Dr. Richard Vedder
Dr. Richard Vedder, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics at Ohio University, authored an article at Forbes headlined “Learning By Earning: Why Student Investment Groups Are Better Than Internships.”
There has been an increase over time in integrating the academic experience of the classroom with real-world vocational involvement, particularly with the rise in student internships. A large number of college students now make career decisions and obtain permanent employment as a result of short work experiences with employers.
But perhaps an even more spectacular example of integrating classroom learning with real-world experiences comes from student investment groups operating at literally hundreds of American universities. These groups operate in different ways, but all have one thing in common: students are making investment decisions using real money. Let’s talk about three models: Penn State University, Michigan State University, and Ohio University….
Perhaps the most successful example is at Ohio University (where I am an emeritus professor). The school has two competing (in a friendly way) student groups running investment funds, an equity fund (with two portfolios totaling $4.6 million) and a fixed income fund (with about $2.8 million). Both were initially funded, like at Michigan State, by the foundation controlling most of the university’s endowment. The sole financial beneficiary of investment decisions is the university.
Comments