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Help has finally arrived for college students struggling to pay their tuition, keep up their grades and maintain social lives, thanks to Season 4 “Apprentice” winner Dr. Randal Pinkett.

The release of his book, “Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur’s Guide to Launching a Multimillion Dollar Business,” earlier this month sparked an interest in some St. John’s University business students, who braved cold weather on a lazy Friday afternoon to attend Pinkett’s speech and book signing.

Already noting in his speech that these business students had the ambition to be on campus on such a day, Pinkett began advising them on what it means to be an entrepreneur and the state of mind that makes success possible.

“My life has never been about traveling the road less traveled,” Pinkett said,” but rather, traveling the road never traveled.”

Further using the analogy, Pinkett referred to life’s twists and turns, bumps and dips and stops and starts to explain that with the right faith and support, these students can overcome adversity and achieve success.

Senior business student Andrew Persaud was excited to hear Pinkett speak. After shelling out the $16. 95 for the book, Persaud said he planned on reading it and learning from it as much as he could.

A future in finance awaiting him, Persaud opened the book and quickly skimmed through several pages, and then listened intently as Pinkett began speaking. The knowledge of the business world that Pinkett has, Persaud said, was easily demonstrated on the “Apprentice,” and having the chance to not only read about how one can obtain such knowledge, but also hearing it directly from the source, was an opportunity Persaud said he could not pass up.

As other students lugged heavy business textbooks with them into the theater where Pinkett enlightened them, all the while smiling, it appeared that they were somewhat star struck. But upon closer inspection, it was obvious that these serious business students, some of whom work one or more jobs in order to pay back loans, were itching to be filled with information on how to ease their work loads and launch flourishing careers for themselves.

The secret to doing that is the key point of Pinkett’s book: work hard and don’t give up.

Pinkett’s concern, as noted on the African American Literature Book Club Web site, aalbc.com, is that the “financial pressures of college are far more taxing than the academic rigors of campus life,” and that they often result in student struggles with financial aid, dead-end jobs and strict budgets, which eventually lead to dropping out.

“Campus CEO” offers suggestions on how to remedy and prevent this – advice that is well received and appreciated by some students.

“Being successful is not just about luck like most people think,” said a junior business student as he made his way into the theater. “It’s about working hard and smart. And with the right tools, it can almost be guaranteed.”

Looking down at the cover of his newly purchased edition of “Campus CEO,” the student smiled.

“Now,” he said, “I have the tool.”