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Finance Concentration

Academics Home > Areas of Study > BME

2/1/93 -- AOS Guidelines: Business, Management and Economics

Concentration in Finance

Finance is the study of the direct and indirect transfer of funds from those who save to those who invest. It includes both the financial instruments which are bought and sold and the markets in which they are traded.

The study of finance builds upon a foundation of economic concepts. It applies those concepts to information that comes from a solid foundation in accounting theory, and it uses concepts from statistics to deal with the uncertainty inherent in forecasting the future. Much of the problem solving in finance uses algebra. Electronic spreadsheets are used in "real world" simulations. Advanced quantitative skills are desirable.

The concentration typically will include one or more studies which focus on the firm as the generator of financial instruments and on the valuation of those instruments. It will also include one or more studies which focus on the investor as the purchaser of those and other financial instruments. One or more studies of financial markets--both domestic and international--will be included. These studies form the core of a concentration in finance.

One or more studies in risk management might be useful to the student who plans to make a career in finance. There are two major directions such a career might take--one within a corporate financial structure and one as a personal financial consultant/advisor. For students wishing to study finance as a path to corporate management, many of the studies in management or business administration concentrations are also appropriate. Other students might wish to focus more on the theory of finance and would find additional studies in economics, corporate finance, portfolio theory, securities analysis, international finance, money and banking, and research methods appropriate. Those interested in a career as a personal financial consultant or advisor might wish to include interview techniques, the psychology of interpersonal relations and communication skills.