Finance Labs Offer Real-World Learning

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• When potential business students are accepted to multiple schools, they tend to choose programs that offer the most innovative and nontraditional learning experiences.
• Schools can differentiate themselves from competitors and show their commitment to hands-on learning by giving students opportunities to practice with the same tools that professionals use.
• Bloomberg for Education works with business schools to create finance labs that give students access to the Bloomberg Terminal, a tool that provides data, news, research, and analytics.

 
Over the past six years, master’s programs at business schools have enjoyed a steady rise in the number of applications received. According to AACSB’s Master’s Enrollment Trends Report, programs have experienced a 7 percent annual growth rate. However, the admissions yield for master’s programs has not kept pace, averaging an annual growth rate of just 2 percent. This means that fewer accepted students are opting to enroll—most likely because they have been accepted at multiple institutions and they are choosing the one that best suits their needs.

If a business school wants to ensure that it’s the most attractive option for students who have multiple offers, it should prioritize academic innovation and student success. A school can start by providing students with more interactive ways of learning outside of traditional lectures. A 2024 review conducted by AACSB found that MBA students prefer courses supplemented by experiential learning opportunities; they perceive theoretical instruction without real-world application to be irrelevant. Therefore, today it’s more critical than ever for faculty to provide students with hands-on learning experiences.

Students aren’t the only ones who prize real-world knowledge. Employers expect their new hires to arrive on the job having gained skills in problem-solving, analytics, teamwork, and communication—but that’s not always the case. A survey by online survey platform Centiment found that 70 percent of company leaders perceive a skills gap in their organizations. Financial services leaders reported the highest level of dissatisfaction, with more than 75 percent observing that their employees lack necessary skills.

Business schools can simultaneously close this knowledge gap and provide students with interactive learning opportunities by collaborating with corporate partners on real-world experiences. Such collaborations aren’t new—academia and industry often partner on opportunities such as internships, mentorship programs, and project-based learning. However, while these traditional approaches are effective, they aren’t always accessible to all students.

To create more widely available alternatives, schools can work with industry partners to establish immersive environments where students can learn throughout their time on campus. These accessible, career-focused facilities simulate potential workplaces, recreate work roles that mimic day-to-day job responsibilities, and give students early exposure to professional-grade tools. These centers also make experiential learning a mainstay on campus rather than a short-term stint.

As students use these facilities to practice hands-on skills and collaborate with like-minded peers, they gain the confidence and skills they need to succeed. At the same time, when schools replicate the real-world environment on campus, they position themselves at the forefront of modern education.

Innovative Uses for Finance Labs

Just as medical schools require students to work in hospitals and law schools have students participate in mock trials, business schools can prepare students for the real world by giving them opportunities to practice what they’ve learned in class. A growing number of schools do this through student-managed investment funds (SMIFs), in which students invest real money to generate returns.

To run these SMIFs, many programs collaborate with financial services firms to create trading environments outfitted with the same research tools employed by investment professionals. Working with these tools in safe, aspirational on-campus environments, students test their knowledge in new ways, acquire hard skills, and learn what it’s like to work as portfolio managers.

The Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance at Babson College (Photo by Nicolaus Czarnecki)

Since 1996, schools have had the option to create such spaces by collaborating with Bloomberg for Education and gaining access to the Bloomberg Terminal, a financial data, news, research, and analytics tool. Schools work with the company to set up Bloomberg Finance Labs—on-campus, state-of-the-art facilities housing multiple terminals.

To support colleges and universities that are using Finance Labs, Bloomberg offers a library of programs, courses, and guides aimed at seamlessly implementing the terminal into a class curriculum. An extensive toolkit, which includes professor guides and suggested student activities, covers topics such as equities, fixed income, economics, supply chain management, and valuation.

Schools primarily integrate the terminals into their curricula through investment simulations and online certificate courses. But institutions have come up with other innovative ways to utilize the finance labs. For instance, Dallas College in Texas developed an investment incubator program in which students take part in monthly investment competitions and complete the Bloomberg Market Concepts online course.

The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management uses its BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab to teach a Terminal Master Class Series. The series was introduced by Bachir Chehab, associate director of the lab. During the classes, professors draw on the toolkit to offer 12 structured learning lessons that cover a range of financial topics and Bloomberg functions. Through this hands-on training, which relies on the same data available to professionals, students build their confidence and enhance their skills in financial analysis and decision-making.

Lehman College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, uses its lab to create upskilling courses that incorporate Bloomberg Terminal analytics. To incentivize lab usage, Lehman offers course credits to students from any major who complete all three Bloomberg certificate courses: Finance Fundamentals, Market Concepts, and Environmental Social Governance. Students who complete the certificate courses on their own receive two credits on their transcripts at no additional cost.

In addition, faculty at Lehman match their finance courses with the Bloomberg certificates based on course content and hours required. For example, an entry-level finance class might use the Bloomberg Finance Fundamentals course, while a class on the essentials of investment might incorporate the Market Concepts course.

Lehman also has integrated Bloomberg data and analytics into applied learning courses across 15 subjects. A course called Financial Research with Spreadsheets culminates in a capstone project in which students use terminal analytics to present technical analyses to finance professionals at leading banks and investment firms.

In today’s intensely competitive market, prospective students will enroll in programs that they believe will confer an advantage to them as they pursue their careers.

Schools that have access to a Bloomberg Terminal can sign up for the company’s annual Global Trading Challenge. During this six-week simulation, each student team is given a virtual 1 million USD to invest. Participating teams are supported by faculty advisors and receive training from Bloomberg employees. Each year, the winning team is the one with the highest time-weighted return relative to a benchmark.

Students who take part in the challenge test their knowledge of markets while gaining hands-on experience with a real-world tool. In 2024, more than 10,000 students across more than 40 countries participated in the challenge, using the Bloomberg Terminal to define market assumptions, develop a return-generating strategy, and execute notional trades.

A Competitive Advantage

In today’s intensely competitive market, when prospective students can choose from a selection of offerings, candidates will enroll in programs that they believe will confer an advantage to them as they pursue their careers. They will look for options that add real-world experience to their résumés, help them secure internships, and make them more attractive to potential employers.

Business schools that demonstrate a genuine commitment to real-world learning, innovation, and skills development will emerge as front-runners in the selection process. A premium showpiece such as a finance lab confirms a school’s commitment to practical teaching and positions it as an academic leader. A finance lab also helps a school differentiate itself from competitors, which will attract student interest and ultimately drive enrollment.

The Bloomberg Finance Lab offers a career-ready, experiential learning environment that helps professors and students bridge the gap between theoretical and practical learning.

Click here to learn more about using the Bloomberg Terminal in a business school setting.