March 28, 2025 | Evan Williams
Florida State University is developing a unique MBA program with a concentration in alternative investments and finance, a fastgrowing realm that includes private credit, hedge funds, fine art, real estate, cryptocurrencies and more. The online program is set to begin in the fall.
A report by the investment company WebStreet shows that alternative investments make up nearly 25% of total global institutional investment portfolios. Wealthy individuals are also increasingly investing in alternatives as the market grows, says Kelsey Syvrud, an assistant chair and lecturer in FSU’s Department of Finance.
“It became clear that there’s a very big need for education in this space,” says Syvrud, who is helping lead development of the new MBA track and will teach in the program.
She and other FSU faculty are building courses on topics such as private equity, venture capital, real estate valuation and portfolio construction. She plans to teach an introductory course in alternative investments on topics such as the growth trajectories of altassets, their legal structures, how to evaluate them and other ways in which they differ from traditional markets.
FSU will draw from expertise in its established risk management, insurance and real estate programs, along with faculty who already teach courses on alt-investment topics such as digital assets, Syvrud says. “We can take all our strengths combined and move into this very emerging space in the area and fill a need that has currently been relatively vacant in the Florida market. … I think we’re uniquely positioned to do it.”