APSU alumnus Larry Carroll has given $250,000 to the College of Business to help the school build a trading room in the Kimbrough Building.

The Larry and Vivian Carroll Trading Room will have 16 computer stations, a Bloomberg terminal, ticker boards, television and two innovation rooms for students to use and gain experience.

The College of Business has been looking to create a trading room for several years and Carroll’s gift will help the college significantly.

Carroll graduated from APSU with a degree in accounting in 1976 and gained his MBA from the University of Tennessee in 1978. He is currently the president and CEO of Carroll Financial Associates in North Carolina.

The Dean of the College of Business, William Rupp, wrote in a blog post, that the trading room will be equipped with technology for classes in finance, investments and marketing.

“From an educational standpoint it helps to have that hands-on experience,” Carroll said. “The idea of getting Bloomberg certified while you’re in school helps to market your skills when you get out of school.”

Carroll said he sees the donation as not only a way to help current students, but to also attract future students to APSU.

“Prospective students like the different take on getting access to financial information,” Carroll said. “I think it helps differentiate [APSU] from a recruiting perspective.”

APSU is not the first school Carroll has donated to in order to build trading rooms. He has also named two other trading rooms at Winthrop University and Wingate University.

“I always think it is good to give,” Carroll said. “I think I have been blessed and I feel the need to share that and try to help other people to acquire some of the skills they need to be successful. I think it is much more gratifying to give this money while I am alive than to will the money to the school when I die.”