2025 IBA Iowa School of Banking

The Iowa School of Banking will be held June 8-13, 2025 at the West Des Moines Sheraton Hotel. Both first and second year classes meet during the same week.

Printed Application

Mission and Purpose
The Iowa School of Banking is designed for employees who possess a current knowledge of banking that sufficiently prepares them for this advanced paced curriculum. The mission of this school is to teach bankers to understand the business of managing a bank, employees, financial decisions, how bank departments are inter-related and the economic environment of the business of banking. The Iowa School of Banking School will also prepare bankers for any of the national graduate banking schools.

Benefits of attending
The Iowa School of Banking builds a bridge between concepts and practical application. The curriculum consists of practical classroom sessions and experience with a computer-generated bank simulation, BankExec. The balance of classroom and simulation creates a program that will be of value to bankers throughout their career. The school provides bankers with:
• A comprehensive understanding of the connections between banking functions and the banking environment.
• Practical application of classroom learning by completing and intersession assignment.
• Opportunities to experience the complexity of managing a successful bank through a hands-on computer simulation

Application Process
Completion of the intersession project between the first and second year is a prerequisite for re-admission the second year.

Who should attend
The school is designed for recent college graduates, management trainees, and bank employees who wish to build on skills acquired through study or bank experience. The following minimum requirements are suggested:

• An associate degree, ABA courses in Money and Banking, Banking Fundamentals, and/or accounting, or equivalent college courses and three years’ experience in the financial service industry; or
• A bachelor’s degree in finance or economics and one year experience in the financial service industry; or
• A graduate of IBA’s Commercial Lending or Consumer Credit School
• Applicants with special circumstances will be handled on an individual basis.
• Applicant must have the recommendation of the bank’s executive officer (a signature line is provided on the application form for this purpose).

Course Curriculum:

General Banking 1:

First Year Session

Macroeconomics
The role of banks in facilitating Federal Reserve monetary policy, and the basic tools used by government policy makers to influence economic conditions are described in this module.

Bank Financial Analysis
This module introduces bank financial statements by describing the components of the balance sheet and income statement. It provides a framework for analyzing the trade-off between bank profitability and risk.

Marketing Bank Services
The basic elements of marketing are addressed in this module, as well as the components of a marketing plan, the role of market research and the marketing mix.

Managing Liquidity and Capital Planning
While identifying the types of transactions that produce liquidity problems, this module presents a format to assess the dollar magnitude of periodic liquidity needs.

Investments
The types of securities that banks own, their risk and yield features, and various strategies associated with determining the appropriate maturity and composition of the investment portfolio are discussed
in this module.

Human Resource Management
Describing the human resource function in banking, this module outlines the functions and responsibilities of both the human resource department and key managers.

Lending
This module examines the factors and procedures that should be included in a bank’s written loan policy and describes the fundamental issues involved in a loan decision.

Asset/Liability Management
This module examines GAP and duration measures that indicate how changes in the level of interest rates will likely alter a bank’s net interest income and market value of equity.

Trust
This module describes basic trust services and demonstrates how trust activities contribute to overall bank profitability. It emphasizes the essential function of a bank trust department.

Strategic Planning and Control
After establishing a framework for developing and implementing a strategic plan, students are asked to apply the framework to their own banks.

Developing a Sales Culture in a Bank
This module addresses a variety of environmental factors, which bankers must consider during a bank’s evolution to a sales culture.

General Banking 2:

Second Year Session

BankExec
The core of the second-year curriculum is BankExec, a sophisticated bank management simulation exercise developed by the American Bankers Association and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Each participant is assigned to a bank management team and shares responsibility for the decision-making functions of a commercial bank.

Investments
This module details the reasons why banks hold securities. Various yield concepts are identified, and the types of risks inherent in purchasing securities are discussed.

Asset/Liability Management
Strategies for managing interest rate risk are addressed, including the use of variable rate pricing, interest rate swaps and financial futures contracts.

Lending
A discussion of the major elements of the loan policy is included in this module. Students will participate in discussing problem loan management, including the identification of causes, indicators and corrective actions.

Business Ethics
This session examines current issues in business ethics such as fraud, whistle blowing and downsizing. Session participants will also discuss how to make decisions using moral principles. Current events, short
cases and class discussion are the teaching techniques used in this session.

Tuition & Application
Total enrollment fees are due when students file their application forms. Checks should be payable to Iowa Bankers Association and mailed to the IBA office with the application. Registration fee includes: tuition, housing, meals, materials and application fee (all inclusive).

Any applicant not admitted to the school will receive a full refund. Any applicant withdrawing 30 days or more prior to the school will receive a full refund. If the applicant withdraws fewer than 30 days before the school begins, a $200 non-refundable fee will be retained.