Finance
Studying finance opens the door to an exciting, challenging, and rewarding career. Depending upon your career goals, choose the traditional finance major or add a concentration in banking, economics, or financial planning. Take classes in a wide variety of areas such as corporate financial management, investments, financial institutions and markets, international finance, real estate finance, financial planning, risk management, and estate planning. Finance classes are taught by highly qualified, Ph.D.-level faculty dedicated to your success. From the beginning, develop relationships with professors in the classroom, through research projects and through personalized advising. You will work with your advisor to tailor your degree program to match your plan of study with your career objectives.
Finance is a popular field of study because every business decision involves finance. After successful completion of the program, students should be able to:
- Identify the functions of financial managers in corporate governance and financial services firms
- Prepare and use financial forecasts, analyze and prepare financial statements, perform capital budgeting, and use discounting, present value, and future value techniques
- Present financial problems and solutions clearly using written, spoken and electronic media
- Apply economic analysis to financial decisions that face business firms
- Understand the international aspects of financial management.
A B.B.A. degree with a major in finance prepares you for a wide variety of careers in both the public and private sectors of the economy in fields such as banking, corporate finance, investments, and insurance and risk management. Many careers in finance are flexible and self-paced. The study of finance can also lead to professional certifications such as the Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) designation, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), or Certified Financial Manager (CFM).
Finance students also receive the benefit of access to 10 Bloomberg terminals in the Investment Analytics Lab in McCartney Hall. This provides a first-class teaching environment to students interested in finance and investments. Bloomberg terminals are used by industry professionals to analyze historical and current market data to make informed investment decisions. [Listen to a podcast discussing the Bloomberg terminals.]