The undergraduate finance degree, the largest major at the Mitch Daniels School of Business, will add several components in fall 2025 to augment its comprehensive curriculum. Foremost is the establishment of the Investment Banking Academy (IBA), an elite program that will prepare students for successful careers in investment banking and other high levels of finance.
The IBA will be a highly selective program with minimum GPA requirements, applications and interviews, and it will identify students most likely to be placed at top investment banking jobs. In addition to special coursework, it will feature extracurricular activities to give participants the opportunity to put their classroom knowledge to the test. The academy will be run by faculty and staff, along with one or two top students. The primary faculty advisor for the IBA is Alex Boquist, a former Goldman Sachs banker and clinical associate professor of finance at the Daniels School.
In conjunction with the IBA, the Investment Banking Club (IBC) will be student-run and open to all students. The club will be introduced to finance majors before and during their first semesters through two required classes, Introduction to Finance with Excel and Finance Industry Exploration. Together, the IBA and the IBC will create an ecosystem that is responsive to student needs while allowing participants to take ownership for their own success.
Finance Industry Exploration will be taught by Richard Ryffel, a 30-year Wall Street veteran. The course will introduce freshmen to different finance industry career sectors and assist them in designing a unique program of study that will make them stand out to finance industry employers.
Introduction to Finance with Excel will be taught by Phillip Baeza, a clinical assistant professor of finance at the Daniels School. It will focus on modeling and the specific skills that are often the subject of “technical interviews” at Wall Street firms. The training will be augmented with curriculum offered by “Training the Street,” the gold standard in vocational offerings specifically designed for aspiring Wall Street professionals.
Other finance courses (including Financial Management, Investment Management, and Corporate Finance) are being moved up in the course sequence to allow students to put new skills to work when interviewing for internships. A new course offering, Problem Solving in Business, will cover topics such as project management, client management, and professional development, including oral and written presentation skills. This course will be team-taught by former CEO Dave Randich and a finance faculty member. They will advise students on an industry-sponsored research project, and alumni from various finance companies will provide mentoring for each team, giving students access to more industry expertise and a wider network.
“These enhancements will provide students with more practical knowledge, making them industry-ready and more highly differentiated earlier in their academic careers,” says Huseyin Gulen, professor and area head of finance at the Daniels School. “Increasingly, we are seeing the finance industry recruit students in their sophomore year or earlier. By front-loading offerings through the Investment Banking Academy and Investment Banking Club activities and curricula, we can accelerate the industry knowledge and job readiness of our students.”
Courses in wealth management, private equity, sales and entrepreneurship are being developed. Taught by a mix of PhD and practitioner faculty, these courses will blend theory with practical applications. Other courses already being offered are being modified to bring more practical topics, such as M&A and investments. The classes will incorporate industry case studies, current events and practitioner guest lectures.
Rounding out the academic offerings will be a new suite of case competitions in private equity, wealth management, portfolio management, patient capital and equity research. Some competitions are hosted by the Daniels School, while others are offered by other leading universities. All of these provide students a chance to learn and judge themselves against the talent at other business schools.
Another improvement to the finance student experience is enhanced career services. Business Career Services is rolling out dedicated, industry-specific career mentors. These career coaches will have intimate knowledge of each finance industry segment’s talent needs on the employer side as well as each finance major’s career goals. Successful matchmaking ensures both employer and student needs are met.
To further support student employment success, a new finance department Corporate Advisory Board is being formed to advise faculty on curriculum revisions, required success skills and employment trends. This ensures that the Daniels School stays on the leading edge of finance and that students can pivot their coursework as new opportunities arise or current ones fade.
Finally, a new Business Fellows Program brings senior industry executives on campus in various sectors, including family office, private equity, commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking. Fellows represent the Daniels School in their industry, engage with students and faculty, and provide thought leadership to curriculum and future school direction.
“Our goal is to make our undergraduate finance major one of the top-rated programs in the nation. These new programs and courses will support students and challenge them to prepare for a fast-paced, rewarding career in whatever field of finance they choose,” Gulen says.
