Titan Capital Management As a Model for Experiential Learning

In recent years, more universities have begun to emphasize experiential learning. Instead of relying only on lectures, tests, and textbooks, this approach gives students an opportunity to work through real-world problems. It’s a style of learning that helps translate classroom ideas into real-world applications.

Experiential learning is especially valuable in fields like business, where it’s not enough to just understand concepts on paper. Students need to practice making decisions, analyze information, and work as part of a team. Programs that give students the opportunity to manage money or work with clients help to build their skills and confidence while preparing them for the challenges they’ll face after graduation.

California State University, Fullerton’s (CSUF) Titan Capital Management program is a clear example of how powerful this kind of hands-on education can be. This student-led investment fund allows business students to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom while managing real financial portfolios.

What Is Experiential Learning?
Experiential learning is about learning by doing. Instead of just sitting through lectures and memorizing facts, students get to take what they’ve learned and use it in real situations. That could mean undertaking an internship, running a student-managed business, conducting research in the field, or pitching an actual investment idea.
This approach is based on the experiential learning cycle developed by educational theorist David Kolb. According to Kolb, learning is most effective when students move through the following four-part cycle.

1.       Concrete Experience—The experiential learning cycle begins with hands-on experience. For students in the Titan Capital Management program, this might mean researching a stock, making an investment decision, or preparing a presentation for investment and finance professionals. These moments give students the chance to take what they’ve learned in class and apply it in a high-stakes environment. The experience doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, sometimes the best learning experience happens when something goes wrong. The important thing is that students are actively engaged, taking real risks, and starting to see themselves as professionals.

2.       Reflective Observation—The next step is observation. This is where students slow down and ask themselves what happened. What went well? What didn’t? What would they change the next time? At Titan Capital Management, this kind of reflection is built into the process. Students meet regularly to discuss the decisions they’ve made, examine the results, and think critically about their performance. It’s a habit that helps to turn every action into a lesson.

3.       Abstract Conceptualization—Once students have had an opportunity to reflect, they can start to connect their experience to the concepts they’ve learned in class. That’s when everything begins to click. Maybe a student sees how a certain financial theory played out in a stock they recommended or realize that their portfolio decisions were influenced by a cogniftive cognitive bias they read about earlier in the semester. This step can help students move beyond surface-level understanding. They’re seeing how the ideas they’ve learned in class play out in real-world scenarios.

4.       Active experimentation—The final part of the cycle involves looking ahead. Students take what they’ve learned and apply it to the next challenge. Maybe they approach a pitch differently, adjust their risk strategy, or take on a new role with a fresh perspective. At Titan Capital Management, that might mean changing how a team evaluates market news or rethinking how they divide responsibilities. With each round of experience and reflection, students become better at adapting and making smart decisions.

A Case Study in Experiential Business Education
Through the rigorous Titan Capital Management program, students manage a real investment portfolio worth approximately $3.5 million. They analyze financial markets, build investment strategies, and present their decisions to faculty members and industry professionals. The program is competitive, and students have to apply and interview to be considered. Once accepted, they’re treated as trusted decision-makers like investment professionals and expected to collaborate and interact as such.

What TCM Students Actually Do
The day-to-day work involved in the TCM program is a lot like what happens at a real investment firm. Students conduct detailed research on companies, follow economic trends, evaluate risk, and make recommendations about where to allocate funds.

They learn to use professional tools like Bloomberg terminals and financial modeling software, and they’re expected to justify every decision they make. Their choices have real financial consequences.
Working in small teams, students learn how to present ideas clearly, think critically under pressure, and respond to tough questions from actual finance professionals who volunteer their time as advisors or guest panelists. The level of accountability is high, and the learning curve is steep. That’s part of what makes the experience so valuable.

The Results Speak for Themselves
Graduates of Titan Capital Management have gone on to work at top financial firms, including J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, PIMCO, Capital Group, Canterbury Consulting, and other established wealth management firms. and Citi. Some of them come from families where no one had worked in finance before. Others had never imagined they’d be presenting investment pitches before they even finished college. What they all have in common is that they left CSUF with real-life experience, and that made a difference.
The program has also built a strong alumni network, with former students mentoring current ones and helping to open doors to internships and full-time jobs. That kind of connection can be just as important as what’s learned in the classroom.

In May of 2024, TCM expanded its facility to include a common research area, a conference room, and offices for professors and students. After the opening of the new facility, program enrollment for both the TCM curriculum and the Student Managed Investment Fund(SMIF) tripled, increasing from 30 students to over 100. In a sense, the new facility has proven to be a field of dreams, build it, and they will come. They have, and the TCM and SMIF programs are not only educating students to become sophisticated investors, but it is changing their lives.