New event prepares finance students for careers on Wall Street
With support from the school’s career engagement team and alumni-driven Badgers in Finance network, WSB students recently received an informative and practical look at what a career in finance entails. Through the new Introduction to Wall Street event, students participated in two panel discussions about the key pillars of Wall Street: buying and selling. The discussions were moderated by WSB staff and faculty and featured industry leaders and alumni sharing their experiences.
Organizers of the event say that as the recruiting landscape in finance continues to accelerate, providing this kind of exploratory opportunity is essential—with the goal being to give students the critical knowledge they need to prepare, launch, and thrive in their chosen career pathway.
Undergraduate program continues to excel in rankings
WSB’s undergraduate program is ranked #7 in the nation among public universities. That’s according to Poets&Quants’ 2026 ranking of the Best Undergraduate Business Programs in the U.S., which also placed WSB at #21 overall—up one spot from the previous year. Underscoring WSB’s commitment to excellence, the rankings reflect admission standards, career outcomes, and academic experience.
MBA students help scale tech startups through new partnership
A collaboration between business, engineering, and tech students is helping bring new ventures to life. Through a unique, semester-long partnership, 15 teams—each composed of MBA students and tech students—worked to transform product concepts into finished prototypes. The MBA students participated through a new product development class at WSB, in conjunction with the UW Tech Exploration Lab.
The program’s collaborative structure allows tech students to provide the foundational venture idea, while MBA students provide the marketing strategy and value proposition—effectively closing the gap between raw idea and market feasibility. Teams also benefited from the mentorship of the program’s alumni partners: industry professionals who volunteered their time to provide students with expert guidance and project insights.
First-ever Career Signing Day celebrates student job placement
Nearly 100 Business Badgers attended WSB’s inaugural Career Signing Day. Modeled after popular signing day events for athletes, the event—as well as a follow-up Career Signing Day in April—celebrated students with accepted offers for summer internships and full-time roles post-graduation, while also providing WSB’s career engagement team with crucial data about where students are heading for work.
WSB continues to see job placements in competitive fields within growth industries, such as consulting and finance. Additionally, students continue to perform well in the school’s core markets of Chicago, New York City, Madison, and others, but this year also saw significant growth in destinations such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston.
New phase of brand campaign highlights trusted team leaders
Five new alumni faces have joined WSB’s Trusted to Lead campaign. In addition to boasting impressive career paths, these standout alums truly reflect the core values of WSB grads: curiosity, humility, grit, and a deep commitment to collaboration. In short, they’re the people you want on your team—and top companies are taking notice of Wisconsin talent. WSB’s many industry partners are strategically investing in and recruiting Business Badgers, leading to a 94% employment rate for the undergraduate Class of 2025, with leading firms like Deloitte and EY hiring WSB graduates in double-digit numbers.
The Donor Digest is a quarterly round-up of stories made possible by gifts to the Wisconsin School of Business (WSB) Fund. Contributions to WSB help the school implement transformative learning experiences and curricula that uniquely prepare students for post-graduation success. Read past stories about donor impact and the power of philanthropy.