Course Syllabus

The Community Development Finance Practicum (“CDFP”) examines “impact investing” through the lens of community development and real-world projects. The course consists of three components: (1) classroom instruction to build technical skills in financial analysis and deal underwriting and structuring, (2) team projects that allow students to work in partnership with community-based organizations and government agencies to complete feasibility studies or business plans for financing their community economic development strategies, and (3) lectures by community development finance experts on specific finance-related issues and techniques.

Student Learning Objectives

• Students who participate fully in and complete this course will gain the following skills and experience:
  Utilize several techniques and approaches to complete a financial statement analysis for an enterprise or real estate project, which employs major ratios and other calculations for assessing liquidity, solvency, and management effectiveness while recognizing the limitations of those techniques and approaches in the evaluation of the venture.
• Through group discussions and self-paced quizzes (do not count towards the course grade), demonstrate familiarity with the fundamental concepts, tools, and techniques of development finance, as implemented in local communities within the United States.
• Formulate the initial structuring of a recommendation for a community development investment through the analysis and evaluation of the financial needs of an enterprise or real estate project from the investor's perspective, and thereby demonstrate an understanding of various investment products, key underwriting criteria, and structural challenges to accessing capital for community development activities.
• As a project team member, produce a feasibility study or business plan for a community development organization or project, including financial models, new analytic and decision-making frameworks, and executable implementation plans.