A new student-led initiative is emerging at Grand Rapids Community College to give students hands-on experience in investment management.
The committee is called Simulated Endowment Investment Managers, and it allows students to practice managing a simulated version of the college’s endowment while learning about finance, investing, and portfolio management.
Behind SEIM is 2025-2026 Student Government Treasurer Itai Aharon, who is transferring to the University of Michigan to study Economics. Aharon said the idea came from recognizing that many community college students studying finance enter four-year institutions at a disadvantage.
“GRCC doesn’t offer many opportunities for hands-on finance experience. Students interested in finance transfer as juniors, and when they transfer to four-year institutions, they’re competing against students who may already have years of experience in finance clubs and investment organizations,” Aharon said.
Aharon explained that the organization would start by using simulated funds, rather than real money.
“We simulate the professional management of an endowment. When I say simulate, I mean we use simulated money to begin. We’re not using real money at first because we don’t yet have the experience, knowledge, or history,” Aharon explained.
An endowment is the college’s long-term financial fund, which supports student scholarships and grants, instructional improvement, and staff professional development. Instead of letting donated money sit in a bank account, colleges typically invest endowment funds into stocks, bonds, and other assets so the money can continue to grow and support the school.
GRCC’s endowment is called the “GRCC Foundation” and has assets of over $45 million.
“The endowment is professionally managed,” Aharon said. “The idea we came up with is that we would simulate being those portfolio managers who oversee investments. If the idea goes well, after eight quarterly reports (about two years) we hope to request a formal $25,000 pilot fund from the endowment to allow students to begin managing real money.”
The concept of students managing endowment funds is not new; several universities in the state of Michigan have their versions of SEIM. The University of Michigan, for example, has the Maize and Blue Fund, which allows business students to manage over $700,000 focusing on public equity investments.
“It started with an initial proposal that I drafted,” Aharon said. “I showed it to my Student Government members. From there, I had a meeting with the executive director of the foundation, Erin Van Egmond. Erin really liked the idea and asked me to present it to the GRCC Foundation Board of Directors.”
Aharon said he presented the proposal during their meeting in December.
“I prepared a 20-minute presentation with slides and presented it at their December meeting. There were around 25 board members in attendance, which was pretty scary, but it went really well. I answered their questions, and they were very supportive of the idea,” Aharon said.
Aharon said the focus of SEIM is beyond investing alone, emphasizing financial education.
“A big part of this committee is not just acting professionally, but also the education side of it,” Aharon said. “Our chief investment officers will use free resources like Investopedia and Vanguard materials to build teaching plans for students. Every other week, we want to hold seminars open to anyone on campus, covering finance topics like valuation metrics, accounting metrics, and investing concepts.”
While looking to universities for inspiration, Aharon acknowledges that the nature of community college brings quicker student turnover.
“That’s exactly why we’re starting with a simulation,” Aharon said. “Community colleges have shorter student timelines, and students don’t always have advanced finance coursework available.”
According to Aharon, the organization’s design is centered on mentorship and succession, with experienced students helping to train the incoming members.
“The goal is to build a system where knowledge gets passed down. Second-year students mentor first-year students. Analysts come in to learn and then move into leadership positions later on,” Aharon said. “We’ll also have mentorship from faculty and support from the foundation. That way, the organization can continue building knowledge over time.”
Aharon explained that the structure of the organization is intended to mirror a professional investment team. Positions include a president, chief investment officers, analysts, and marketing research roles. Analysts would mostly focus on research and preparing stock pitches while learning about the fundamentals of investing.
Applications for SEIM are open. Students will be compensated monthly in the form of a personal check. The stipend will total between $1,000 and $3,000 based on the role.
“We’re hoping this becomes something that continues helping students long after we’re gone,” Aharon said.
For more information and to apply, visit RaiderConnect.
