Posted on October 6, 2012

New York Life Awards $5 Million for Financial Doctorate Program

New York Life has announced a $5 million grant to American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, to establish a new professional doctorate in business administration program, which the company describes as the first of its kind.

The school, which instructs students in a variety of financial disciplines, is accepting applications for the Ph.D. program from students with a bachelor's degree from an accredited school who meet other eligibility requirements. Once accepted, students will be placed in one of two cohort groups comprised of fifteen people and will tackle the financial literacy and retirement planning coursework together on a mutually supportive basis. One cohort group will begin its studies every six months, with the first residency scheduled for July 2013. Doctoral candidates also will participate in three one-week residencies at the college's Bryn Mawr campus and at least one intensive debriefing with a faculty member prior to their dissertation defense. In addition to the residencies, students will be required to complete one course per quarter online over a span of twelve quarters.

"This doctoral program, with an unrivaled curriculum of financial literacy and retirement planning, is designed to create world-class scholars whose research and teaching will provide financial professionals with the advanced information needed to better serve the people who are counting on them," said Chris Blunt, president of New York Life's insurance group and a member of the college's board of trustees. "[W]e are proud to be forging new ground with the nation's leading nonprofit educator of insurance and financial professionals to create a program that will benefit the entire industry."