Field Description

The Bert W. Wasserman Department of Economics and Finance offers courses that enable students to prepare for careers in all areas of finance and business economics.

Economics presents theories and tools for systematic analyses of economic forces that affect everyday life. It includes microeconomics, macro-economics, and international economics. Micro-economics analyzes the actions and interactions of individual consumers, business, and government. Macroeconomics studies national income, inflation, unemployment, economic growth, and government policies. International economics builds on micro- and macro-economics to study international trade, finance, markets, and institutions.

Finance includes the study of money and capital markets, investments, and corporate finance. In addition to these traditional areas, it includes the study of modern developments in derivatives; financial market structure, such as electronic-based trading techniques and markets; and international markets and corporate finance.

 

The Majors

 

The BBA Major in Finance

The finance major prepares students for professional positions in financial institutions, including commercial, investment, and savings banks; brokerage firms; insurance companies; investment advisory services; and finance companies. Students will also be well prepared to enter the finance departments of nonfinancial corporations, nonprofit institutions, and governmental agencies.

Students who are planning on future graduate study in finance or business are strongly recommended to include advanced courses in mathematics, statistics, and econometrics in their undergraduate programs.

Required courses for the BBA degree include

ECO 1001

,

ECO 1002

, and

FIN 3000

. FIN 3000 is a prerequisite to all other finance courses.

The finance major includes three required courses (9 credits) and five electives (15 credits).

Required Courses 9 credits

The three required courses build on the foundations of the introductory finance course. These courses are prerequisites to all 4000-level finance courses. Students must earn a GPA of 2.0 or better in the three required courses to take any of the 4000-level finance courses.

FIN 3610

Corporate Finance

3 credits

FIN 3710

Investment Analysis

3 credits

ECO 4000

Statistical Analysis for Economics and Finance

3 credits

Elective Courses 15 credits

The finance major includes five elective courses that students take after completing the three required courses with a 2.0 GPA or better. The five electives include five courses in finance, economics, or insurance at the 3000 or 4000 level, subject to these specific requirements:* (updated 7/27/15)

Either FIN 4610 or 4710: These are the capstone courses in the finance major, and both are communication-intensive courses (CIC)

Two additional 4000-level finance (FIN) courses (Note: The choice of FIN 4610 above does not preclude FIN 4710, and vice versa. In other words, students may include both FIN 4610 and FIN 4710 in the finance major if they choose.)

Two additional 3000- or 4000-level courses in finance (FIN), economics (ECO), or insurance (INS)* (updated 7/27/15)

In addition, students may include, at most, two of these courses outside finance:

ACC 3000

Financial Accounting I

3 credits

ACC 3100

Financial Accounting II

3 credits

RES 3200

Property Investment and Financing

3 credits

RES 3400

Real Estate Capital Markets

3 credits

RES 4200

Investment Strategies in Property Markets

3 credits

RES 4400

Valuations and Underwriting of Securitized Real Estate

3 credits

An internship training program is available to qualified fulltime juniors and seniors majoring in finance, with 1 credit or 3 credits a semester for 15 to 20 weekly hours of work. These credits cannot be counted toward those needed for the major.

Students must file a Major Declaration Form by the end of their junior year.

 

The BBA Major in Economics

A BBA degree with a major in economics prepares students for entry-level positions in business, nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and private consulting. This work includes economic analysis, research, and empirical analysis.

Students choosing an economics major are advised that a position as a professional economist usually requires a graduate degree in economics. Students planning to enter a graduate program in economics are strongly recommended to include advanced courses in mathematics, statistics, and econometrics in their undergraduate programs.

Required courses for the BBA degree include and , courses that form the foundation of knowledge in micro- and macro-economics, respectively. These courses are prerequisites for all other economics courses.

The economics major includes three required courses (9 credits) and five electives (15 credits).

Required Courses 9 credits

The three required courses build on the foundations of the introductory micro- and macro-economics courses. Economics majors should plan on taking all three, especially ECO 4000, as early in their major program as possible.

ECO 3100

Intermediate Micro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 3200

Intermediate Macro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 4000

Statistical Analysis for Economics and Finance

3 credits

Elective Courses 15 credits

In addition to the three required courses, an economics major must take a meaningful combination of five economics, finance, or insurance courses at the 3000 level or higher. Of these five courses, at least two must be economics courses at the 4000 level or higher. FIN 3000 may not be included in the economics major. When appropriate, a student may include up to two advanced courses from other disciplines in the five electives.

An internship training program is available to qualified full-time juniors and seniors majoring in economics, with 1 credit or 3 credits a semester for 15 to 20 weekly hours of work. These credits cannot be counted toward those needed for the major.

Students must file a Major Declaration Form by the end of their junior year.


The BA Major in Economics

A BA degree with a major in economics deals with concepts, techniques, and cases in economics that acquaint the student with the general economic problems of modern society. This degree provides students with an excellent general background for a wide range of challenging business careers.

There are several prerequisites for the major. The major itself includes three required courses (9 credits) and five electives (15 credits).

Prerequisites to the Major               12 or 13 credits
Not Credited to the Major

Economics      6 credits

ECO 1001

Micro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 1002

Macro-Economics

3 credits

Statistics        3 credits

STA 2000

Business Statistics I

3 credits

Mathematics      3-4 credits*

MTH 2003

Pre-calculus and Elements of Calculus

4 credits

or               

            

A more advanced calculus course

3 or 4 credits

* Please note: 
Students with credit for MTH 2000 or 2001 must complete a calculus course.


Required Courses in the Major                                           9 credits 

The three required courses build on the foundations of the introductory micro- and macro-economics courses, 

ECO 1001

 and 

ECO 1002

. Economics majors should plan on taking all three of the required courses, especially 

ECO 4000

, as early in their major program as possible.

ECO 3100

Intermediate Micro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 3200

Intermediate Macro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 4000

Statistical Analysis for Economics and Finance

3 credits


Elective Courses                                                                   15 credits

The BA economics major includes five elective courses, at least two of which must be at the 4000 level or higher, chosen from the following list:

BLS 3015

Black Economic Development: 1860 to the Present

3 credits

BLS 3016

    

Urban Economic Structure  (

HSP 3016

)

3 credits

ECO 3110

Industrial Organization and Public Policy

3 credits

ECO 3160

Field Study of the Economics of the Environment, Business, Culture and Global Sustainability

3 credits

ECO 3220

Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy

3 credits

ECO 3250

International Economics and Finance

3 credits

ECO 3310

Principles of Public Finance

3 credits

ECO 3400

Evolution of Economic Thought

3 credits

ECO 3501

Economics of Labor

3 credits

ECO 4051

Financial Econometrics

3 credits

ECO 4100

Advanced Micro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 4200

Advanced Macro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 4201

Monetary Economics

3 credits

ECO 4300

Mathematical Economics

3 credits

ECO 4501

Advanced Labor Economics (3503)

3 credits

HIS 3410

History of American Business Enterprise

3 credits

PAF 3101

Public Finance/Managing Public Resources*

3 credits

PAF 3102

Economic Analysis and Public Policy*

3 credits

PHI 3050

Ethics, Economics, and the Business System

3 credits

POL 3103

Political Economy

3 credits

POL 3315

Government and the American Economy 

3 credits

*For the purposes of this program, this course counts as an Arts and Sciences course.

As with all BA majors, the Tier III minor must be completed outside the department of the students major. A student majoring in economics cannot minor in finance.


Liberal Arts Minor in Economics

The Bert W.Wasserman Department of Economics and Finance recently introduced a liberal arts minor in economics. The liberal arts minor is 9 credits (three courses) and consists of two 3000-level courses and a relevant 4000-level, communication-intensive economics capstone course. All 4000-level economics courses, with the exception of ECO 4000, are communication-intensive courses. Finance majors are eligible to take the liberal arts minor in economics, but they must remember that courses used to fulfill the liberal arts minor may not be used to fulfill the 24-credit major requirement.

The Minor - Economics and Finance

A minor in economics and finance consists of any three courses listed below. Each course is 3 credits, for a total of 9 credits.

ECO 3100

Intermediate Micro-Economics

ECO 3200

Intermediate Macro-Economics

ECO 3220

Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy

ECO 3250

International Economics and Finance

ECO 3310

Principles of Public Finance

ECO 3501

Economics of Labor

ECO 4000

Statistical Analysis for Economics and Finance

ECO 4100

Advanced Micro-Economics

ECO 4200

Advanced Macro-Economics

ECO 4201

Monetary Economics

FIN 3610

Corporate Finance

FIN 3710

Investment Analysis

Courses

Courses in Economics (ECO)

ECO 1001

Micro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 1002

Macro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 1110

Current Economic Problems

3 credits

ECO 3100

Intermediate Micro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 3110

Industrial Organization and Public Policy

3 credits

ECO 3120

Managerial Economics

3 credits

ECO 3130

Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development

3 credits

ECO 3160

Field Study of the Economics of the Environment, Business, Culture and Global Sustainability

3 credits

ECO 3200

Intermediate Macro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 3220

Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy

3 credits

ECO 3250

International Economics and Finance

3 credits

ECO 3300

Economics of Regulation

3 credits

ECO 3301

Public Enterprise Economics

3 credits

ECO 3310

Principles of Public Finance

3 credits

ECO 3320

Urban Economics

3 credits

ECO 3340

Economic Geography and Spatial Theory

3 credits

ECO 3400

Evolution of Economic Thought

3 credits

ECO 3501

Economics of Labor

3 credits

ECO 3503

Advanced Labor Economics

3 credits

ECO 3511

Contemporary Economic Development

3 credits

ECO 4000

Statistical Analysis for Economics and Finance

3 credits

ECO 4050

Economic and Business Forecasting

3 credits

ECO 4051

Financial Econometrics

3 credits

ECO 4091

Special Topics in Economics

1 credits

ECO 4092

Special Topics in Economics

2 credits

ECO 4093

Special Topics in Economics

3 credits

ECO 4094

Special Topics in Economics

1.5 credits

ECO 4100

Advanced Micro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 4200

Advanced Macro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 4201

Monetary Economics

3 credits

ECO 4300

Mathematical Economics

3 credits

ECO 4400

Contemporary Economic Thought

3 credits

ECO 4501

Advanced Labor Economics

3 credits

ECO 5000

Independent Research in Economics

3 credits

ECO 5010

Internship in Economics I

3 credits

ECO 5011

Internship in Economics II

3 credits

ECO 5050

Current Problems in Mathematical Economics

3 credits

ECO 5100

Economic Problems in Linear Regression Analysis

3 credits

ECO 5150

Current Problems in Micro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 5250

Current Problems in Macro-Economics

3 credits

ECO 5350

Current Problems in Public Finance

3 credits

ECO 6001H

Honors Economics I

3 credits

ECO 6002H

Honors Economics II

3 credits

Courses in Finance (FIN)

FIN 1601

Personal Finance

3 credits

FIN 3000

Principles of Finance

3 credits

FIN 3610

Corporate Finance

3 credits

FIN 3620

Financial Management for Small Business and Entrepreneurs

3 credits

FIN 3710

Investment Analysis

3 credits

FIN 4091

Special Topics in Finance

1 credits

FIN 4092

Special Topics in Finance

2 credits

FIN 4093

Special Topics in Finance

3 credits

FIN 4094

Special Topics in Finance

1.5 credits

FIN 4610

Advanced Corporate Finance

3 credits

FIN 4710

Advanced Investment Analysis

3 credits

FIN 4720

Futures Markets

3 credits

FIN 4730

Equity Markets: Trading and Structure

3 credits

FIN 4750

Options

3 credits

FIN 4775

Technical Analysis

3 credits

FIN 4780

Introduction to Microfinance

3 credits

FIN 4808

Risk Management in Financial Institutions I

3 credits

FIN 4810

Risk Management in Financial Institutions II

3 credits

FIN 4910

International Financial Markets

3 credits

FIN 4920

International Corporate Finance

3 credits

FIN 4930

Mergers and Acquisitions

3 credits

FIN 5000

Independent Research in Finance

3 credits

FIN 5600

Current Problems in Corporate Finance

3 credits

FIN 5610

Internship in Finance I

3 credits

FIN 5611

Internship in Finance II

3 credits

FIN 5700

Current Problems in Investments

3 credits

FIN 5720

Special Topics in Futures and Options

3 credits

FIN 5800

Current Problems in Capital Markets and Institutions

3 credits

FIN 6001H

Honors Finance I

2 terms; 6 credits

FIN 6002H

Honors Finance II

2 terms; 6 credits

Courses in Insurance (INS)

INS 3050

Risk and Risk Management

3 hours; 3 credits

INS 3200

Life and Health Insurance

3 hours; 3 credits

INS 3300

Property and Liability Insurance

3 hours; 3 credits