With more schools offering classes on how to start and run abusiness, students in fifth through 12th grade are very optimisticabout becoming entrepreneurs one day.

According to findings from the 2012 Gallup-HOPE Index, a joint project to encourageentrepreneurial development among youth, based on a nationallyrepresentative survey of 1,217 students, 43% said they plan tostart their own businesses.

The poll also found that students understood the value ofeducation, with 93% agreeing that there is a relationship betweenthe level of education and earning potential.

Fifty-nine percent said their school offers classes on how tostart and run a business.

“The results from this year's Gallup-HOPE Index show thatthere's a lot of entrepreneurial spirit among our young people, butwe need to provide them with better access to the tools they needto succeed,” said Jim Clifton, chairman and CEO of Gallup.

Many of the students surveyed were familiar with credit unions.Fifty-four percent said they have a credit union or bank account.The 26% of students in grades nine through 12 who said they work ata paying job, likely park their earnings in those accounts. Sevenpercent of all students polled said they are currently interningwith a local business.

The study also found that 32% of students surveyed said theirparents or guardians have started a business.

“Educated, engaged, hopeful kids are the future entrepreneurs ofAmerica,” said John Hope Bryant, founder and CEO of Operation HOPE.“This information helps us tailor programs to foster youngentrepreneurs, helping them develop an idea into a business,” headded on the Gallup-HOPE Index.

Initiated in 2011, the GHI is part of Gallup's 100-yearcommitment with Operation HOPE to assess the attitudes andbehaviors often ascribed to entrepreneurs and to provide governmentand business leaders with data about student sentiment nationwide,the organizations said.