, observing, acting, and reflecting that catalyzed their entrepreneurial growth. This new theory advances knowledge and understanding of the ecology of entrepreneurial leadership development in college-aged students; and, it provides a student-centric, design-based framework from which institutional leaders, educators, and practitioners can design innovative approaches to educating entrepreneurial leaders, in research and practice. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]