Hobart and William Smith Colleges Professor of Economics Joyce Jacobsen is expanding opportunities for students interested in finance while continuing to examine some of the economic pressures facing colleges and universities nationwide.
Since fall 2023, Jacobsen has run a program each semester to help students independently prepare for the Securities Industry Essentials exam, an entry point for those interested in careers in the securities industry. Eighteen students participated in the program this spring, with additional students already enrolled for the fall semester.
This year, Jacobsen is also working with HWS’ Melly Institute for Business, Innovation and Leadership, which is providing an online training program designed to help students build foundational financial knowledge and prepare for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s entry-level credential exam.
The effort reflects Jacobsen’s broader focus on connecting economics education with career opportunities. She helped establish the Business Management and Entrepreneurship major, which has since become the most popular major at HWS, and continues to teach economics courses including “Introduction to Investments.”
At the same time, Jacobsen has been focusing on the economics of higher education itself.
As president of the Eastern Economic Association for 2025-26, Jacobsen recently delivered the organization’s presidential address, “The Economics of Higher Education,” which examined colleges and universities through traditional economic principles.
Her conclusion was concise: “The cost has risen; the payoff has fallen.”
Jacobsen examined questions involving cost, value and institutional decision-making, arguing that one challenge for colleges is that higher education institutions are often managed by people without formal business or economics training. She said that can make it more difficult for colleges to respond effectively to changing market conditions.
The subject builds on research Jacobsen conducted with HWS Vice President and General Counsel Louis H. Guard, a 2007 graduate, for their 2024 book, “All the Campus Lawyers: Litigation, Regulation, and the New Era of Higher Education.” The two also taught an HWS course based on the book.
Jacobsen is considering another book focused specifically on the economics of higher education.
Her academic work extends well beyond colleges and universities. Jacobsen specializes in labor economics, particularly the economics of gender, and has published research on women’s employment, earnings, labor markets and feminist economics.
Her more recent scholarship has examined trade, competition and the gender makeup of employment in Vietnam, along with demography, human capital investment and lifetime earnings for women and men. She has also written about wine as an investment.
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 through 2022 before returning to the economics faculty.
Her work was recognized in 2021 with the Carolyn Shaw Bell Award from the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession, honoring her scholarship, professional leadership and mentorship.
Outside the classroom, Jacobsen serves as a faculty fellow for the William Smith bowling team and adviser to the student AI club. She also serves as president of the Geneva Music Festival board.
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