LIFE FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Be sure to review these LIFE FAQs for added insight and information about key benefits, eligibility and applying.
If you have a question that has been addressed, send us an email at apply@toigofoundation.org. Due to the high volume of applicants, our team is most responsive via email.
Program Details
LIFE is a one-year program designed to support future finance leaders. The program is focused on:
- AI-driven financial modeling coursework
- A rigorous assessment of finance skills / knowledge
- Advanced finance and investment training
The Toigo Fellowship followed a cohort model, emphasizing leadership potential, soft skills, and community engagement, with a more subjective selection process.
Toigo has a long-standing reputation of providing students with essential technical and leadership skills for career success, including a deep, hands-on approach to skill-building, robust curriculum content, personalized career resources, and access to top industry expertise. LIFE integrates assessments, career coaching, and technical training to ensure students are fully prepared for summer internships.
The success of Toigo’s new learning platform will be measured by participants’ ability to secure competitive summer positions based on merit and mastery of program learning tools.
Qualification & Application Details
The application for LIFE is available online, with a detailed review process evaluating technical skills, written communication, and career clarity leading to a strong candidate profile for summer internships.Applications are due March 31, 2025, and the program commences mid-April 2025 with Toigo Catapult (see below for more details).
Yes, LIFE is open to students from a variety of academic backgrounds who demonstrate strong analytical and technical skills relevant to finance. The technical assessment will guide the student’s path of learning with the LIFE program.
The selection of students to participate in our new program, LIFE, will be evaluated solely based on merit from their application. There are no questions or applicant information provided to those responsible for the evaluation that would lead to subjective bias in the selection process.
If you’re entering an accredited graduate program and plan to pursue a career in finance – from venture and private equity to entrepreneurship, investor relations, investment banking, investment management or more – you may qualify. LIFE candidates are full-time candidates in programs including (but not limited to):
- MBA / Master of Business Administration
- JD MBA / Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration
- MFE / Master of Financial Engineering
- MRED / Master of Real Estate
- MPA / Master of Public Administration
- MPF / Master of Public Finance
- MFIN / Master in Finance
- MWM / Master in Wealth Management
- MQF / Master of Quantitative Finance
Our application timeline runs concurrent with MBA and graduate program admissions processes. LIFE applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. We encourage you to apply well before the early Spring deadline. You do not need to wait until you receive your acceptance to graduate school to apply.
Applications will be evaluated, and high-scoring candidates will be invited to participate in the program, which begins in April 2025. All criteria for welcoming candidates to the program will be fact-based—quality of answers, written expression, clarity around a career in finance or finance-related roles, and technical assessment scores to determine knowledge and potential for success in technical skill interviews. All applications are redacted to remove any element that would suggest preferences or bias. We anticipate that this program will welcome students broadly to participate in the highly regarded Toigo program.
Yes. If selected as a LIFE participant, you’ll be required to confirm acceptance and enrollment in an accredited full-time MBA or finance/business related graduate school program.
Yes, international students are welcome to apply, provided they meet the eligibility and competence requirements.
You must be eligible to work in the United States.
Yes. The value of this experience is $1,000 per student, of which Toigo is “co-investing” by covering $700. The remaining $300 is to be paid by the student/participant. This is paid at the start of LIFE programming; no other contribution is expected.
Students may pay by check or by credit card. The Foundation welcomes payment in full, but will accommodate those who require two installment payments—the first to be paid by July 31, 2025, the second/final prior to the second segment of the program.
At this time, LIFE will be exclusive to full-time graduate-level students (MBA, Master’s, etc.), but may expand to a broader applicant pool in the future.
Toigo Catapult
It’s a two-day, in-person event that is the start of the LIFE program providing an opportunity to learn about and explore career paths within finance. Toigo produces the event in partnership with firms to provide a full line-up of sessions and exchanges with industry leaders, Toigo alumni and other experts. You’ll dive into the LIFE virtual learning platform and LIFE portal. A Career Expo Networking Event provides an opportunity to connect directly with firms. As a LIFE participant, your resume will be included in materials shared with all participating firms. As an in-person gathering and the start of the program, the event format and agenda is designed to help you forge strong, lasting connections with other LIFE participants.
Toigo Catapult is scheduled for April 15 – 17, 2025 at PGIM headquarters in Newark, New Jersey. An agenda and logistics will be sent once you’ve been accepted.
Yes. As the first program offering within LIFE, all participants are required to attend in-person.
Participant Engagement & Benefits
Students selected for the LIFE program are Participants.
Participants who successfully complete the LIFE program may opt to participate in our second-year Leadership Master Class. Participation in year two is not guaranteed nor required. All successful participants will create a complementary network under the new LIFE program.
Yes. Toigo remains committed to fostering networking and professional development opportunities for LIFE participants.
Students who do not complete the program will not receive a certificate of completion nor will they be eligible to participate in the Leadership Master Classes available in Year Two. Further, a student who begins the program but neglects to fulfill the requirements outlined as part of the curriculum will be respectfully dismissed from further participation. The registration fee will NOT be refunded unless there is an extenuating circumstance.
Program Development & Differentiation
The Fellowship has yielded a tremendous network of highly talented, undeniably capable leaders within financial services over the past 35 years. Their selection through the legacy fellowship has created a community of like-minded professionals that require elevated support and connection now that they are represented across all investment areas of finance, nationally and globally. Recognized leaders – advocates, philanthropists, and more. As a measure of our success, we have achieved our goal of introducing excellence through inclusion.
Toigo shifted from being a provider of direct merit awards over 10 years ago. The funds raised are invested in industry education, technical skills training, and career management support provided to students. Toigo is not a scholarship program.
Firm/Employer Engagement & Benefits
Firms can freely participate in the educational component of LIFE as speakers, workshop leaders, panelists, and more. Access to the broader resume book will be made available to quickly identify students of interest.
We have reframed our graduate student program through the creation of the Leaders Investing in Financial Excellence (LIFE), a one-year program framed by assessment, education, and technical skills. We’re excited to launch this program, which will include a new AI-enhanced financial modeling course in keeping with today’s integration of technology with finance.
Toigo has always been about excellence and leadership. Evidenced by the impressive talent of those who have come through the program over the past 35 years, our standards for what leads to success, what displays ethics, integrity, and accountability will remain constant. We have also championed multiculturalism, and this program will continue in that spirit.
LIFE provides firms with access to highly trained, pre-vetted candidates with demonstrated competency in finance and investment fields. Firms can engage through various program components such as workshops, technical assessments, and networking sessions. A resume book is available to Toigo Catapult sponsor firms—an ideal early look at talent.
LIFE incorporates a structured curriculum that includes real-world financial modeling, professional development, and technical assessments to ensure participants meet industry standards for success in finance and investment roles.
No. There is no financial sponsorship of students. Firms will have opportunities to sponsor aspects of the LIFE program, such as technical skill training sessions, AI-enhanced courses, and networking events.