Colleges and universities around the world understand that to continue attracting students, they need to ensure that their curriculums are directed at the most relevant subject matter and information to better prepare them for the job market. Business and Finance degrees are especially being revamped to keep up with the revolutionary changes across the globe related to fintech education, an emerging area related to the financial sector that is driven by ever-advancing technology.
This financial technology movement is not only offering new solutions to help businesses and consumers. This movement is also disrupting many traditional segments in this area with new types of transactions, more options for exchanging goods and services, and new issues and challenges related to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency like Bitcoin that could be solved by today and tomorrow’s MBA students. Here are some examples of universities and colleges that are already including cryptocurrency to their curriculum:
- Stanford University: This Northern California university has already added cryptocurrency to its cyber security program, which launched at the start of the 2015-2016 school year. The program focuses on the technology behind Bitcoin regarding how it can more effectively protect information and sensitive data that may, in turn, revolutionize the payments industry.
- UC Berkeley: The Haas School of Business has brought currencies, blockchain, and payments into its MBA classroom to illustrate how it is being used in the financial services sector, including investment banking.
- University of Southern California: Its Marshall School of Business now offers fintech education that is focused on business models that are enabled by new technologies and includes topics like digital wealth management, alternative lending, and digital payment systems.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Sloan School of Management already has its students designing and testing new fintech ventures, including algorithms that can b eat financial markets, trading, cryptocurrencies, digital payments and more focused on the current trends in financial services and investing.
- Duke University: The Fuqua School of Business has nearly 100 students already taking its blockchain course.
- New York University: The Stern School of Business is testing out MBA modules for its executive and MBA students, focusing on blockchain and a series of fintech courses.
- Fordham University: Local campus clubs are also forming around cryptocurrency as more students show an interest in mining these alternative currencies. This university has a cryptocurrency club on campus as well as offers roundtable discussions and seminars on Bitcoin. This research facility in New York also plans to teach more cryptocurrency classes shortly.
- University of Pennsylvania: As one of the first universities to add fintech education to their curriculum. They include cryptocurrency and blockchain, the Wharton School of Business now offers study programs with fintech companies, including blockchain web services companies like BlockCypher. Students get college credit for helping these companies solve critical business issues.
These colleges and universities realize that offering such an education pays off in the form of the ability to leverage startups that started at business schools and are now highly touted companies, including Lending Club and SoFi.
Even internationally recognized universities are joining in by revamping their programs to include topics related to cryptocurrency, including Cambridge University in the UK. Others have followed around the world by offering classes or even taking the first step by just accepting Bitcoin for payment on campus. These include Imperial College and the University of Cumbria in the UK, Pompeu Fabre University in Spain, the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, and McGill University and Simon Fraser University in Canada. In fact, the University of Nicosia is the first one to offer a Masters of Science in Digital Currency. These changes in university education also reflective of these countries and their trend-setting actions to readily accept the opportunities of cryptocurrency.
