What’s the fastest way to become a hedge fund millionaire? According to several aspirants, it may be getting a degree from the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton University. The center, founded by the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, in 1999, offers undergraduates a certificate program in finance and also grants masters and doctorate degrees. It includes courses in mathematical finance, econometrics, probability, and other topics that are, in essence, just the ticket for those wanting to join the hedge fund gravy train.

Hedge funds have been accused of boosting the prices of contemporary art, marring the Greenwich landscape, causing meltdowns in commodities markets, and creating a cult-like aura of mystery. Should meddling with the Ivy League be added to the list?

Without a doubt the hugely profitable industry has changed the culture of Wall Street. Instead of heading down the traditional MBA highway to investment banking, graduates are increasingly tempted by the profits, and income, being racked up on trading desks. Students are also impressed by the ascendance of trading gurus like Lloyd Blankfein, recently named head of Goldman Sachs.

Equally important is the wildly superior lifestyle led by traders. New hires in investment banking or private equity typically put in 20-hour days and seven day weeks, and look longingly at the trading fellows who pack up and go home by seven.

In response, many students are choosing a finance degree over an MBA. The material is highly quantitative and applicable to the tasks of the trader, for whom a comprehensive knowledge of labor economics or marketing is simply not necessary. Also – the real plum – the finance degree at Princeton can sometimes be earned in only one year, instead of the traditional two years required for an MBA.

So it is that last year 420 highly qualified students applied for a master’s degree in finance from the Bendheim Center. Only 25 were admitted, quite a few of whom were allowed to earn the degree in only one year. In order to zoom through, a student must have had a healthy dose of math and economics prior to entering the program, as well as some pertinent work experience.

John Naud is a case in point. Mr. Naud graduated from Cal Tech with a degree in physics, bolstered by some economics. He then received a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton before going to work for MacKenzie as a management consultant. Three years into the job, he decided his true calling was on a trading desk at a bank or hedge fund, but that he lacked finance credentials.

In his consulting work, he had picked up much of what he imagined would be taught in a typical MBA program. Consequently, he looked for finance programs, and liked what he saw at Princeton.

“The program was fantastic” raves Mr. Naud. “It was exactly what I was looking for.” And, it worked. Mr. Naud is today, just two years out, a vice president on the proprietary trading desk of a prestigious investment bank, trading mortgage-backed securities.

Mr. Naud was hired by an executive of his firm, who knew one of the Bendheim professors. That was helpful, since one of the drawbacks to the program is that the investment banks don’t quite know how to handle Bendheim graduates. The normal interviewing and training programs are set up to accommodate the business schools; holding a master’s degree in finance is out of the mold. The network of alums on the street is building, but the graduate program is only in its fifth year. Yacine Ait-Sahalia, head of the center, is working to get the word out.

Mr. Ait-Sahalia, who earned his Ph.D. in economics from MIT, was recruited from the University of Chicago by Mr. Bernanke. His work centers on estimating volatility. Other well-known figures on the faculty include Alan Blinder and Burton Malkiel. The center was originally created as an interdisciplinary undergraduate program that brought together faculty members from economics, computer sciences, operations research and financial engineering, psychology, and history.

By completing a daunting list of courses, undergraduates are eligible after two years to receive a certificate in finance. This past year there were 330 undergraduates in the program, or approximately 15% of the entire junior and senior classes at Princeton. Mr. Ait-Sahalia has decided to cap the program at 200, to ensure continued intense faculty-student interaction. Only about half the undergraduates who apply will be admitted.

Not everyone at Princeton has been thrilled with the success of the Bendheim Center. A piece from 2002 in the campus paper, the Daily Princetonian, quoted professors in other disciplines who were concerned about the “pre-professional” nature of the center. Advocates of the center, however, tout its attraction to students majoring in English or psychology who have a chance to widen their horizons as well as to graduate with a valuable credential. About two thirds of the center’s students major in economics or operations research and financial engineering.

The certificate does indeed seem to give students an edge when applying for jobs. Mr. Ait-Sahalia describes the students as “high achievers,” all of whom this year received multiple job offers.

Amar Sujanani is one such high achiever. He graduated this year with a master’s degree, having studied engineering and applied math as an undergraduate in France. He chose the Princeton program over several others, in part because of its small size.

Mr. Sujanani knew he wanted a trading job at an investment bank or hedge fund. He chose to study for two years, though he could have gone through in one because he “really wanted to learn, not just get a degree.” As it turned out, he was happy to have had the opportunity of a summer job at Goldman Sachs in the years in between. He worked at Goldman on the quant desk, but decided he might prefer Credit Suisse’s structured products trading group upon graduation.

For some of us, a few months in the Bendheim program might help sort out the difference between the two.

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