Overview
The BSBA in Finance requires completion of a minimum of 21 credit hours in finance. A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 in the Finance major and a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 overall must be maintained to graduate. Learners may choose to specialize in one of five (5) concentration areas: Investments, Corporate Finance, Financial Institutions, FinTech or Financial Planning.
Choosing a concentration is optional.
Degree Requirements
Learners can earn a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with this major. See the requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree.
Required Courses (4 courses, 12 credits)
| FIN-311 | Intermediate Finance | 3 |
| FIN-H311 | Honors Intermediate Finance | 3 |
| FIN-315 | Principles of Investments | 3 |
| FIN-H315 | Honors Principles of Investments | 3 |
| FIN-417 | Multinational Financial Management | 3 |
| FIN-H417 | Honors Multinational Financial Management | 3 |
| FIN-419 | Applied Financial Strategy | 3 |
| FIN-H419 | Honors Applied Financial Strategy | 3 |
Students in the Honors Program have the option of completing the Honors version of a course.
Elective Courses (3 courses, 9 credits)
Choose three (3) from the following:
| FIN-313 | General Insurance | 3 |
| FIN-317 | Real Estate Finance | 3 |
| FIN-319 | Money and Capital Markets | 3 |
| FIN-330 | Introduction to FinTech | 3 |
| FIN-H330 | Honors Introduction to FinTech | 3 |
| FIN-350 | Venture Capital and Private Equity | 3 |
| FIN-401 | Practical Financial Planning | 3 |
| FIN-408 | Fixed Income Securities Analysis | 3 |
| FIN-409 | Securities Analysis | 3 |
| FIN-410 | Analysis of Financial Statements | 3 |
| FIN-411 | Futures and Options | 3 |
| FIN-413 | Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management | 3 |
| FIN-415 | Capital Budgeting | 3 |
| FIN-424 | Retirement and Estate Planning | 3 |
| FIN-430 | The Blockchain Revolution | 3 |
| FIN-432 | Risk Management and Financial Institutions | 3 |
| FIN-435 | Financial Crises: Panics, Pandemic & the Aftermath | 3 |
| FIN-445 | Quantitative Analysis and Trading of Financial Instruments | 3 |
| FIN-475 | Case Studies in Financial Planning | 3 |
| FIN-510 | Independent Study in Finance | 6 |
Required Experiential Component
Finance majors must complete 160 hours of pre-professional finance experience prior to graduating. Experience may be acquired through an internship, part- or full-time employment, or cooperative education. Learners must be approved to register for the FIN-560 Finance Practicum requirement, during or immediately prior to the semester in which they complete the required 160 hours. The experiential component carries no academic credit, nor requires any tuition, and will be graded pass/fail. Approval of this experience must be obtained from the Finance Department.
Concentrations
Finance majors may choose to specialize in one of five (5) areas. All majors complete the four (4) required core courses (FIN-311, FIN-315, FIN-417 and FIN-419) as well as the required experiential component. In addition to these requirements, Finance majors who choose to specialize with a concentration follow the instructions for their area of interest below.
Investments (3 Courses, 9 Credits)
Required Courses:
Choose one (1) course from the list below:
| FIN-409 | Securities Analysis | 3 |
| FIN-413 | Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management | 3 |
Choose one (1):
| FIN-317 | Real Estate Finance | 3 |
| FIN-319 | Money and Capital Markets | 3 |
| FIN-330 | Introduction to FinTech | 3 |
| FIN-H330 | Honors Introduction to FinTech | 3 |
| FIN-350 | Venture Capital and Private Equity | 3 |
| FIN-408 | Fixed Income Securities Analysis | 3 |
| FIN-409 | Securities Analysis | 3 |
| FIN-410 | Analysis of Financial Statements | 3 |
| FIN-413 | Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management | 3 |
| FIN-430 | The Blockchain Revolution | 3 |
| FIN-445 | Quantitative Analysis and Trading of Financial Instruments | 3 |
Each course may count only once towards the Investments Concentration requirements. Learners may not double count a course from the required course list and the elective course list in both places in their program.
Corporate Finance (3 Courses, 9 Credits)
Required Courses:
Choose one (1):
Financial Institutions (3 Courses, 9 Credits)
Required Courses:
| FIN-319 | Money and Capital Markets | 3 |
| FIN-432 | Risk Management and Financial Institutions | 3 |
Choose one (1):
| FIN-313 | General Insurance | 3 |
| FIN-330 | Introduction to FinTech | 3 |
| FIN-H330 | Honors Introduction to FinTech | 3 |
| FIN-350 | Venture Capital and Private Equity | 3 |
| FIN-430 | The Blockchain Revolution | 3 |
| FIN-435 | Financial Crises: Panics, Pandemic & the Aftermath | 3 |
FinTech (4 Courses, 12 Credits)
Required Courses:
Students in the Honors Program have the option of completing the Honors version of a course.
Choose one (1):
| FIN-350 | Venture Capital and Private Equity | 3 |
| FIN-432 | Risk Management and Financial Institutions | 3 |
| FIN-445 | Quantitative Analysis and Trading of Financial Instruments | 3 |
| ISOM-215 | Mobile App Development | 3 |
| ISOM-240 | Data Privacy and Compliance | 3 |
| ISOM-313 | Business Systems Development | 3 |
| ISOM-340 | Cybersecurity Fundamentals | 3 |
Financial Planning (5 Courses, 15 Credits)
Financial Planning (FP) offers a valuable opportunity for learners to pursue a career in financial planning. Financial planners analyze and provide advice on all areas of a person’s financial life: investment management, retirement planning, estate planning, income tax management and insurance. In most cases, financial planners’ analyses and recommendations are provided to clients in a written financial plan. The planner may then coordinate the implementation of the plan and periodically review it to account for changes in the client’s life and current economic conditions.
Finance majors who choose to specialize in Financial Planning complete all five (5) of the following requirements:
This program was approved by the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board. Upon completion of the program, students are entitled to take the CFP exam administered by the CFP Board, which is an integral part of the prestigious CFP certification process.
More information about the CFP exam is available.
Learning Goals and Objectives
Learning goals and objectives reflect the educational outcomes achieved by learners through the completion of this program. These transferable skills prepare Suffolk learners for success in the workplace, in graduate school, and in their local and global communities.
| Learning Goals |
Learning Objectives |
| Learners will… |
Upon completion of the program, each learner should be able to... |
| Understand ethical aspects of decision making in a finance context. |
- Understand basic structure of ethical arguments and the relation to financial decisions.
- Identify conflicts of interests and pressures that could lead to unethical financial conduct.
- Understand what kinds of questions are helpful to ask oneself when confronting a financial ethical dilemma.
- Understand that what is legal may not always be ethical and that what is ethical may sometimes not be legal.
- Appreciate that ethical norms vary across different countries and cultures.
- Demonstrate overall awareness of ethical issues as they relate to business practices. |
| Demonstrate global awareness of financial issues. |
- Articulate fundamental challenges in global business or investment.
- Understand the difference in approach to purely domestic vs. global business or investment.
- Incorporate risk analysis into global business or investment decisions.
- Understand the expected consequences of the suggested solution in a global environment.
- Demonstrate overall global competency. |
| Exhibit an ability to apply finance concepts to financial management problems. |
- Identify the current problem.
- Correctly determine the necessary technical skills for problem-solving.
- Correctly perform the technical skills in problem-solving.
- Understand how to interpret the results.
- Demonstrate overall technical efficiency in problem solving. |