Monday’s Headlines: More Business Schools Offering Full Rides

Full rides are no longer just for star athletes and straight-A geeks. The University of New Haven’s business school is the latest to launch creative initiatives to draw attention and attract top talent. The school will award full-tuition scholarships worth about $126,000 each to four high school seniors who come up with the best business idea, according to Businessweek. The Connecticut school hopes to gain attention for its growing entrepreneurship program by holding the competition through a Facebook page. The contest has so far received 35 entries. The school’s new dean, Larry Flanagan, recently spent 14 years as chief marketing officer for MasterCard.

“I’m bringing tested disciplines from the business world into the higher education arena," said Flanagan, "which, when you strip it all down, is a marketing challenge. There is not a lot of differentiation with a lot of business schools, so I think I’m bringing in a little more about how we differentiate our product and our brand.”

This follows other unconventional efforts to draw attention and talent. Postdam, N.Y.’s Clarkson University offered student entrepreneurs free tuition in exchange for a 10 percent stake in their businesses, while the University of Iowa’s business school awarded a $37,000 scholarship to the applicant who could describe in less than 140 characters why they would be a fit for the school.

 

Other News:

Goldman is hiring for a new "monoline" insurance product. [Financial Times]

Goldman is involved in a deal to take control of Travelodge. [Telegraph]

Vista Equity will buy the British financial software firm Misys for $2 billion. [DealBook]

Nomura’s future may improve, despite credit downgrade. [WSJ]

Axiom Asia Private Capital in Singapore raised its third fund which will invest in Asian private equity firms. [Bloomberg]

J.P. Morgan cracked the mutual fund top 10, helped by marketing. [Businessweek]

Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins will raise a new fund to invest in early-stage companies. [WSJ]

Liquid Capital founder Brian Kim pleaded guilty in charges of a $6 million Ponzi scheme. [Businessweek]

BlackRock’s CEO took an 8 percent pay cut in 2011. [WSJ]

Dissatisfaction with advisors is the real driver behind “money in motion.” [Investment News]

Twitter feeds all financial advisors should know. [Investment News]

Case of insurance agent jailed for selling an annuity has chilled the industry. [WSJ]