PCBS gives students an advantage in the financial services industry and empowers them to meet today’s challenges, while looking toward the future.

DIVERSITY

PCBS celebrates a diverse student body. Students represent both big banks (54%) and community banks (42%), as well as regulatory organizations (4%), and are also diverse in race and ethnicity and educational background. Students appreciate the diversity and feel that the mix of perspectives adds to the richness of their experience.

COMPREHENSIVE

PCBS is the most rigorous of all the graduate banking schools across the country and is a three-year program with an annual, two-week resident session. All students must participate in each of the three years, as our coordinated curriculum builds upon itself and is specific to the financial services industry. Not only does PCBS’ three-year program foster great learning, but it also builds deep and cohesive relationships.

CONSISTENCY

Students at PCBS are in classes that are taught from beginning to end (one or two weeks, depending on the class) by the same instructor. This approach greatly enhances learning and retention of concepts.

RIGOROUS & RELEVANT

PCBS students complete inter-session assignments in five core classes and also write an originally researched thesis. We are proud of the rigor of the PCBS program and view the inter-session work as important and necessary for mastery of the core concepts required of today’s banking leaders.

REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE

PCBS has two capstone programs in the third year, LEADERSIM® and Bank Management Simulation, which bring the students’ entire PCBS experience into focus. The PCBS Leadership Program is strategically designed as a coordinated curriculum, with the first two years taught by Michael Johnson, an internationally known expert on leadership. LEADERSIM® is held during the first week of the students’ third and final resident session, while the Bank Management Simulation runs for the full two weeks. Faculty members teaching these two simulation courses work together to provide an integrated educational experience. Students work and compete with one another in teams of five as they experience what it is like to run their own banks. These same teams work together in their LEADERSIM® class to apply leadership techniques to challenges that arise during the Bank Management Simulation. PCBS graduates receive a distinguished Executive Leadership Certificate from the prestigious Foster School of Business at the University of Washington as well as credits towards an MBA.

NETWORKING & LIFELONG FRIENDSHIPS

PCBS facilitates networking opportunities for students by having them live in dorms on campus, which are brand new with ensuite bathrooms. Alumni reflect that the dorm experience, though a change from their day-to-day lives, fostered deep bonds and lifelong friendships.