Why Business Schools Are Betting Big on Private Credit—and How Students Are Winning

Private credit has rapidly moved from the fringes of finance to a central role in global capital markets. The global private credit (or private debt) market has surpassed US$3 trillion in Assets Under Management (AUM). Private credit deployment has been accelerating: in 2023, private credit lenders invested US$333.4 billion of fresh capital — up from ~US$203 billion in 2022 (per the Alternative Credit Council / EY research AIMA).

As traditional banks retrench, regulatory constraints tighten, and institutional investors search for yield in a low-rate environment, private credit has become one of the fastest-growing, most dynamic asset classes. In fact, BlackRock forecasts that private credit AUM could reach US$4.5 trillion by 2030. (Alternative Credit Investor)

For business schools, this shift is not just an opportunity—it’s an imperative. Those that equip students with deep private credit knowledge, market-standard tools, and experience with real data are finding themselves at the vanguard of finance education, attracting ambitious students, strengthening employer relationships, and improving graduate outcomes.

Here’s how top schools are doing it—and why it shows precisely why an academic license like SOLVE Workstation for Private Credit is suddenly not just nice-to-have, but essential.

1. Forward-looking curriculum: Columbia’s Private Equity Pathway

Columbia Business School has designed its Private Equity Curriculum Pathway to explicitly cover private credit strategies alongside buyouts and growth equity. The curriculum blends practitioner-led electives, case studies, a gateway finance course, and specialized electives tailored to roles in investment, lending, management, and institutional investment. (Columbia Business School)

This has multiple benefits:

• Students understand the full spectrum of private markets, especially debt instruments, securing roles both as credit originators and lenders, outside of traditional equity-centric career paths.
• Faculty and researchers gain access to real-world deal case studies and deal metrics (debt terms, covenants, etc.) that enrich teaching and publication.

By structuring its pathway this way, Columbia attracts students seeking differentiated skills—and helps them hit the ground running in roles where private credit is increasingly important.

2. Immersive, Applied Programs 

Florida State University’s College of Business offers an Alternative Investments – Private Credit module through its executive education division. (desantiscenter.business.fsu.edu)

Key features:

• Real-world case studies, not just theory, which expose participants to the spectrum of private credit: structures, vehicles, terms, due diligence, and fee models.
• Interaction with faculty and industry leaders, allowing cross-pollination between academic insight and practitioner know-how.
• Limited-size cohorts, which emphasize discussion, deep learning, and personal feedback.

This kind of program is attractive to both mid-career professionals and academic faculty; it demonstrates that private credit is not just something to be read about, but something to be practiced and analyzed in context.

3. Serving broader missions & diversity: Wharton’s AltFinance

Recognizing that alternative finance (which includes private equity, private credit, etc.) is essential but underrepresented in many curricula and communities, Wharton has launched AltFinance. This partnership, which includes major asset managers (Apollo, Ares, Oaktree), aims to provide specialized curricula and career exposure to students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). (Wharton)

What makes AltFinance noteworthy:

• It creates equity of access to high-demand asset class education for students who might not otherwise have engaged deeply with private credit.
• It includes real tools, virtual institutes, exposure to practitioners, and specialized coursework. Students gain not only theory, but practical insight into what firms are doing now.
• The initiative helps partner institutions raise their own profile, attract prospective students, and demonstrate relevance to employers and fund sponsors.

4. Finance labs and hands-on tools: raising the bar with simulation and real data

A consistent theme among leading schools is the adoption of finance labs, student-managed funds, and industry-standard tools (Bloomberg, research terminals, data services). These are not mere add-ons; in many cases, they are key differentiators. Students want, and employers expect, graduates who have used the same platforms, analyzed similar deal flows, read covenant terms, built models, and worked with data as it’s used in real practice.

For example:

• Bloomberg Finance Labs are becoming more common; they give students access to terminals, data feeds, analytics, simulating real professional workflows. (AACSB)
• The University of Toronto (Rotman) has developed finance research & trading labs where students take terminal master-classes, applying what they learn in class to real data and analytics tools. (AACSB)
• At Ohio State, the Fisher College of Business enables students in its Student Investment Management course to monitor portfolios using real-time online info systems and terminals. (Fisher College of Business)

These experiences produce measurable benefits:

• Students graduate with confidence in both technical and analytical skills.
• Employers (in private credit, investment banking, and asset management) see lower onboarding costs and higher productivity among new hires.
• Schools enhance their reputation, leading to more applicants, better yield, and often higher placement rates in competitive roles.

5. Outcomes: enrollment, employability, and competitive edge

While many schools are relatively recent in scaling up private credit content, early evidence shows:

• Programs that signal alignment with industry demand tend to attract a higher number of applicants, especially among students seeking careers in investment, lending, investment banking, and private markets. Students increasingly ask whether a program has private credit or alternative finance training.
• Employers are increasingly seeking applicants who have hands-on experience with asset class tools, data, and deal structuring—not only in equity but increasingly in credit, mezzanine, and structured debt.
• Business schools offering an applied, tool-based curriculum (labs, capstones, simulation) often enjoy better yield rates (students choosing them over competitors) because they stand out not only for prestige but for deliverable skills.

6. Implications: what this means for Schools (and for Workstation for Private Credit)

Putting these trends together, we can draw clear implications:

• Schools that do not integrate private credit risk losing ground—either in recruiting students who want these skills, or in placing graduates in growing areas of finance.
• Academic licensing of leading private-credit tools/data becomes a differentiator: faculty can use them for research, students for experiential learning, and schools for employer engagement.
• Pilot programs, private credit case competitions, partnership with industry players, and offering electives & certificates give schools flexibility to experiment without large upfront cost—and when done well, generate evidence of impact (student satisfaction, placement, research output).
• Publicizing successes (student placements, partnerships, capstone projects) then feeds back into recruiting and fundraising.

Conclusion

The shift toward private credit is no fad—it’s structural. Schools like Columbia, Wharton, FSU, and many others are already acting decisively, building curriculum pathways, labs, applied modules, and tools so that students leave ready to work in private markets. For ambitious students, these programs offer both theory andthe familiarity with instruments, data, negotiation, and risk that distinguishes top candidates in today’s finance job market. For schools, they represent a way to innovate, differentiate, and deliver greater value for students, employers, and society.

If your institution is thinking about launching—or scaling—a private credit-focused program, the evidence is clear: the institutions that have done so are already winning. The question is not if, but how soon you build the capabilities to join them.