The Value Investing Program
Offered by the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
CSIMA is not involved in the Value Investing Program's application process or curriculum. We have created this page to help members and prospective students understand the program and how to prepare.
The Value Investing Program is a selective, curriculum-based program at Columbia Business School offering students a structured path through the Heilbrunn Center's most rigorous investing courses. A maximum of 40 full-time MBA students are admitted each year. The program is separate from CSIMA with its own admissions process, but many CSIMA members pursue it and the two communities overlap significantly.
Eligibility
Open to first-year Columbia MBA students only. Applications are submitted in the spring semester.
Prerequisites
Corporate Finance and Capital Markets must be completed before starting. Consider using exemptions in your first semester to complete these early.
Info Session
Attendance at a mandatory information session in the spring semester is required before applying.
Block Week
A Value Investing Block Week takes place in late August before second year. In-person attendance in New York is mandatory.
Completion
All 7 courses must be completed to graduate from the program. A maximum of 40 students are admitted per year.
Decisions
Applicants are notified in late May. All decisions are final.
The program consists of 7 courses — 5 required and 2 electives chosen from the Heilbrunn Center course menu.
Required Courses
Modern Value
A rigorous look at what value investing actually means — not the quant screens that headlines dismiss, but the disciplined process of estimating a business's fundamental value within its competitive context. The course draws on accounting, valuation, and strategic analysis to build a structured, repeatable framework for evaluating any company.
Applied Value Investing
The closest thing to doing the job before you have it. Students develop and present five full investment memoranda over the course of the semester, culminating in a final presentation to outside fund managers. The course is built around developing a sound, repeatable research process across multiple fund strategies.
The Credit Superhighway
An introduction to credit markets, which represent the largest asset class in the world and the one most investors know least about. The course covers how debt instruments work, how credit investors think, and why understanding credit is essential for anyone serious about investing across the capital structure.
Economics of Strategic Behavior
A frameworks-based course on competitive strategy — how businesses build and sustain advantage, how markets evolve, and how to assess a company's positioning relative to its peers. Invaluable background for any investor trying to understand why some businesses compound and others don't.
Value Investing with Legends
Two courses in one: the first half builds the theoretical foundation of Graham and Dodd investing, covering valuation techniques, portfolio construction, and search strategies. The second half brings in leading value investors to share how they have applied these principles in practice — from how they find ideas to how they manage risk.
Electives
Distressed Value Investing
Value Investing in Credit Markets
Value Investing Across the Capital Structure
Seminar in Wealth Management
Advanced Investment Research
Students in the Value Investing Program gain access to exclusive programming throughout the year, including practitioner dinners, career workshops, mentorship, and networking events. Past guests have included Todd Combs, C.T. Fitzpatrick, Mitch Julis, Tom Russo, William von Mueffling, David Abrams, and Matt McLennan. The Heilbrunn Center also maintains a resume book for program students, circulated to employers upon request.
The application process runs in the spring of your first year and consists of two parts: an interview and a written application. The application includes a cover letter, resume, and a short investment write-up on a topic provided by the program. The process is not formulaic — the Heilbrunn Center is looking for demonstrated interest in and commitment to value investing.
The strongest Value Investing Program applicants arrive with a genuine research process and the ability to articulate an investment thesis clearly. CSIMA's programming is designed to help you get there. Participating in the Investment Ideas Club gives you structured practice developing and defending investment ideas in front of working professionals. Entering stock pitch competitions forces you to build full theses under pressure and get comfortable with live Q&A. Both are among the best ways to prepare for the program's application and, ultimately, for the program itself.
