The skills learned in the Wall Street 101 Program contribute to financial literacy, regardless of your intended college major or career. Bentley University has prepared students with these valuable life skills in the Wall Street 101 Program for over two decades. Our program is uniquely distinguished from others in its academic rigor, intensity, and hands-on experience. Each course is nearly equivalent to 15 to 20 percent of a college-level course and provides students with access to industry software and databases, including Bloomberg, FactSet, Morningstar Direct, and CapIQ, to perform the valuation of simulated investments. The courses offer trading simulations, debates, group assignments, guest lectures, and group presentations to develop capital markets insights. In addition, the FinTech and Artificial Intelligence in Finance courses offer high school students a glimpse of how technology is used to modernize financial transactions, high-speed data processing, performance analysis, and user app evaluation.
Combining finance, macroeconomics, and financial technology concepts, the Wall Street 101 Program helps you appreciate the forces changing the financial services industry. Even if you are not considering majoring in business in college, understanding the capital markets and evolving financial technology landscape is essential.
The following courses are offered for Summer 2025.
Stock Market and Investment Research
This course teaches you what a financial analyst at a Wall Street firm does. Using industry-standard valuation models, you will learn about financial statement analysis, forecasting, risk analysis, and analyst recommendations. You will also learn how to value firms using the latest industry-standard indicators of firm performance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Finally, you will learn how to prepare an industry-standard stock pitch, present your stock pitch to clients or investment managers, and interact with financial executives.
Prerequisite: Attending this course without a background in the stock market might be challenging at first, but many students overcome the initial hurdle. We recommend a pre-program reading available on the internet (like many others): The Basics for Investing in Stocks to familiarize yourself with some concepts covered in the course. After that, you may want to read Mr. Peter Lynch's classic, "One Up on Wall Street." You can watch YouTube videos, including "The Ultimate Guide To Stock Market Investing" by Peter Lynch. Some students also find watching CNBC to be quite helpful.
Macroeconomics and Financial Markets
This is an overview course on the link between the economy and the global financial markets, particularly how government monetary and fiscal policies and the state of the economy impact stocks, bonds, currencies, and alternative assets. As major policy decisions or economic, political, social, financial, and corporate news are announced, retail investors, traders, portfolio managers, and hedge funds, for example, change their trading and investment strategies. Their trading decisions affect securities prices in real-time. Overall, students will learn how the financial markets respond to current events and headlines about, for example, healthcare, inflation, jobs, taxes, interest rates, industrial performance, politics, war, terrorism, and natural disasters. This course is a gateway to understanding the link between the economy and the capital markets.
Investment and Trading Strategies
In today's highly volatile market, spreading your investment across multiple asset classes such as stocks, bonds, real estate, currencies, and commodities is essential. Determining how much of your investment fund should be allocated to these assets is the most crucial aspect of your investment strategy. This course teaches you the principles of testing investment strategies for portfolio management. While there are no prerequisites for this course, you will be introduced to fundamental valuation models of these asset classes. We will teach you how investors allocate funds among different assets to limit their risk. The objective is to learn about investing in a diversified portfolio. Using Excel and industry-standard valuation platforms, you will test investment strategies, back-test your model, conduct portfolio optimization exercises, evaluate performance, and manage risk.
Prerequisite: A basic level of proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets is recommended. Familiarity with capital markets is beneficial.
Artificial Intelligence in Finance
This cutting-edge 5-day course on AI in Finance offers a dive into artificial intelligence's, including generative AI, role in the financial industry. Day 1 initiates with fundamental concepts, including AI's impact, real-world use cases, and potential benefits in decision-making. Subsequent days delve into practical applications such as automation, customer insights, and data analytics, equipping participants with hands-on skills. Day 2-3 introduces students to AI applications and tools and Day 4 addresses ethical considerations and responsible AI practices. The course concludes with a competition, where students develop and present AI-informed strategies, fostering a holistic understanding of AI's applications and ethics. The entrepreneurial presentation (pitch) aims to secure imaginary investor funding. Students are introduced to applications, software tools, and building apps using AI templates.
Prerequisite: A basic level of proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets is recommended.
Introduction to FinTech
This course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the rapidly evolving financial technology landscape. Led by a seasoned FinTech Consultant, the course delves into key business functions, exploring the impact of technological innovations on various sectors. With a focus on modern technologies, regulatory considerations, and business model innovations, students gain valuable insights into the valuation of FinTech firms and the application of these concepts in real-world scenarios. Students develop critical thinking skills, extrapolate from current trends, and enhance startup offerings, with an emphasis on fostering a deep understanding of FinTech accelerator programs. Students finish the course with a group pitch competition presenting their ideas to a panel of external judges. Through theory and application, students are equipped with the tools to navigate the landscape of the FinTech industry.
Prerequisite: Some familiarity with basic finance and capital markets concepts is helpful.
*The Summer 2025 Wall Street 101 has six weekly sessions (A-F). Students can enroll in one course per week. If you want to enroll in all five courses, register for one online course (Session A) and four in-person courses in the following weeks. See course sequencing below for suggestions about which course you should take first. Students attending multiple sessions receive 5% tuition discount for each additional course.
**Waitlist: All waitlist students will be notified if a spot becomes available. If a spot is unavailable, students can be refunded their application fee or transferred to an open section or an alternative course.
2025 Schedule: Application Opens in January
Session A (June 9 to June 13) -- Online
Format:
- Online
Courses (pick one):
- Stock Market and Investment Research
- Macroeconomics and Financial Markets
Session B (June 16 to June 20) -- In person
Formats:
- Residential
- Commuter
Courses (pick one):
- Stock Market and Investment Research
- Macroeconomics and Financial Markets
Session C (June 23 to June 27) -- In person
Formats:
- Residential
- Commuter
Courses (pick one):
- Stock Market and Investment Research
Session D (June 30 to July 4) -- In person
Formats:
- Residential
- Commuter
- Classes are also held on July 4
Courses (pick one):
- Stock Market and Investment Research
- Macroeconomics and Financial Markets
Session E (July 7 to July 11) -- In person
Formats:
- Residential
- Commuter
Courses (pick one):
- Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
- Stock Market and Investment Research
- Macroeconomics and Financial Markets
Session F (July 14 to July 18) -- In person
Formats:
- Residential
- Commuter
Courses (pick one):
- Stock Market and Investment Research
- Macroeconomics and Financial Markets
Course Sequencing
Students attending the Wall Street 101 Program bring varying proficiency levels with capital markets and exposure to financial technology, ranging from none to intermediate levels (at the high school level). You may find some courses more challenging on the first day, but don't let it discourage you. We strive to bring everyone to a level so you can learn. Instructors will hold office hours, and dedicated tutors are always available for extra coaching. We will suggest pre-program readings that may help some students gain familiarity with capital markets and financial technology, understand lectures, and participate in group projects. Remember, some of you may take higher levels of these courses in college. Others are taking these courses to improve their financial literacy.
One question often asked is, "Which course should I take first?" While all courses are related, you can follow a sequence you are comfortable with. Based on our experiences over the years, we have some suggestions:
- If you are unfamiliar with the capital markets concepts, take the following courses in any sequence:
- Macroeconomics and Financial Markets or Stock Market and Investment Research
- FinTech
- If you have some familiarity with the capital markets and want to gain a more in-depth background, take these courses in sequence:
- Macroeconomics and Financial Markets or Stock Market and Investment Research
- Investment and Trading Strategies
- FinTech
- Artificial Intelligence in Finance
Remember, the Wall Street 101 Program is about improving your financial literacy, regardless of your intended major in college. The program introduces you to the exciting world of investing and financial technology. As an aside, the course Investment Strategies covers portfolio diversification using various asset classes such as stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. The objective is to combine multiple asset classes to manage risk. The guiding principle is 'never put all your eggs in the same basket.' Diversify. This course requires basic familiarity with capital markets and Excel (or Google Sheets).