Finance

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

BS Finance

Our BS in Finance program is powerful and practical. It affords a versatility that enables you to find work across nearly any industry and business size—from startups to nonprofits to government agencies to global corporations.

You will learn how to raise capital for corporations, as well as how to invest capital in real projects and securities such as stocks and bonds.

As a student, you will explore the pillars of the financial industry, including economic policy, commercial and investment banking, capital markets, global debt, private equity and venture capital, investments and portfolio optimization, corporate governance standards, securities regulation, and ethics.

The Bachelor of Science degree in Finance is accredited by AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), the world’s leading business accrediting agency.


Program Curriculum

Course # Course Name Credits
Required Finance Courses
(45 Credits)
ACC 11 Accounting Principles I
3
DA 118 Data Analytics using Excel
3
ENT 101  Foundations of Entrepreneurship
MAN 11 Principles of Management
3
MAN 16 Business Communication
MKT 11 Marketing Principles and Practices 
QAS 19 Business Analytics 3
QAS 20 Business Statistics
FIN 11 Principles of Finance I
3
FIN 12 Principles of Finance II
FIN 29 Private Equity and Venture Capital
FIN 31  Investments
FIN 35  Spreadsheet Modeling in Finance
3
FIN 65 Money and Capital Markets
FIN 80 Capstone in Finance 3
Business Electives
(15 Credits)
Choose courses from the following subject areas:
ACC, BUS, DA, FIN, LAW, MAN, MIS, MKT or QAS
Liberal Arts and Sciences Electives
(27-28 Credits)
*
Required Courses (which can be included in core or electives)
ECO 10 Introduction to Microeconomics 3
ECO 11 Introduction to Macroeconomics 3
MTH 4 Introductory Mathematics for Business
3
MTH 6 Calculus for Business and Social Science

Course # Course Name Credits
Required Core Courses 
(32-33 Credits)
POST 101 Post Foundations 1
FY First-Year Seminar 3
ENG 1** Writing 1 3
ENG 2** Writing 2 3
MTH 5 Quantitative Reasoning 3-4
Choose one course from each of the five below course clusters and one additional course from one of the clusters.
Scientific Inquiry & the Natural World
4
Creativity Media & the Arts 3
Perspectives on World Culture 3
Self, Society & Ethics 3
Power, Institutions & Structures (ECO 10 Required) 3
One additional course from one of the five above clusters. (ECO 11 Required) 3

* Some courses may count as core and others as electives.

** In addition to ENG 1 and 2, students take at least 3 more writing intensive (WAC) courses as part of their major, core, or elective courses.  ENG 303 and 304 can satisfy the ENG 1 and 2 requirement for students in the Honors College.

Credit Requirements
Total Major Requirement Credits 45
Total Elective Requirement Credits 15
Total Elective Liberal Arts & Sciences Credits 27-28
Total Core Requirement Credits 32-33
Total Degree Credits 120

Courses

ACC 11 Accounting Principles I

This course presents an introduction to fundamental financial accounting principles, concentrating on identifying, recording, and communicating the economic events of a business organization. This course studies the theory and practice of accounting. Topics covered during the semester include the balance sheet, income statement, and principles required to understand financial accounting systems.

Credits: 3

Every Semester

 

DA 118 Data Analytics using Excel        

The course provides students with the opportunity to learn data processing and data analytic skills needed to execute business and professional functionalities in Microsoft Excel. Emphasis is placed on how to efficiently navigate big datasets and use the keyboard to access commands during data processing. The course provides students extensive hands-on experience in learning through practicing with datasets drawn from accounting, finance and other business scenarios. Data visualization skills are also introduced and reinforced throughout the course. At the end of the course students are expected to earn the Microsoft Office Specialist Certification in Excel.

Credits: 3

Every Semester

 

ECO 10 Introduction to Microeconomics

This course discusses the important economic theories and concepts that facilitate understanding economic events and issues. Its main focus is on the choices made by consumers, producers, and governments, and there interactions of these choices. Topics include demand and supply, consumption, and production, competitive and non-competitive product markets, markets for resources, and welfare. This course fulfills the Power, Institutions, and Structures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Credits: 3

On Occasion

 

ECO 11 Introduction to Macroeconomics

This course discusses the important economic theory and concepts that facilitate understating economic theories and concepts that facilitate understanding economic events and questions. Its main focus is on analyzing the behavior of important economic aggregates such as national income, unemployment, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates and economic growth.  The effects of the government's monetary and fiscal policies on economic growth and inflation are also examined. This course fulfills the Power, Institutions, and Structures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum. Prerequisite of ECO 10 is required.

Credits: 3

Every Fall, Spring and Summer

 

ENG 1 Writing I: Composition and Analysis

English 1 is an introductory writing course that uses interpretation and analysis of texts to promote clear thinking and effective prose. Students learn the conventions of academic writing. In addition, students learn how to adapt writing for various audiences and rhetorical situations. This course is required Writing I, an introduction to composition, teaches an understanding of writing in various disciplines through the interpretation and analysis of texts. Students will learn conventions of academic writing. Additionally, students will learn how to adapt in response to different rhetorical situations, genres, purposes, audiences, and other issues of context. Writing I is a course that provides the foundation for understanding how to make meaning from texts. This course is required of all students unless exempted by Advanced Placement credit or successful achievement on the SAT examination in writing. Students exempted by assessment or department proficiency examination must take an upper-level English course in substitution after completing ENG 2. Special sections are offered for students in the Program for Academic Success (P sections), for non-native speakers (F sections), and for students identified as needing more personalized attention (S sections). No Pass/Fail option.

Credits: 3

Every Fall, Spring and Summer

 

ENG 2 Writing II: Research and Argumentation

Writing II, a course in research and argumentation, focuses on scholarly research and the citation of information supporting sustained, rhetorically effective arguments. Building on the work of Writing I, this course addresses sensitivity to complex rhetorical and stylistic choices. Students will learn to use sources and resources effectively and ethically, including library holdings and databases, in service of scholarly arguments grounded in research. This course is required for all students unless exempted by Advanced Placement credit. Special sections are offered for students in the Program for Academic Success (P sections) and for non-native speakers (F sections). No Pass/Fail option. Prerequisite of ENG 1 is required.

Credits: 3

Every Fall, Spring and Summer

 

ENT 101 Foundations of Entrepreneurship

This course helps students gain an understanding of the business principles necessary to start and operate a business. Students will develop an awareness of the opportunities for new venture formation and develop the planning skills needed to open a new technology-based enterprise. Students will explore the traits and characteristics of successful entrepreneurs and, gain an awareness of knowledge needed in research, planning, operations, and regulations impacting investment readiness and will learn strategies of business in management and marketing and the economic role of the entrepreneur in the market system. 

Credits: 3

Every Spring

 

FIN 11 Principles of Finance I

This course provides basic principles by which the modern corporation manages its assets, controls its liabilities and raises new capital. Topics covered include the mathematics of finance, valuation and rates of return on securities, financial statement analysis, forecasting, planning and budgeting, working capital management, introduction to capital budgeting techniques, and cost of capital considerations.  Prerequisite or Co-requisite of ACC 11 is required or permission of Chair.

Credits: 3

Every Semester

 

FIN 12  Principles of Finance II  

This writing across-the-curriculum course is an analysis of corporate policy with respect to internal financial control, capital budgeting, dividend policy, and the issuance and sale of new securities. Emphasis will be placed on corporate decision-making under uncertainty in areas of investment and financing alternatives, both domestically and internationally. Tools and techniques for risk assessment and risk management will be explored using financial calculators and spreadsheet models. Prerequisites of FIN 11 and ACC 11 are required.

Credits: 3

Every Semester

 

FIN 29 Private Equity and Venture Capital 

The course is designed to study the venture capital and private equity industry. Topics to be covered include how private equity funds are raised and structured, the features of private equity funds and the fundraising process. In addition, the course considers the interactions between private equity investors and the entrepreneurs that they finance, as well as the exit process for the investor. Several private equity transactions, including venture capital, buyouts, build-ups, and venture leasing, will be illustrated. Prerequisite of FIN 11 is required.

Credits: 3

On Occasion

 

FIN 31 Investments

This course focuses on security markets and investment opportunities. Students are exposed to the concepts of market efficiency and risk and return in the context of valuations of equities, fixed income securities, and derivative securities. The objective is to provide a systematic method of analyzing investment portfolios. Prerequisite of FIN 11 is required.

Credits: 3

Every Fall and Spring

 

FIN 35 Spreadsheet Modeling in Finance

The purpose of this course is to instruct students in the use of Microsoft Excel for financial analyses and modeling. The course will address the basic Principles of Finance within the context of Microsoft Excel. Topics will include spreadsheet basics including a survey of Excel functions and formulas, financial statement development and analysis, cash budgeting, sensitivity analysis, financial forecasting, the time value of money, duration, stock, and bond valuation, the cost of capital and capital budgeting.

Credits: 3

Every Fall

 

FIN 65 / ECO 65 Money and Capital Markets

The main goal of this writing-across-the-curriculum course is to analyze and understand the main forces that are influencing and changing the U.S. financial system. Emphasis will be placed on both financial theory which includes the loanable funds theory, liquidity preference, the modern quantity theory of money, and theories of the term structure of interest rates and the U.S. institutional structure which includes an examination of financial markets and financial institutions and their competitive strategies. Regulatory changes and traditional and new financial instruments will be evaluated along with a discussion of the use of the Federal Reserve's flow of funds and material from rating agencies and major financial firms. Current events will also be covered.Cross-listed with ECO 65.

Credits: 3

Annually

FIN 80 Capstone in Finance

The Financial Management capstone will apply corporate financial theory to financial policy and valuation with the goal of synthesizing all previous program learning. Although the projects shall vary from year to year, they shall involve questions in the future career area of the students, who, taking the vantage point of a research analyst, will evaluate questions relating to M&A, IPO's or Equity Research. It shall provide an opportunity to develop practical excel modelling skills on real time data by constructing spreadsheets for financial forecasting, sensitivity analysis, financial statement analysis, cost of capital, discounted cash flow, and capital budgeting. Prerequisite of FIN 12 is required.

Credits: 3

Every Spring

 

FY First-Year Seminar and Post 101

Provide an emphasis upon the intellectual transition to college, first-year seminars focus on oral communication and critical reading skills taught in the context of theme-oriented academic courses specifically designed to meet the needs of first-year students. The content of these courses varies by discipline, but each course is limited to twenty students and linked in a learning community with a section of Post 101. First-Year Seminars involve intensive faculty mentoring and provide a source of support and insight to students who are encountering the new responsibilities connected to college life. First-Year Seminars can also be used to fulfill major requirements or can be used as electives, including, in many cases, liberal arts electives. Post 101 is best understood a one-credit course preparing first-year students for the challenges of college life. It emphasizes engagement with the campus community as a preparation for engagement with the world as an active, informed citizen. Weekly hour-long class meetings emphasize a holistic approach to learning and introduce students to the behavior, foundational skills, and intellectual aptitudes necessary for success.

Credits: 4

 

MAN 11 Principles of Management

This course introduces the student to management history, concepts, theories and practices. The managerial functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling are examined.

Credits: 3

Every Semester

 

MAN 16 Business Communication

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) This course examines the opportunities and problems inherent in the process of business communication. The course is designed to improve effective business communication with emphasis on individual and interpersonal skills building. Topics include, but are not limited to, determining appropriate style and tone in various types of written business communications; strengthening verbal effectiveness through the use of presentations and graphics; and learning to interpret and use non-verbal communication for greater impact. This course addresses the unique communication challenges that arise as a result of diversity, globalization and the pervasiveness of technology. Prerequisites: FIN 11, MAN 11, MAN18, MAN 11. Junior status.

Credits: 3

Every Fall, Spring and Summer

 

MKT 11 Marketing Principles and Practices

This is the core-marketing course for the LIU Undergraduate Program and it also appeals to non-business-majors who are interested in marketing. The aim of the course is to provide a rigorous and comprehensive introduction to contemporary marketing practice. The participants learn how to analyze complex business situations, identify underlying problems and decide on courses of actions with the help of the modern marketing management techniques. The students learn the concepts and terminology of modern marketing management during lectures, cases and class discussions. Application of the marketing management concepts becomes the focus for the term project.

Credits: 3

Every Semester

 

MTH 4 Introductory Mathematics for Business and Social Sciences

 Sets, numbers, polynomials, solution of equations, inequalities, functions and graphs are covered. Not open to students who have taken MTH 3, 3S, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Credits: 3

Every Fall and Spring

 

MTH 5 Linear Mathematics for Business and Social Science

Mathematical models for business, linear programming, matrix algebra and applications are

covered.  Prerequisite of Math 4 or 4S is required. Not open to students who have taken MTH 8, except for Business Administration, Accountancy, or Dual Accountancy Students.

Credits: 3

Every Fall, Spring and Summer

 

MTH 6 Calculus for Business and Social Science

Limits, derivatives, maxima and minima, indefinite and definite integration, and applications are

covered. Prerequisite of MTH 4 or 5 is required. Not open to students who have taken MTH 7.

Credits: 3

Every Fall, Spring and Summer

 

POST 101 and FY First-Year Seminar

Provide an emphasis upon the intellectual transition to college, first-year seminars focus on oral communication and critical reading skills taught in the context of theme-oriented academic courses specifically designed to meet the needs of first-year students. The content of these courses varies by discipline, but each course is limited to twenty students and linked in a learning community with a section of Post 101. First-Year Seminars involve intensive faculty mentoring and provide a source of support and insight to students who are encountering the new responsibilities connected to college life. First-Year Seminars can also be used to fulfill major requirements or can be used as electives, including, in many cases, liberal arts electives. Post 101 is best understood a one-credit course preparing first-year students for the challenges of college life. It emphasizes engagement with the campus community as a preparation for engagement with the world as an active, informed citizen. Weekly hour-long class meetings emphasize a holistic approach to learning and introduce students to the behavior, foundational skills, and intellectual aptitudes necessary for success.

Credits: 4

 

QAS 19 Decision Analysis

This course covers the practical application of management science models to business problems. Applications include efficient allocation of scarce resources, project scheduling, network design, inventory management and queuing models.

Prerequisites: Math 6 and ECO 72.

Credits: 3

Every Semester 

 

QAS 20 Business Statistics

This course introduces some of the statistical concepts and techniques used in business decision-making at an advanced level. The emphasis is on business application. Problems from the functional areas of accounting, finance, marketing, management, and operations are used to illustrate how probabilistic and statistical thinking and analysis can enhance the quality of decisions.

Credits: 3

Every Semester 

 

CONTACT

College of Management
LIUPostbiz@liu.edu