While the importance of a supportive context for entrepreneurship is widely acknowledged, its determining factors are rarely investigated. We apply the concept of organizational climate to students and examine the determinants of a positive entrepreneurial climate at public universities. Based on the individual climate evaluations of 8418 students we calculate the entrepreneurial climate for different subjects at 22 German universities. Our results suggest that in order to improve their entrepreneurial climate, universities need to initiate a process of organizational sensemaking by guiding and sensitizing a broad spectrum of students for entrepreneurship. We do not find evidence for an impact of voluntary entrepreneurship courses or support measures. Structural characteristics of universities and the general study quality also have a strong influence on the entrepreneurial climate.