Record Number of College Students Enter Nationwide Community Bank Competition

Case Studies Evaluate How Community Banks Approach Technology

Washington, D.C. – The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has announced a record number of college student teams have submitted case studies for the 2018 Community Bank Case Study Competition. This year’s competition focuses on how community banks are using technology. 

Fifty-one student teams from 45 colleges and universities across the nation met the April 9 deadline. Last year, 33 teams participated. This is the fourth year of the competition, which is open to undergraduate students in all fields of study as an opportunity to gain valuable first-hand knowledge of the banking industry.

“We are very excited to see such a strong interest in community banking from students and academics,” said CSBS Senior Executive Vice President Michael Stevens. “These case studies tell valuable stories about community banks and the role they play in the economy, and we are very interested in what they say about financial innovations.”

The case studies will undergo three rounds of judging by three separate panels of banking experts. The top three scoring teams will be announced on May 10 during the CSBS State-Federal Supervisors Symposium in Jacksonville, Fla. The announcement will be streamed live on the competition website at www.csbs.org/bankcasestudy.

The student teams compete for an academic scholarship, a chance to get their work published in an academic journal and an opportunity to attend the sixth annual CSBS-Federal Reserve Community Banking Research Conference, held in St. Louis this October. 

Student teams participating in the 2018 Community Bank Case Study Competition attend the following universities:

• Alvernia University (Three teams)
• Arkansas State University (Four teams)   
• Bowling Green State University
• Claflin University
• Concordia College
• DePaul University
• East Stroudsburg University
• Eastern Kentucky University
• Fairfield University
• Florida State University
• Fort Hays State University
• Grove City College
• Immaculata University
• Iowa State University
• James Madison University
• Kutztown University (Two teams) 
• Louisiana State University
• Mansfield University
• Marquette University
• Merrimack College
• Middle Tennessee State University
• Mississippi State University
• Murray State University
• Nicholls State University
• Northern State University
• Ohio State University
• Penn State Harrisburg
• Purdue University
• Saint Vincent College
• Southeastern Louisiana University
• Trine University
• University of Arkansas
• University of Hawaii at Manoa
• University of Houston
• University of Iowa
• University of Missouri - Kansas City
• University of Nebraska at Kearney 
• University of Northern Iowa
• University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
• University of Tennessee at Martin
• University of Texas at San Antonio
• University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
• Ursinus College
• Western Carolina University
• York College of Pennsylvania

For more information on the 2018 Community Bank Case Study Competition, visit www.csbs.org/bankcasestudy.

Media Contact:  Susanna Barnett, Senior Manager of Communications, sbarnett@csbs.org or 202.407.7156 
 
Twitter: @CSBSNews 

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) is the national organization of bank regulators from all 50 states, American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. State regulators supervise roughly three-quarters of all U.S. banks and a variety of non-depository financial services. CSBS, on behalf of state regulators, also operates the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System to license and register non-depository financial service providers in the mortgage, money services businesses, consumer finance and debt industries.