Decentralized finance, known as DeFi, is a growing subsector with $54.91 billion in total locked value across several blockchains. DeFi enables people to have access to financial services and yield generation without the need of a traditional middleman like a bank.

This article is part of CoinDesk's "Education Week."

More and more, student blockchain clubs are participating in on-chain governance as a vehicle to be heard and to learn about decentralized governance within the Web3 ecosystem.

Student blockchain organizations, including those at University of California-Berkeley, London Business School, University of California-Los Angeles and Columbia University, already vote on-chain for protocols such as Uniswap, Compound, Aave and dYdX.

And several student organizations, such as Georgia Tech and Cornell, are gearing up to launch governance programs in the near future.