Cal State Fullerton Looks to Finance's Future with One-of-Kind Program
Professor Michael Milligan is early to our interview. I am not late. He's early.
Turns out that's a nice metaphor for Professor Milligan as an educator and financial pro – early. The man is early.
His current gig is professor at California State University Fullerton, and right away there's a hint of New York in his voice. He's from the Island, and so we chat it up a bit, instantly at ease and sharing anecdotes.
Milligan, who in addition is Senator for Academic Senate of the California State University (ASCSU), waits patiently through my dumb NYC travel stories, but seizes on a pregnant pause to evangelize his innovative, one-of-a-kind program.
He's founder of Titan Crypto (TC), a four course certificate program at Cal State University (CSU) Fullerton in southern California. TC students build their own tokens and NFTs. It's a new offering, and the majority of students are majoring in finance, but other majors take the course as well.
CSU is the largest college system in the country. It's been around about 170 years, carrying an endowment of some $2.3 billion and a budget of $7.72 billion. It serves more than 400,000 undergraduates and something like 50,000 graduate students.
For now, the good professor is zeroing-in on Fullerton. It's located as a sister city to Anaheim, you know, Disneyland. That area. The sprawling campus has somewhere in the neighborhood of 40,000 pupils, and its finance students have ranked highly in national competition.
Milligan carries over 30 years of financial experience, including on Wall Street. He founded the Applied Security Analysis Program (ASAP), now known as Titan Capital Management, where students manage university endowment funds in equity and bond markets. His career spans roles at Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, and he has extensive experience in trading IPOs and derivatives1.
READ Truflation Launches Real-Time AI Index
Titan Crypto is a pioneering program, offering students a comprehensive education in cryptocurrency fundamentals, providing hands-on experience in this emerging field. It includes classes such as FIN 379 - Fundamentals of Crypto, designed to equip students with the necessary skills to navigate the complexities of cryptocurrency markets.
It introduces first the Titan Token (TT), which will be built on the Ethereum
blockchain and several other blockchains. Students can then create and build their own tokens, NFTs, and Memecoins. A 1% tax will be charged on the maximum supply of all tokens students create using Titan Tokens.
The 1% tax provides tokens to California State University Fullerton. Everything the students build will include the name "Titan." Students retain ownership of what they create.
READ Sphinx and Truflation Partnership: Unlocking the Power of Perpetuals for RWAs
Titan Crypto and the students adhere to the rules and regulations established by federal agencies overseeing cryptocurrency, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Internal Revenue Service.
Students leave prepared for Web3 jobs like:
Token, NFT, and meme coin content creators
Real World Assets (RWA) tokenization
Researching and analyzing different crypto and blockchain projects
Developing investment portfolios focused on crypto assets
Creating investment strategies to capitalize on market opportunities
Managing risk within a crypto investment portfolio
"There is nothing like it here in the US," professor Milligan emphasized. "Once we are done building here at Fullerton, I am going to take this and offer it to the other 22 campuses in the Cal State University system."