Program Overview

Oregon State University Finance Undergraduate Major

The Finance Undergraduate Major at Oregon State University is designed to prepare students for careers in institutional finance, including banking, brokerage, insurance, and other fields.

Program Overview

The goal of the finance program at OSU is to prepare students for careers in institutional finance. Individuals entering a career with a financial institution have many opportunities open to them. Many who go into banking select career paths in either operations or lending. Within the lending area, finance majors can specialize in installment credit lending to consumers of durable goods, mortgage lending to home builders and buyers, or commercial lending to help finance the growth of businesses.

Program Locations and Options

This program is available at the following locations:

• Corvallis
• Ecampus Options available:
• Dean's Academy
• Financial Planning
• International Business

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, students will meet the following learning outcomes:

• Apply the fundamental concepts and tools of finance.
• Apply financial management concepts and tools to the decisions faced by a manager in investment decisions.
• Apply financial management concepts and tools to the financing decisions and dividend decisions faced by the firm.
• Evaluate the corporate governance structure of firms and examine the interactions, from a governance perspective, between firm management, financial markets, and stakeholders.
• Appraise the risk profile of firms; specifically, estimate the costs of capital, including debt and equity capital using financial data.
• Discuss the operations of three distinct capital markets: the equity market, the bond market, and the derivatives market, and the financial assets traded in each of these markets.
• Explain the global financial environment and the globalization process experienced by multinational corporations.

Program Requirements

The program requires a total of 180 credits, including:

• Business Core: 85 credits
• Finance Curriculum: 28 credits
• Baccalaureate Core: 52 credits
• Unrestricted Electives: 15 credits

Business Administration Core Curriculum

The business administration core curriculum provides students with a broad overview of business, basic skills in accounting and quantitative methods, an understanding of the legal and social environment of business, a background in management and organizational behavior, marketing, finance, and operations management, an understanding of the entrepreneurial process, and the opportunity to integrate coursework and further develop decision-making skills through the analysis of business cases.

Finance Curriculum

The finance curriculum includes:

• FIN 341: Investments
• FIN 342: Advanced Financial Management
• Electives: Select four courses from the following:
  • FIN 440: Fixed Income Securities
  • FIN 441: Financial Institutions
  • FIN 442: Financial Statement Analysis
  • FIN 443: Portfolio Management
  • FIN 444: Financial Risk Management
  • FIN 445: International Financial Management
  • FIN 447: Commercial Banking
  • FIN 448: International Financial Markets
  • FIN 460: Principles of Financial Planning
  • FIN 499: Selected Topics in Finance
• Finance-Related Electives: Select one course from the following:
  • ACTG 317: External Reporting I
  • ECON 330: Money and Banking
  • ECON 340: International Economics

Sample Plan of Study

The sample plan of study is subject to change, and students should consult their advisor to determine the best degree plan for them.

Accreditation

The BS/BA in finance has been accepted into the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute University Recognition Program. This status is granted to institutions whose degree program or programs incorporate at least 70 percent of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK), which provides students with a solid grounding in the CBOK and positions them well for the CFA exams.