Hobart and William Smith Professor of Economics Joyce Jacobsen is expanding a student program that prepares participants for an entry-level securities exam while connecting economics coursework with careers in finance.
Jacobsen has run the independent preparation program each semester since fall 2023 for students interested in taking the Securities Industry Essentials exam. Eighteen students participated during the spring, and several students are enrolled for this fall.
Building a path into finance
The SIE exam is an entry point for students considering work in the securities industry. This year, Jacobsen is collaborating with the Melly Institute for Business, Innovation and Leadership, which is providing an online training program covering foundational financial concepts and preparation for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority credential exam.
The effort extends Jacobsen's work linking economics education with career opportunities. She helped establish the Business Management and Entrepreneurship major, now the most popular major at HWS, and teaches courses including "Introduction to Investments."
Jacobsen's academic work has ranged across labor economics, gender, employment and earnings. Her recent research has examined trade, competition and the gender composition of employment in Vietnam, as well as demography, investment in human capital and lifetime earnings for women and men. She has also written about wine as an investment.
Examining higher education's economics
Jacobsen is also bringing an economic lens to national debates about colleges and universities. As president of the Eastern Economic Association for 2025-26, she recently delivered the group's presidential address, "The Economics of Higher Education."
The address treated higher education as an industry and applied economic principles to questions involving cost, value and institutional decisions. Jacobsen summarized her conclusion in direct terms: "The cost has risen; the payoff has fallen."
Jacobsen said colleges face a challenge because higher education is often managed by people without formal training in business or economics, making it difficult for institutions to adjust to changing market conditions. The subject has led her to consider another book focused on the economics of higher education.
Her address builds on research conducted with HWS Chief Counsel Louis H. Guard for their 2024 book, "All the Campus Lawyers: Litigation, Regulation, and the New Era of Higher Education." Jacobsen and Guard also taught an HWS course based on the book.
Jacobsen joined the HWS faculty in 2019 after serving as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Wesleyan University. She became the first woman to serve as president of Hobart and William Smith, leading the colleges from 2019 to 2022 before returning to the economics faculty.
The American Economic Association's Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession gave Jacobsen its 2021 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award, recognizing her scholarship, professional leadership and mentorship. At HWS, she is also a faculty fellow for the William Smith bowling team and adviser to the student AI club, and she serves as president of the Geneva Music Festival board.
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