Program Overview

Schmidthorst College of Business

The Schmidthorst College of Business offers a comprehensive education in finance, preparing students for careers in financial management, investment analysis, and more.

BSBA Areas of Specialization

The Department of Finance provides a specialization in finance, designed for students interested in financial management. Areas of emphasis include:

• Business financial analysis and management
• Investment analysis and management
• Financial markets and institutions management
• Risk analysis and management
• Personal financial planning

Career opportunities associated with the finance specialization include:

• Cash management
• Credit management
• Financial analysis
• Capital budgeting
• Investment analysis
• Securities analysis
• Portfolio management
• Securities brokering
• Commercial lending and loan management
• Retail bank management
• Risk management
• Insurance company operations and management
• Personal financial planning and management

BSBA General Degree Requirements

Students completing the finance specialization must complete University, general degree, admission core, and business core requirements for the BSBA degree, including admission to the BSBA program.

Finance Specialization

The finance specialization requires 21 hours of coursework, including:

• Grade of "C" or better in each prerequisite finance course for all 4000-level finance courses
• FIN 3400, 3500, 4350
• Four courses from: FIN 4100, 4130, 4140, 4210, 4360, 4450, 4550; ACCT 3210, 3410, 4220, 4440, with at least two courses being finance courses

Concentration in Financial Planning

The concentration in financial planning is designed to provide students with an academic and professional level of education in the field of financial planning. The concentration requires students to complete the following eight courses (24 credit hours):

• FIN 3400, 3500, 4130, 4140, 4210, 4350
• ACCT 3410, 4440

Upon successful completion of the concentration, students will meet the educational requirements of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board of Standards and be eligible to sit for the CFP certification examination.

Concentration in Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

The CFA Concentration is designed to prepare business students to become successful investment professionals with CFA professional designation. The program offers the academic and professional levels of education covering a significant portion of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK). The CFA concentration requires students to complete ECON 3030 as part of the BSBA Business Core and the following seven finance courses (21 credit hours):

• FIN 3400, 3500, 4350, 4130, 4360, 4450, 4550

Upon successful completion of concentration requirements, students can sit for the Level I Exam of the CFA Institute, the first step to become a CFA holder. Based on students' progress towards the completion of the concentration requirements, students may apply for CFA scholarships, which will partially subsidize the registration fee for the CFA Level I Exam.