Program Offerings

Fuel your entrepreneurial spirit and solve real-world challenges. The CELect program connects you with the fast-paced, dynamic world of startups, where you’ll work directly with emerging ventures to drive growth and innovation. As part of a consulting team, you’ll gain hands-on experience tackling business problems, developing market insights, and creating strategies that help startups scale. This is your chance to apply your classroom knowledge in real-world situations while building lasting relationships with entrepreneurs and industry leaders, equipping yourself with the strategic skills needed to lead in today’s competitive startup landscape.

• Focus: Startup Strategic Consulting
• Eligibility: All WashU Grads & Undergrads
• Timing: Fall & Spring Semester (8 Weeks – Mini A)
• Credits: 3
• Application Based
• Course Structure: You’ll be part of a student consulting team matched with a startup in either St. Louis or another domestic or international city, where you’ll work on defined projects that focus on business challenges. In addition to the orientation and concluding sessions, you’ll collaborate directly with your client and professor throughout the semester. Spring 2025 cities will be St. Louis, MO, and Austin, TX.
• Typical Problems Addressed: Market research and analysis, financial strategy, forecasting, and strategic insights for growth and scaling.
• Key Skills Developed: Consulting competencies, interpersonal communication and leadership, project management, critical thinking, data analysis, report writing, and persuasive presentations.

The CFAR Practicum provides opportunities for graduate finance students enrolled in a specialized master’s or MBA program. Students work in teams to complete a project with a company, developing sophistication in the transfer of cutting-edge financial techniques and putting the academic environment into practice. Faculty advisors help teams manage the relationships with clients and make the bridge between the academic tools the students learned and the practical projects the companies provided. Students’ grades are based on deliverables throughout the semester, including the final presentation at the conclusion of the project.

• Focus: Finance & Accounting Consulting
• Eligibility: All Olin Grads (MBA & SMP)
• Timing: Fall & Spring Semester (14 Weeks)
• Credits: 3
• Application Based: No
• Typical Problems Addressed: Risk analysis, code development, qualitative and quantitative analysis, portfolio management, database development, or market research.
• Key Skills Developed: Problem finding, option generation, data collection, problem-solving, teamwork and work-planning, team communications, client communications, synthesis, and integration.

Help early-stage companies grow and scale. The Marketing Metrics clinic offers you the opportunity to work directly with early-stage companies, where you’ll develop data-driven growth strategies. In this immersive experience, you’ll address critical challenges such as market understanding and marketing-mix optimization. This course empowers you to sharpen your analytical, problem-solving, and presentation skills, preparing you to excel in any marketing role. This is your chance to apply classroom learning to real-world challenges while making a measurable impact on the success of young companies.

• Focus: Marketing Driven Consulting
• Eligibility: All Olin Grads & Olin Undergrads (3rd & 4th yrs)
• Timing: Fall & Spring Semester (8 Weeks)
• Credits: 1.5
• Application Based: No
• Course Structure: You will work on a marketing project with a startup client as part of a student consulting team. Projects typically focus on improving marketing strategies, market analysis, customer engagement, and performance efficiency. Each team will meet weekly with the instructor, outside of regular classroom time, for guidance and progress updates.
• Typical Problems Addressed: Market expansion, optimizing marketing channel mix, enhancing customer communication, and improving customer experiences.
• Key Skills Developed: Critical thinking, problem formulation, data analysis, and persuasive presentation delivery.

Step into leadership and drive social change. The Olin/United Way Board Fellows program offers you a unique opportunity to serve as a voting board member for a Greater St. Louis Area United Way Agency, directly impacting your community. Through this year-long immersive experience, you will collaborate with nonprofit leaders to address key social issues affecting underserved groups, including the elderly, children, differently-abled, or other underserved groups. As you contribute to meaningful projects, you will develop governance skills, navigate complex challenges, and shape the future of organizations dedicated to making a difference. This program is your chance to grow as a responsible leader while building lasting relationships and contributing to the greater good.

• Focus: Nonprofit Board Engagement
• Eligibility: FTMBA, Flex MBA, PMBA, EMBA, Law Students, Brown Graduate Students
• Timing: Calendar Year (January – December)
• Credits: 1.5 (Spring), 1.5 (Fall), both required
• Application Based: Yes
• Course Structure: You will serve as a voting board member while addressing your agency’s critical social challenges. You’ll also connect with your agency over the summer, either in person or remotely. Much of the work will occur in the latter half of the spring semester, summer and early fall before culminating the course with a final presentation to the agency client and the class.
• Typical Consulting Projects: Issues impacting underserved populations, such as the elderly, children, formerly incarcerated individuals, and those with disabilities.
• Key Skills Developed: Governance, leadership, navigating uncertainty, problem-solving, and client communication.

Create meaningful change and drive real impact with established companies. The Practicum course empowers you to work directly with well-known, established companies, giving you the opportunity to solve real-world business challenges and make a tangible difference. Through this hands-on consulting experience, you’ll collaborate with peers and faculty to help companies overcome critical challenges in areas like market strategy, financial management, and operational efficiency. This is your chance to lead, innovate, and drive real impact while honing the skills that will prepare you for success in any business context.

• Focus: Strategic Consulting
• Eligibility: WashU Grads, WashU Undergrads (3rd & 4th yrs)
• Timing: Fall & Spring Semester (14 weeks)
• Credits: 3
• Application Based: Yes
• Course Structure: You will work in a consulting team to tackle real-world organizational problems faced by established companies. Projects range from market strategy to business analytics, and you will have faculty advisors and peer coaching sessions to support your learning throughout the semester.
• Typical Problems Addressed: Market strategy, financial management, data analysis, and professional communication.
• Key Skills Developed: Leadership, critical thinking, project management, data analysis, and professional communication.

Empower local businesses and gain real-world consulting experience. The Small Business Initiative (SBI) gives you the opportunity to work closely with small, local businesses that form the backbone of the St. Louis economy. Through this hands-on consulting experience, you’ll help these businesses address key challenges such as growth, marketing, and operational efficiency. As you work side by side with business owners, you’ll develop crucial skills in critical thinking, leadership, and project management while making a meaningful impact on the local business ecosystem. This is your chance to apply classroom learning in a real-world context and contribute directly to the success of small businesses in your community.

• Focus: St. Louis Small Business Consulting
• Eligibility: All WashU Undergrads
• Timing: Fall & Spring Semester (14 weeks)
• Credits: 3
• Application Based: No
• Course Structure: You will work on a real organizational problem with an actual client as part of a student consulting team. The course focuses on supporting businesses with less than $1 million in revenue, a brick-and-mortar location, and at least 2-3 years of financial data.
• Typical Problems Addressed: Sales and marketing, operational efficiency, strategic planning, and growth challenges.
• Key Skills Developed: Project framing and management, critical thinking, leadership, and communication skills.

Make a meaningful impact on local nonprofit organizations and communities. The Taylor Community Consulting Program (TCCP) allows you to partner with local, regional, and national nonprofit organizations to address strategic challenges and operational inefficiencies. Through this hands-on consulting experience, you’ll apply insights from your coursework to real-world problems under faculty supervision, helping nonprofits grow and enhance their impact. This is your chance to develop critical skills in leadership, problem-solving, and data analysis while contributing to the vitality of the communities these organizations serve.

• Focus: St. Louis Nonprofit Consulting
• Eligibility: All WashU Grads & Undergrads
• Timing: Fall & Spring Semester (14 weeks)
• Credits: 3
• Application Based: No
• Course Structure: You will work as part of a student consulting team on real organizational challenges faced by nonprofit organizations. These projects focus on issues such as marketing, strategic planning, growth, and operational efficiency.
• Typical Problems Addressed: Marketing strategy, operational efficiency, cost analysis, benchmarking, and organizational growth.
• Key Skills Developed: Critical thinking, leadership, communication, problem formulation, data analysis, and persuasive presentation delivery.