Under the background of ‘mass entrepreneurship and innovation’, Chinese colleges and universities have strengthened students’ entrepreneurial and innovative abilities. The article first analyses the reasons why applied universities should strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship education. On this basis, the evaluation index system of students’ innovation and entrepreneurship ability is constructed. The thesis uses the nonlinear structural model to complete the index weight setting. Finally, the paper verifies the effectiveness of the combined evaluation model through the data on innovation and entrepreneurship of college students in an university where applied. At the same time, the article proposes measures for optimising the ecological environment of innovation and entrepreneurship education for colleges and universities.