Finance
Faculty: Richard Haskell, Lauren Lo Re (chair), Rob Patterson, Sheng Xiao
Students can choose either the Bachelor of Science in Finance, or the Bachelor of Arts in Finance.
Program Goals
The Finance Program offers a major leading to a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree that will prepare students for career options in corporate finance, international finance, new venture financing, investments, banking, consulting, or business financial planning. The theoretical and practical aspects of finance are integrated to provide students with critical thinking skills and analytical tools as a foundation for life-long learning. Students completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance should:
- Explain the firm’s financial structure and the role of finance in maximizing a firm’s value.
- Use financial theories, practices, analytical tools, and models for making critical decisions.
- Develop solutions to complex financial problems.
- Communicate complex financial concepts, analyses, strategies and decisions.
- Develop ethical awareness.
Program Requirements
To fulfill the requirements for the major in Finance, students must complete the courses outlined below and maintain a minimum 2.3 GPA in all coursework required by the program. Students are also required to complete the ETS Major Field Test in Business before they are eligible to graduate (exceptions may be considered by program chair when relocation or other conditions make completion of the test impractical).
Students must meet the college-wide graduation requirements in addition to the Finance major:
- 124 total hours
- 30 upper division hours
- WCore or Honors requirements
Undergraduate Business Core
Students in all business majors (with the exception of flight operations and some economics programs) complete a common undergraduate core designed to develop skills in all functional areas of business.
There are two components to the common undergraduate core: the lower-division requirements, and the upper-division requirements. Since many of the lower-division core requirements are prerequisites for upper-division core requirements, students should work to complete lower-division courses early in their programs. Upper-division core requirements should be taken when prerequisites are met. Prerequisites are noted in the table below.
| REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTION | CREDIT HOURS | PREREQUISITES | |
| I. Core Lower Division Courses | 25 | ||
| ACCT 213 | Financial Accounting (3) | BUSI 102* or BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B | |
| BUSI 101A | Business Fundamentals I: Communicating (3) | ||
| BUSI 101B | Business Fundamentals I: Calculating (3) | MATH 101 or above | |
| BUSI 200 | Applied Business Math and Modeling (3) | BUSI 102* or BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B | |
| BUSI 225 | Business Law and Ethics (3) | BUSI 102* or BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B | |
| ECON 253 | Elementary Macroeconomics (3) | MATH 101 or above | |
| ECON 263 | Elementary Microeconomics (3) | MATH 101 or above | |
| Choose one of the following courses: | |||
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| II. Core Upper Division Courses | 23-25 | ||
| ACCT 313 | Managerial Accounting (3) | ACCT 213 | |
| BUSI 300 | Information Technology (3) | BUSI 200 | |
| BUSI 350 | Business Fundamentals II: Integrative Core (2) The ETS exam is administered in BUSI 350. For ETS information, click here | ACCT 313; BUSI 225, 300; DATA 150 or 220; ECON 263; FINC 300; MGMT 305, MGMT 309; MKTG 300. | |
| BUSI 440 or BUSI 441 or BUSI 442 |
Business Fundamentals III: Internship (1-8) Business Practicum (2-4) Business Portfolio (2) |
BUSI 350, junior or senior standing, and signed approval from the Practice/Exp Director. | |
| (Transfer students must complete a min. of 15 Westminster credit hours or obtain permission
of instructor prior to completing an internship for credit.) All business majors are required to complete BUSI 440 or BUSI 441 or BUSI 442. |
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| FINC 300 | Business Finance (3) | BUSI 200 and ACCT 213 | |
| MGMT 305 | Principles of Management (4) | BUSI 102* or BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B | |
| MGMT 309 | Operations Management (3) | BUSI 200 | |
| MKTG 300 | Principles of Marketing (3) | BUSI 102* or BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B | |
| TOTAL REQUIRED HOURS | 48-50 | ||
* BUSI 102, Business Fundamentals I for Transfer Students, is only an option for transfer students or student majoring in arts administration; all other students should take BUSI 101A/BUSI 101B.
Bachelor of Science in Finance
| REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTIONS | CREDIT HOURS | PREREQUISITES |
| I. Undergraduate Business Core | 48-50 | |
| Please refer to Undergraduate Business Core for requirements. | ||
| II. Major Requirements | 12 | |
| FINC 305 Investment and Analysis (4) | FINC 300 | |
| FINC 309 Concepts and Applications of Corporate Finance (4) | FINC 300 | |
| III. Electives | 8-12 | |
| Students are not limited to this list, and with adviser approval, may use other upper division business courses. | ||
| ACCT 374 Cost Accounting (4) - offered spring | ACCT 313 | |
| ECON 499 Econometrics (4) - offered fall | ECON 253 or 263; DATA 150 or 220 | |
| FINC 310 Financial Institutions (2) | FINC 300 | |
| FINC 405A Investment Strategies and Applications (4) - offered fall | FINC 305 | |
| FINC 410 Raising Money for New Business (2) | ||
| FINC 412A Introduction to Real Estate Investing (2) | FINC 300 | |
| FINC 412L Advanced Investing Topics (2) | FINC 300 | |
| FINC 435 International Finance (4) - offered fall | FINC 300 | |
| FINC 493 Business Forecasting (4) - offered spring | DATA 150 or 220, ECON 263, FINC 300 | |
| IV. Senior Capstone | 4 | |
| FINC 495 Finance Capstone (4) | FINC 305, 309, senior standing | |
| TOTAL HOURS FOR THE B.S. FINANCE PROGRAM | 68-74 |
Note: All students must complete 124 hours of coursework to graduate, 30 hours of which must be upper division (300 level or above). Students may need to take other courses to complete the college hours requirement.
Bachelor of Arts in Finance
| REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTION | CREDIT HOURS | PREREQUISITES |
| I. Undergraduate Business Core | 48-50 | |
| Please refer to Undergraduate Business Core for requirements. | ||
| II. Bachelor of Arts Requirements | 12 | |
| Students completing the Bachelor of Arts option (B.A.) must complete either: | ||
| a. A declared academic minor other than a Business minor; or | ||
| b. Twelve credit hours of a single world language; or | ||
| c. Eight credit hours of a single world language, and either: | ||
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| See World Language Requirement for equivalencies, AP and CLEP credit policy. | ||
| III. Major Requirements | 8 | |
| FINC 305 Investment and Analysis (4) | FINC 300 | |
| FINC 309 Concepts and Applications of Corporate Finance (4) | FINC 300 | |
| III. Electives | 8-12 | |
| Students are not limited to this list, and with adviser approval, may use other upper division business courses. | ||
| ACCT 374 Cost Accounting (4) - offered spring | ACCT 313 | |
| ECON 499 Econometrics (4) - offered fall | ECON 253 or 263; DATA 150 or 220 | |
| FINC 310 Financial Institutions (2) - offered spring | FINC 300 | |
| FINC 405A Investment Strategies and Applications (4) - offered fall | FINC 305 | |
| FINC 410 Raising Money for New Business (2) | ||
| FINC 412A Introduction to Real Estate Investing (2) | FINC 300 | |
| FINC 412L Advanced Investing Topics (2) | FINC 300 | |
| FINC 435 International Finance (4) - offered fall | FINC 300 | |
| FINC 493 Business Forecasting (4) - offered spring | DATA 150 or 220, ECON 263, FINC 300 | |
| IV. Senior Capstone | 4 | |
| FINC 495 Finance Capstone (4) | FINC 305, 309, senior standing | |
| TOTAL HOURS FOR THE B.A. FINANCE PROGRAM | 80–86 |
Note: All students must complete 124 hours of coursework to graduate, 30 hours of which
must be upper division (300 level or above). Students may need to take other courses
to complete the college hours requirement.
Recommended Plan of Study (B.A. and B.S.)
Starting Business as a First-Year Student
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | |
| Freshman Year | WCORE 1 WCORE 2 BUSI 101A (LC) BUSI 101B (LC) |
WCORE 3 WCORE 4 DATA 150 OR DATA 220 ACCT 213 |
| Sophomore Year | WCORE 5 WCORE 6 BUSI 200 ECON 253 BUSI 225 |
ECON 263 ACCT 313 MGMT 305 BUSI 300 FINC 300 |
| Junior Year | FINC 309 MKTG 300 Language I (B.A.) |
BUSI 350 FINC 305 FINC Elective Language II (B.A.) |
| Senior Year | MGMT 309 FINC ElectiveLanguage II( (B.A.) |
FINC 495 BUSI 440, 441 or 442 |
Starting Business as a Sophomore
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | |
| Freshman Year | WCORE 1 WCORE 2 WCORE 3 |
WCORE 4 WCORE 5 WCORE 6 |
| Sophomore Year | BUSI 101 ABUSI 101 BECON 253 DATA 150 or DATA 220 |
BUSI 200 ACCT 213 ECON 263 MGMT 305 BUSI 225 |
| Junior Year | ACCT 313 MKTG 300 BUSI 300 MGMT 309 FINC 300 |
BUSI 350 FINC 309 FINC Elective Language I (B.A.) |
| Senior Year | FINC 305 FINC Elective Language II (B.A.) |
FINC 495 BUSI 440, 441 or 442 Language III (B.A.) |