Program Overview

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Finance Bachelor of Science Degree

Overview

RIT's finance bachelor's degree involves the management, creation, and study of money, banking, investments, assets, and liabilities.

Why Study a Finance Bachelor's Degree at RIT

• Become an expert in cash-flow analysis, capital markets, financial decision-making, or forecasting.
• Stay up-to-date with financial trends by learning big data and data analytics in the Sklarsky Center for Business Analytics, a state-of-the-art facility housing Bloomberg Financial Markets technology.
• Connect with Saunders alumni and key professionals through the Finance Advisory Board.
• Gain relevant, hands-on experience through an immersive, applied curriculum in the classroom and a full-time, paid co-op experience.

What is Finance?

Finance is more than tracking a budget. It is the art and science of managing cash flows, risk, and ultimately, value. Finance functions include corporate finance, budgeting, investment management, risk management, and valuation. Financial expertise determines the optimal management of money and the generation of value for clients.

RIT's Finance Bachelor's Degree

The world's financial markets are globally integrated. As a result, you need a finance degree that prepares you with a global understanding of financial markets, how they are integrated, and how they impact the business world.

In RIT's finance major, you'll learn about the management, creation, and study of money, banking, investments, assets, and liabilities. You'll become familiar with financial systems, which include the public, private, and government spaces, and have the opportunity to become an expert in cash-flow analysis, capital markets, financial decision-making, or forecasting. Set yourself apart with a finance degree that:

• Emphasizes the use of Big Data: You'll gain the data analytics skills to manage and analyze an organization's data to understand and forecast financial trends.
• Provides unparalleled access to technology: The state-of-the-art Sklarsky Center for Business Analytics features 12 Bloomberg terminals that connect you to Bloomberg technologies that track corporate financial data in real-time.
• Enables you to manage a real investment portfolio: In the student chapter of the Financial Management Association, you'll actively manage a real $250,000+ portfolio.
• Prepares you to today's finance careers: Graduates are analytics-driven and skilled in making keen decisions by evaluating historical data and market performance forecasts.

Finance Curriculum

The finance major includes foundational courses in accounting, management, business planning, financial management, organizational behavior, and more. In addition, the financial curriculum includes advanced courses in investments, financial analysis, and strategic management. Finance electives enable you to select courses for more in-depth study in areas such as options and futures, business law, financing new ventures, financial analytics, and more. You will also spend time monitoring markets and analyzing financial trends in the Sklarsky Center for Business Analytics, which features Bloomberg Terminals and the latest in finance-based technology, computing power, and software.

Furthering Your Career in Finance

Today’s finance careers require advanced degrees grounded in real-world experience. RIT’s Combined Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Degrees enable you to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in as little as five years of study, all while gaining the valuable hands-on experience that comes from co-ops, internships, research, study abroad, and more.

• +1 MBA Early Acceptance Pathway: Successful RIT applicants who are offered admission into the BS degree in finance as an incoming first-year student may also be offered conditional early acceptance into the +1 MBA Early Acceptance Pathway. This option enables you to earn both your BS degree and an MBA in as little as five years of study. Learn how the +1 MBA Early Acceptance Pathway can help you add a competitive advantage to your studies.
• +1 MBA: Students who enroll in a qualifying undergraduate degree have the opportunity to add an MBA to their bachelor’s degree after their first year of study, depending on their program. Learn how the +1 MBA can accelerate your learning and position you for success.

Careers and Experiential Learning

Typical Job Titles

• Account Manager
• Acquisitions Associate
• Analyst
• Closing Coordinator
• Equities Derivatives Product Controller
• Equity Trader Assistant
• Financial Advisor
• Investment Banking Analyst
• Junior Finance Associate
• Professional Financial Advisor
• Reconciliation Analyst

Industries

• Accounting
• Commercial Banking and Credit
• Higher Education
• Human Resources
• Investment/Portfolio Management
• Transportation and Logistics

Cooperative Education

What’s different about an RIT education? It’s the career experience you gain by completing cooperative education and internships with top companies in every single industry. You’ll earn more than a degree. You’ll gain real-world career experience that sets you apart. It’s exposure–early and often–to a variety of professional work environments, career paths, and industries.

Co-ops take your knowledge and turn it into know-how. Business co-ops provide hands-on experience that enables you to apply your knowledge of business, management, finance, accounting, and related fields in professional settings. You'll make valuable connections between course work and real-world applications as you build a network of professional contacts.

Students in the finance degree are required to complete at least one block of cooperative education.

Careers in Finance

RIT's finance major prepares you for management positions in financial, commercial, industrial, and governmental organizations. You will learn the principles of financial decision-making as you build an understanding of the economic, legal, and financial environment in which these principles operate. Careers in finance can be found in all types of sectors, including government, industry, service, and not-for-profit organizations.

Featured Work and Profiles

• RIT students win international Bloomberg trading competition
• Coca-Cola, Atlanta, Georgia
• Research Insights: Benefits of a Seeming Monopoly
• Goldman Sachs, Dallas, Texas
• Goldman Sachs, Salt Lake City
• Cisco, San Jose, California

Curriculum for Finance BS

Finance, BS degree, typical course sequence

• First Year
  • ACCT-110: Financial Accounting
  • ACCT-210: Management Accounting
  • ECON-101: Principles of Microeconomics (General Education – Global Perspective)
  • ECON-201: Principles of Macroeconomics (General Education)
  • INTB-225: Global Business Environment (General Education)
  • MGIS-130: Information Systems & Technology
  • MGMT-101: Business 1: Ideas and Business Planning
  • MGMT-102: Business 2: Business Planning and Professional Development
  • STAT-145: Introduction to Statistics I (General Education – Mathematical Perspective A)
  • MATH-161: Applied Calculus (General Education)
  • YOPS-10: RIT 365: RIT Connections
• Second Year
  • BANA-255: Data Literacy, Analytics, and Decision Making (General Education)
  • COMM-253: Communication (General Education)
  • FINC-220: Financial Management
  • FINC-352: Financial Management II (WI-PR)
  • STAT-146: Introduction to Statistics II (General Education – Mathematical Perspective B)
  • SCBI-035: Careers in Business
  • MGMT-215: Organizational Behavior
  • MKTG-230: Principles of Marketing
  • Finance Elective
  • General Education – Artistic Perspective
  • Open Elective
• Third Year
  • DECS-310: Operations Management
  • FINC-362: Intermediate Investments
  • FINC-460: Financial Analysis and Modeling
  • FINC-499: Finance Co-op (summer)
  • MGMT-340: Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (General Education – Ethical Perspective)
  • General Education – Immersion 1, 2
  • General Education – Natural Science Inquiry Perspective
  • General Education – Scientific Principles Perspective
  • Finance Electives
• Fourth Year
  • MGMT-560: Strategic Management
  • Finance Elective
  • Open Electives
  • General Education – Elective
  • General Education – Immersion 3
  • General Education - Social Perspective

Finance Electives

• ACCT-489: Seminar in Accounting
• ACCT-550: Accounting for Government and Not-for-profit Organizations
• ACCT-560: Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination
• BLEG-250: Law, Business, and Society
• FINC-320: Professional Financial Planning and Management
• FINC-361: Financial Institutions and Markets
• FINC-420: Finance in a Global Environment
• FINC-425: Stock Market Algorithmic Trading
• FINC-470: Introduction to Options and Futures
• FINC-489: Seminar in Finance
• FINC-559: Financing New Ventures
• FINC-580: Financial Analytics

Admissions and Financial Aid

First-Year Admission

First-year applicants are expected to demonstrate a strong academic background that includes:

• 4 years of English
• 3 years of social studies and/or history
• 3 years of math is required and must include algebra, geometry, and algebra 2/trigonometry. Pre-calculus is preferred.
• 2-3 years of science

Transfer Admission

Transfer applicants should meet these minimum degree-specific requirements:

• A minimum of college algebra is required. Pre-calculus or calculus is preferred.

Accreditation

Saunders College of Business undergraduate and graduate programs are fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International, the premier accrediting organization for business schools. Less than five percent of the institutions granting business degrees have received this accreditation.

Faculty

• Zhijian Huang: Associate Professor
• Hao Zhang: Professor
• Ashok Robin: Professor

Related News

• February 14, 2025: RIT community has free access to Bloomberg.com—Here’s how to register
• February 7, 2025: Bloomberg Enriches Financial Education for 10,000 Students through Global Trading Challenge
• January 2, 2025: RIT trio triumphs in global trading challenge