Center on Municipal Capital Markets
The Center on Municipal Capital Markets (CMCM) at The University of Texas At Austin is one of the only university-based centers focused exclusively on municipal capital markets. Developing greater understanding and expertise in the municipal capital markets is critical due to the substantial amount of resources governments at all levels require to address their sizable and growing infrastructure needs.
Given the size of these capital needs, the Center on Municipal Capital Markets educational efforts are especially salient due to the increasing technical sophistication of the municipal capital markets and the lack of specialized training most municipal finance professionals receive in their graduate education training.
Our mission is to enhance the capital market expertise and knowledge of undergraduate and graduate students, emerging and seasoned state and local government finance professionals and the public at large. CMCM achieves this through graduate and continuing education programs, experiential training, research and technical reports, and public outreach.
Capital markets enable government entities to raise financial resources for projects including:
- Building schools
- Highways
- Hospitals
- Water
- Wastewater
- Energy Systems
CMCM addresses the critical need for specialized training and research in leveraging government resources for infrastructure development and maintenance, especially in light of recent federal initiatives aimed at revitalizing infrastructure after years of disinvestment.
“Developing the next generation of professionals and advancing research and dialogue on the municipal capital markets is especially salient given the huge infrastructure needs we have in the United States.”
- Martin Luby, Director
"I applaud CMCM’s dual mandate of teaching undergraduate and graduate students about the critical role of the municipal securities market in financing this nation’s public infrastructure, as well as empowering government finance professionals with a greater understanding of the capital markets through continuing education, training opportunities and academic research."
-- Mark Kim, CEO of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board
"The best decision I made as an LBJ student. The program's curriculum gave me broad exposure to the fundamentals of public finance while also allowing me to hone my knowledge in the more specialized areas of governmental accounting, financial statement analysis, and the municipal securities industry."
-- Taylor Lewis (MPAff '20)
What We Do
CMCM has formed fellowship partnerships with government entities, nonprofits, public finance bankers, financial consultants and the credit rating agencies, providing students with valuable real-world experience.
Initial Skills Acquisition
Undergraduate and graduate education programs for emerging public finance professionals to acquire a broad spectrum of capital market skills.
- State and Local Finance Certificate
- Government Finance Rotational Fellowship
- Credit Analysis Training
Continuing Education
Educational opportunities for seasoned public finance professionals and other professionals transitioning to public finance sector seeking to acquire technical municipal finance skills.
- Bond Dealers of America (BDA) Consortium
- Option III Certificate in State and Local Finance (TBD)
Dean's Certificate in State and Local Finance
State and local governments in the United States are often the primary providers of public goods and services to citizens, funded through myriad government revenues often with the aid of financing from the capital markets. The increased demand for government services combined with the continued reluctance of the public to substantially provide greater resources have challenged these governments' finances. As a result, many state and local governments have turned to novel fiscal policies, emerging financial instruments and/or alternatives to public provision of their traditional activities. The changing nature in the way governments finance and provide their goods and services necessitates better financial acumen among both government finance professionals and private and nonprofit sector specialists that interact, assist and participate in government fiscal and financing activities.
The state and local finance profession has historically suffered a supply/demand problem. That is, there has consistently been a shortage of people with the requisite budgeting/finance/accounting skills to satisfy demand from public, private and non-profit employers. This supply/demand problem results in students who possess these skills to be highly marketable professionals. The jobs that require the skills acquired in this certificate program span all three sectors (public, private and nonprofit) and all three government levels (federal, state and local).
The Certificate in State and Local Finance is open to any degree-seeking graduate student at UT-Austin interested in government finance. It will be especially attractive to LBJ MPAff students as well as dual degree MPAff students enrolled in UT's business, community and regional planning, law and engineering schools. By completing this certificate program, all students will be able to:
- Understand core public finance issues related to the way governments spend, raise and leverage taxpayer resources
- Interpret and evaluate basic financial documents to begin assessing the financial condition of state and local governments
- Evaluate the ways state and local governments access the capital markets to meet their infrastructure and operating budget demands
- Create a specific project finance plan to address a government's capital or operating needs
- Analyze how urban economies work and the impact of various policy interventions at the local level
- Assess rationales for public sector policies and actions to promote local economic development
More:
Public Outreach
Regular public events that convene capital market subject matter experts, researchers, practitioners, students and the public to discuss infrastructure financing issues that directly impact taxpayers
- Annual Conference
- Speaker Series
- Community Group Education
Research and Technical Support
Research and technical support to municipal capital market organizations, governments and non-profits that aim to enhance the transparency and efficiency of the municipal securities market and enhance access to capital for municipal issuers
- Research Reports and Technical Assistance
- Student Policy Research Projects (PRPs)
News & Events
News
Events
Who We Are
Martin Luby
Director
Center for Municipal Captial Markets
Martin J. Luby’s teaching and research broadly focuses on public finance with an emphasis in public financial management. Much of Dr. Luby’s research has focused on the municipal securities market and the use of debt finance by state and local governments. He has published on innovative government financial instruments, federal financing techniques, regulation of the municipal securities market and the role of financial intermediaries in state and local government financings. Dr. Luby has extensive banking, consultant and advisory experience with many state and local governments as well as the federal government. Dr. Luby is a fellow to the Lynn F. Anderson Professorship in Public Financial Management.
