Under the backdrop of China’s ongoing “Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (Shuangchuang) strategy and the continued reform of higher education, university student entrepreneurship has increasingly been recognized as a key driver of economic transformation and social innovation. In response, many universities have developed separate yet parallel educational systems emphasizing Ideological and Political Education (IPE) and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education (IEE), and have started to explore integrated educational models. However, in practice, student participation in entrepreneurial activities remains low, often exhibiting a cognition-action gap，commonly described as “knowing but not doing” or “willing but not daring.” At a deeper level, many students lack the psychological resilience and the robust support networks necessary to navigate the uncertainties and potential failures associated with entrepreneurship, which hinders the translation of motivation into concrete action. This study focuses on Private Universities in Sichuan Province, a representative region in western China. Multiple institutions with varying educational profiles were selected as the empirical sample, with participants drawn from students across different years, genders, and academic disciplines to ensure diversity and representativeness. The research primarily examines two educational input variables—Ideological and Political Education (IPE) and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education (IEE)—and explores their influences on students’ Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) and Entrepreneurial Behavior (EB) through the mediating role of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy (ESE). By integrating IPE and IEE into a unified structural framework, this study offers a structured lens to expand collaborative education theory. Additionally, by introducing entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) as a mediating variable, this study deepens the understanding of the psychological pathways from educational interventions to behavioral outcomes, offering theoretical and structural references for curriculum integration, teaching coordination, and student evaluation reform. It also clarifies the mediating role of ESE and psychological adaptability, contributing to a more integrated approach combining capability development with psychological support.

Ideological and Political Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education, Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy, Entrepreneurial Intention, Entrepreneurial Behavior