I don't know of anywhere else in the country where students get to manage real money and be responsible for making all the decisions. Harrop, credits the actual investment experience as a major reason why five of his students were hired this year at a major investment house. Most students elsewhere get to use a computer program to pretend how their knowledge and decisions would affect an investment. Some of the lucky ones at other schools can actually be placed on an advisory board to give advice to the faculty member doing the investing.
Students here grow tremendously because they are given tremendous responsibilities.
The money used in the investments class comes from a pool of investors who are not concerned with losing money. In fact, even if the students do make money on their investment decisions, the investors never see any of the profit. Any profits made through the students' acumen is split between the SUU School of Business and Technology and the university. Students don't always make money during the exercise, but, according to Harrop, they do always grow and learn. When student do lose money during the semester, it's up to Harrop to fill the investment pool back to the top before the next group of students are ready to dive in.