College preps for digital future with new fintech degree program

This spring, Hillsborough Community College quietly rolled out a new program that directly addresses a significant need in the Tampa Bay business community. It’s called fintech — short for financial technology — and it’s offered on the Brandon campus. The course of study has two basic prongs: a 60-credit-hour associate in science degree; and a certificate that requires 24 credit hours. 

Both programs are directed squarely at the workplace. The certificate is meant for working professionals looking to advance their knowledge, skills and credentials. The AS is designed to allow graduates to go out and get a job — without the need to move on and earn a bachelor's degree. 

Fintech is a sector on the rise, among the fastest growing industries in the region, HCC Brandon campus President Deborah Stephan says. If companies required a four-year degree, she says, “they wouldn’t hire anyone, because there aren’t that many (bachelor’s) degrees out there. It’s an emerging field.” 

HCC’s fintech program is the second of its kind in the country, she adds.

Grads can expect to qualify for entry-level analyst jobs, including payment solutions, anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, cyber and data, as well as sales of financial technology products.

The program launched in January with one class — Introduction to Financial Technology — consisting of 16 students that combined degree- and certificate-seekers. Financial technology Instructor Mohamed “Mo” Kotaiche, the program’s first academic hire, taught the class, and will continue as lead professor in the fall as the course of study expands. He previously held a post as an adjunct at University of Tampa and has 30 years of practical experience working in a consulting capacity for such companies as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. “Mo helped develop some of the newer technology tools,” Stephan says. “He assisted in the creation of depositing your check from your phone.”

In a Q&A on the college’s website, Kotaiche says of the new program: “Students will experience hands-on learning with data analytics tools and gain enhanced problem-solving skills through case studies and AI-based simulations.”

Hillsborough County is home to some of the nation’s largest fintech operators, among them JPMorgan Chase and the payment facilitator FIS. And greater Tampa Bay has Raymond James, MetLife, Citi and others. “Our region is quickly becoming known as a fintech hub,” Kotaiche adds. That includes a growing startup scene.

Another major player in the field is Bank OZK. HCC used the company’s fintech workspace in St. Petersburg as a model for its three-classroom, 3,900-square-foot Brandon footprint, which is — as one would expect — outfitted with computers and other high-tech gear.

Standing up a brand new course of study is no easy feat for a college, especially without a schematic to follow. In 2021, Ginger Clark, then president of HCC’s Ybor City campus and a member of the Tampa Mayor’s Workforce Council, recognized fintech as a rising field. “So the question was, ‘How could HCC participate in this space?’” Stephan asks. “(Clark) was planning to retire so I took on the project and we went after a grant at the state level.”

That first shot at funding came up blank. But not long after, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation kicked in $350,000 of seed money. Building the curriculum and the physical space took place concurrently. The state later came through with a $500,000 grant. (Stephan says the fintech startup cost was about $1 million.)

HCC set up a program development committee made up of fintech industry leaders (including Bank OZK) “to make sure it was developed in a way that would serve the industry,” Stephan says. Kristin Heathcock, interim dean of associates in science degree programs, came on as the project lead. 

As with just about any endeavor of this scope, politics arose. “One of the biggest challenges was introducing it to our existing faculty, because this was something new and different and they had concerns that we were replicating some of things they were already doing in their programs,” Heathcock says. “So we met multiple times to compare coursework.”

Kotaiche signed on last summer to work on the curriculum, where Stephan says he was instrumental in authoring the first ever fintech textbook (e-version only, of course), which is provided at no cost to students.

Stephan envisions the program having 150 students. “We can accommodate more, but I think that’s a good out-of-the-gate goal,” she says. (HCC, on all its campuses, had 45,064 students enrolled in the 2023-24 academic year, according to its 2024 HCC Factbook.) 

Like all AS programs in Florida, HCC’s fintech does not transfer in full to a state university. However, the Brandon campus team has plans to work with USF toward establishing a transfer pathway to a bachelor’s in fintech at that university. USF currently offers a master’s of science in fintech and a fintech certificate, and is currently working on creating a bachelor's degree.

But all of that higher-ed stuff is for later. Right now, the community college’s fintech team is thinking jobs — providing them for students, helping fill them for companies. “Eight-five percent of our students stay in our community,” Stephan says. “So it’s really important that we’re developing programs and tracks for students into the future. And fintech is exactly that.”