Exploring Financial Economics
For 1st & 2nd Year Students
Most full-time job placements result from junior summer internships. This program engages students in identifying possible internship and career fit through workshops, lectures and discussions during their freshman and sophomore years.
Integrated Purpose
Program content is embedded within significant intersections, and centered around the subject of financial economics. The goal is appropriate job placement upon graduation.
- Assess Career Fit
- Boost Decision Making Skills
- Plan Professional Toolkit

Learn, Think, Decide

Workshops
Include direct instruction and team-based learning activities

Critical Thinking Environments
Interactive lectures develop reasoning skills and increase confidence in making education and job choices

Introductions
Include direct instruction and team-based learning activities
Meet people from industry, graduate program representatives, older students, and campus groups for direction, advanced curriculum recommendations, and hands-on opportunities

Familiar Steps
The path to job placement follows a pattern similar to the one students used when making their way to UF. This program serves as a partner during the first two years.
High School to College
- Freshman & Sophomore:
evaluate colleges and majors for social and academic fit - Junior:
apply to colleges - Senior:
accept college offer
College to Career
- Freshman & Sophomore:
exploring Financial Economics Program focusing on finding a career fit - Junior:
apply to summer internships - Senior:
full-time offer from summer internship
Bases Covered
Program developers and leaders:
- Economics Ph.D
- 18+ Years Placement Experience
- Decades of Industry Work
…plus countless older students and invested alumni eager to help.
Mrs. Kelly Herring, Coordinator and Facilitator
Director of the Hough Program in Finance, 18+ years experience advising and placing students in a program with a 95% placement rate at graduation; many students placing with top financial firms in the country. Her degree and earlier experience are in teaching.
Mrs. Stephanie Fajre, M.S., Associate Director EFE
Master’s in Higher Education. 5+ years’ of experience with combined student affairs and employer relations with leading corporations.
Dr. David T. Brown, Professor
BB&T Professor of Free Enterprise. Graduate courses he currently teaches include: Capitalism & Regulation, Fixed Income Security Valuation, Interest Rate Risk Management.
Mr. Bruce Foerster, MBA, Lecturer
Teaches graduate level, Capitalism, and leads the Investment Bank series, President of South Beach Capital Markets Advisory Corporation for the past 10 years , 27 years prior in Investment Banking.
Calendar
Workshops
Registration required.
Unit 1
Workshops include: Self-Assessment, Building a Resume Story, Finance Career Paths, Placement Discernment, and Interview Strategy.
Sessions are hosted via Zoom on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday mornings.
Continuous attendance is required to move through the EFE Program workshops, and there are assignments. Click the button below to register.
Unit 2
Workshops include: Small Group Sessions and Meetings with Visiting Professionals, Faculty-led Sessions, Continued Interview Preparation, and Professional Communications workshops. These further advanced meetings and workshops are for students that have completed Unit 1. No registration is necessary. Current Unit 1 students will be invited to particular Unit 2 events so they don’t miss unique session opportunities.
Faculty-Led Current Event Discussion Sessions
as scheduled
Round-table sessions with visiting professionals
as scheduled
Organization, Structure & Evolution of the Global Investment Bank Series
Thursdays 4:15 – 5:45 PM, spring semester
Mr. Bruce Foerster serves the MSF program, teaching a Capitalism course in the spring and by working with undergraduate students, tutoring them about sectors of the finance industry.
Discussion Groups
Mr. Foerster will hold the following discussion groups this academic year to give students a sense of Wall Street career tracks/paths. To request a seat in any of these sessions, complete the registration. These sessions are designed for prospective students from UF’s undergraduate programs and for students accepted to the 2019 MSF graduating class.
Topics:
- Organization, Structure and Evolution of the Global Investment Bank
- Corporate Finance and Municipal Finance
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Primary and Secondary Capital Markets – New Issue Underwriting and Sales & Trading
- Securities Research
- Asset Management
- Private Equity/ Venture Capital/ Merchant Banking
Mr. Foerster is frequently quoted and interviewed on Bloomberg television. Search for these topics and more discussions with Mr. Foerster:
- Foerster Calls for ‘Major Surgery’ on Citigroup Dividend
- Bruce Foerster Says Bear Stearns May Need New Leadership
- Foerster Says Citigroup ‘Erred’ in Naming Prince Chief
- Foerster of South Beach Likes Bear Stearns, Citic Accord
- Foerster Discusses Management Changes at Bear Stearns
- Foerster Sees ‘Choppy Water’ for US Securities Firm
Additional Things to Know About the Program
- No Course Credit
- No Fees
- No Application
- All Majors
Requirements
- A desire to seriously invest in yourself and to join a set of like-minded peers.
- A commitment to attend and participate in the units you register for, aware that there will be homework assignments and occasionally extensive participation required.
- Some intention of graduating from UF within 4 years with a master’s degree through participation in a Combined Degree Program your 3rd and 4th year from any of the variety offered by the College of Business.
Receiving
- Industry specific resume development
- Explanation of various jobs in finance & and time with alumni within those areas
- Personalized assistance in combined degree selection and job placement advising
- Critical thinking sessions with Facilitators and Professors
- and more