Program Overview

Finance - Bachelor of Business Administration

The Finance program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the principles and practices of finance, including corporate finance, investments, and financial institutions. The curriculum is organized into four concentrations: Financial Analyst, Banking and Financial Planning, Risk Management and Insurance, and Entrepreneurial Finance.

Program Description

Finance is the crossroads of economics, strategy, and accounting, and the study of how firms and individuals allocate resources over time and under uncertain conditions. The finance curriculum provides a core foundation in corporate finance, investments, and financial institutions. The theory and concepts are then applied to problem-solving in a variety of areas, including financial markets and institutions, corporate finance, international financial management, stock valuation and portfolio allocation, fixed-income markets, derivatives, risk management and insurance, and entrepreneurial finance.

Requirements

Completion of the courses listed below (including any prerequisites) with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in these courses. At least twelve of the credits for the major must be completed at NMSU.

• General Education requirements
  • Area I: Communications
    • English Composition Level - 1
      • Choose one from the following:
        • ENGL 1110G: Composition I
        • ENGL 1110H: Composition I
        • ENGL 1110M: Composition I
    • English Composition - Level 2
      • ENGL 2210G: Professional & Technical Communication
    • Oral Communication
      • Choose one from the following:
        • ACOM 1130G: Effective Leadership and Communication in Agriculture
        • COMM 1115G: Introduction to Communication
        • COMM 1130G: Public Speaking
        • HNRS 2175G: Introduction to Communication Honors
  • Area II: Mathematics
    • MATH 1220G: College Algebra
  • Area III/IV: Laboratory Sciences and Social/Behavioral Sciences
    • Area III: Laboratory Sciences
      • Grades of C- or better are required in ECON 2110G and ECON 2120G.
      • ECON 2110G: Macroeconomic Principles
      • ECON 2120G: Principles of Microeconomics
    • Area V: Humanities
    • Area VI: Creative and Fine Arts
    • General Education Elective
    • Viewing A Wider World
• Departmental/College Requirements
  • Foundation Requirements
    • MATH 1430G: Applications of Calculus I
    • Choose one from the following (grade of C- or better required):
      • MATH 1350G: Introduction to Statistics
      • A ST 311: Statistical Applications
  • Business Core: Lower Division (minimum grades of C- required)
    • ACCT 2110: Principles of Accounting I
    • ACCT 2120: Principles of Accounting II
    • BCIS 1110: Introduction to Information Systems
    • BUSA 1110: Intro to Business
  • Business Core: Upper Division
    • BCIS 338: Business Information Systems I
    • BLAW 316: Legal Environment of Business
    • BFIN 341: Financial Analysis and Markets
    • MGMT 309: Human Behavior in Organizations
    • MGMT 449: Strategic Management
    • MKTG 303: Principles of Marketing
    • Choose one of the following:
      • BCIS 485: Enterprise Resource Planning
      • MGMT 344: Production and Operations Management
      • MGMT 470: Project Management in Organizations
  • Upper division Economics or Applied Statistics elective from the following prefixes: A ST (excluding A ST 311), ECON
  • Upper Division Business Elective from the following prefixes: A ST, ACCT, B A, BCIS, BLAW, ECON, ENTR, BFIN, I B, MGMT, MKTG (excluding A ST 311)
• Major Courses
  • BFIN 355: Investments
  • BFIN 360: Financial Information Technology
  • BFIN 385: Analysis of Financial Markets and Institutions
  • BFIN 406: Theory of Financial Decisions
  • Twelve credits from:
    • A declared concentration
    • or
    • Four courses from any BFIN prefix above BFIN 310 or from any concentration below, for students not wishing to declare a concentration
• Second Language: (not required)
• Electives, to bring the total credits to 120

Concentrations

The Finance program offers four concentrations:

• Financial Analyst
• Banking and Financial Planning
• Risk Management and Insurance
• Entrepreneurial Finance

Suggested Plan of Study

Every candidate for this major must fulfill the general education common core, College of Business foundation and business core, Viewing a Wider World requirements, and general electives, in addition to the requirement for the major. A suggested study plan for a student pursuing a Finance major is provided below:

• Junior
  • Fall
    • BFIN 341: Financial Analysis and Markets
    • BFIN elective
  • Spring
    • BFIN 355: Investments
    • BFIN 360: Financial Information Technology
    • BFIN 385: Analysis of Financial Markets and Institutions
• Senior
  • Fall
    • BFIN 406: Theory of Financial Decisions
    • BFIN elective
  • Spring
    • BFIN elective
    • BFIN elective

Total Credits: 120