????學生們每六人一組，認真學習財務知識，起草投資者報告。在波士頓的歐米帕克豪斯酒店（Omni Parker House），華麗的會議室中回蕩著學生們敲擊鍵盤的聲音。這家鋪有桃心木地板的酒店源自19世紀。雖然地方是老的，但這里的學習班模式卻是全新的。

????這些學生全都是賦橋集訓營（Fullbridge Program）的學員。這是一種全新模式的商學院，與MBA類似，但更加注重速度。賦橋創始人彼得與坎蒂斯?卡朋特?奧爾森夫婦【丈夫曾擔任蘭登書屋（Random House）CEO；妻子是女性社交網站ivillage.com的創始人】，甚至為集訓營的畢業生們設計了一種全新的認證：XBA。

????XBA將理論與實踐相結合。學員們分成若干小組，每天用八個小時學習如何閱讀資產負債表、損益表和現金流量表。他們會根據這些報表中的數據評估全球各大公司的策略與績效，并在集訓營結束時分組陳述評估結果。集訓時間約為四周，通常安排在寒、暑假。賦橋招收的大多是二十歲左右的學生和職場新人。集訓營的吸引力不僅在于它可以幫助學生們提升在職場中的個人價值，而且能幫助學生們在事業上獲得成就感。

????奧爾森夫婦于2010年創立了賦橋，當時的目的是為了幫助解決七個孩子的朋友們遇到的難題：學術教育讓他們掌握了批判性思維的技能，但卻并沒有讓他們做好面對現實生活的準備。62歲的彼得回憶起自己剛從大學畢業時的情景時表示，那時候，雇主“有大量培訓計劃，而且耐心十足。”如今，情況發生了變化，許多畢業生沒有任何經驗就開始承擔期望值很高的工作，結果給學生和雇主都造成了困擾。

????奧爾森夫婦認為，他們并不想取代傳統的本科教育或MBA教育。他們認為，XBA是一種全新的教育類型——21世紀人文科學教育的點睛之筆。他們利用自己在商界的人脈，邀請成功的朋友前來授課，比如凱鵬華盈（Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers ）合伙人蘭迪?科米薩和市場調研公司Communispace的創始人兼CEO戴安?赫森等。課程通過簡明易懂的講解來解決學生的問題，諸如工作中如何平衡聰明和高效的關系，抑或是如何充分利用Excel等。此外，課堂中還會研究蘋果（Apple）和星巴克（Starbucks ）等公司，討論這些品牌如何在競爭環境中生存下來。而且，彼得還提供了自己擔任蘭登書屋CEO時閱讀現金流量表等財務報表的簡便方法。第一年的試點合作成功之后，賦橋與世達律所（Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom）針對本科生對課程進行了微調。

????雖然彼得仍然在哈佛商學院（Harvard Business School）教授工商管理課程，但夫妻兩人均表示，賦橋集訓營迫使他們不得不重新思考傳統的教學方法。60歲的坎蒂斯非常重視賦橋學習材料的設計。為了設計出視覺上更具吸引力的環境，她聘用了Tank Design與Mechanica等設計公司，設計能夠吸引學生眼球的內容。坎蒂斯笑言：“我們可能被叫做教育/科技公司，但我們最大的兩筆開支卻是支付給了設計公司。”集訓營以簡短易懂的視頻教學和團隊活動為主。

????根據學生上課的日期和地點，賦橋的學費在5,000至6,000美元之間。學生額外支付1,250至1450美元還可以獲得集訓營提供的住宿。集訓營自2010年成立以來已有584名學生報名參加。

????Students, six to a table, pore over financials and craft investor presentations. The click-clacks of their laptops fill the ornate conference rooms of Boston's mahogany-paneled 19thcentury Omni Parker House. The space is old, but the class is brand new.

????The students are all in the Fullbridge Program, a new kind of business school, akin to an MBA -- a baby brother, perhaps, but with a speed addiction. Fullbridge's founders, husband and wife Peter and Candice Carpenter Olson (he a former CEO at Random House; she a founder at iVillage) have even developed a new certificate for graduates of their program: the XBA.

????The XBA mixes drills with a bit of theory. Participants learn to read balance sheets, income, and cash flow statements in small groups for eight hours a day. They evaluate global companies' strategies and performance based on those numbers, and then present their findings in teams at the end of a 20-day, four-week boot camp -- typically over winter or summer break. Fullbridge recruits students and early-career professionals in their late teens to late twenties. Its appeal is that not only will the program help students be more valuable at their jobs, but it will also help them find fulfillment in their careers.

????The Olsons founded Fullbridge in 2010 to address a problem they saw their seven children's friends struggle with: Academia gave them critical thinking skills, but left these young people unprepared for real-life work. When Peter, 62, first graduated from college, he recalls that employers either had "extensive training programs or almost unlimited amounts of patience." That's no longer the case and graduates are entering high-expectation jobs with little experience, proving problematic for both parties.

????The Olsons say they have little desire to replace the traditional undergraduate or MBA experience. They see the XBA as a new category of education -- the finishing touch on the 21st century liberal arts degree. They enlisted their network of successful business friends -- from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Randy Komisar to Communispace founder and CEO Diane Hessan -- and put together bite-size presentations that address topics like being smart versus being effective at work and how to make good use of Excel. The lessons also dive into companies like Apple (AAPL) and Starbucks (SBUX), talking about how these brands have thrived in competitive environments. And Peter gives an abbreviated step-by-step of how he examined cash flow statements and the like while he was CEO of Random House. After running a successful pilot with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom first-year associates, the duo fine-tuned Fullbridge's curriculum for undergraduates.

????Though Peter still teaches business administration at Harvard Business School, the pair say that the new program has forced them to reevaluate traditional teaching methods. Candice, 60, has focused on how Fullbridge's learning materials are designed. To create a visually appealing environment for Fullbridge participants, she hired firms like Tank Design and Mechanica to create eye-catching content for the students. "We could be called an education-slash-tech company, but the two biggest checks we've written have been to design firms," she laughs. Short video lessons and team activities serve as the program's foundation.

????Students pay between $5,000-6,000 to attend Fullbridge, depending on date and location. Students can also access housing at an additional cost of $1250-$1450. Since the program's 2010 launch, 584 students have participated.