Bridging the Intention-Behavior Gap in Entrepreneurship Education: A Systematic Review of Theoretical Mechanisms and Venture Outcomes in Higher Education

University-based entrepreneurship education reliably raises entrepreneurial intentions but fails to convert them into ventures. The mechanisms linking education to venture creation remain poorly understood, and this review argues the gap is theoretically predictable. Using the German university system as an evidential case, this systematic review examines EE effects on proximal outcomes (knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes, and intentions) and their downstream translation into startup formation and venture outcomes. Five electronic databases were searched covering 1990-2025. German and international evidence indicates EE produces moderate positive effects on proximal outcomes (Cohen's d = 0.335 for self-efficacy; d = 0.207 for intentions), with significant heterogeneity moderated by program design, student demographics, and institutional factors. A critical intention-behavior gap persists: only 3.7% of university-level startup ideas progress to development, versus 85.5% founding rates among EXIST grant recipients. EXIST participation more than doubles startup formation likelihood (OR 4.8+), with 80% five-year survival rates and an average of 13 employees per venture. Babson College's mandatory FME program confirms that experiential curriculum design operationalizes implementation intention formation structurally, explaining why it systematically outperforms lecture-based instruction on behavioral outcomes independently of financial support. Without this design gender disparities are severe: women constitute 49% of students but only 18% of EXIST recipients. These patterns collectively identify the intention-to-behavior stage as the binding constraint and implementation intention theory, operationalized through experiential program design and ecosystem support, as the theoretically precise mechanism for closing it. JEL Classification: I23, L26, I21, M13, J24