As a member of the Furman baseball team, Jason Costa is used to performing in high-pressure environments.
So he was prepared this past summer when he landed an internship with The University Financing Foundation (TUFF) in Atlanta, Georgia. His performance was so good, in fact, that it led to a full-time position with Wells Fargo in New York City before he even began his senior year at Furman this fall.
Costa took advantage of Furman’s alumni network to land the internship with TUFF, where he worked with Kevin Byrne ’91, president of TUFF and a member of the Furman Board of Trustees.
During his internship, Costa was exposed to real estate financing and the development of complex capital structures for the advancement of universities around the country. As well as developing the necessary technical skills, he witnessed the development, creation and execution of many different business deals.
His experience with TUFF led to the job with Wells Fargo, where he will work in the higher education division in the public finance group.
“Without my experiences at TUFF and the skills I developed there, I would not have been able to compete with the likes of Ivy League students who were also seeking out these analyst positions,” said Costa, a business major from Port Matilda, Pennsylvania. “Kevin Byrne and the rest of the TUFF team gave me the opportunity and I ran with it.”
Costa will be part of the group at Wells Fargo that underwrites debt and helps form the capital structures for the universities. He will also be involved with the pricing of bonds and serving as a link between investors and issuers working with entities like TUFF that partner with institutions around the country.
“Furman equipped Jason with the necessary skills to adapt to an extremely unique, dynamic environment,” Byrne said. “He faced tasks he had never seen before and leveraged the technical training he received from Furman’s business block to exceed our expectations. With just three months of intense exposure to our business, Jason was able to translate his experience into a job on Wall Street. Furman prepared him for business, TUFF added polish and the technical acumen, and Wells Fargo is the beneficiary of both.”
Costa came to Furman in the fall of 2016 after spending two years at Walters State Community College in Alabama. He played in 39 games for the Paladins last season and made 33 starts, mostly at catcher but also at first base and as a designated hitter. Costa hit .318 with five home runs, 12 doubles, and 21 RBI. Furman’s 33 wins in 2017 tied the school record for most victories in a season.
“Coming off a solid season last year and having a job locked up in New York, I can’t wait to enjoy my last year of college baseball and help lead this team to a SoCon championship,” Costa said.
(Written by Furman University.)