Finance, B.S.

Program Overview

The Finance, B.S. program at Saint Louis University prepares students for careers in finance in the global economy. The program offers a Standard Track, a Financial Analysis Concentration, and a Real Estate Finance Concentration, and is nationally ranked. Students gain practical experience through Bloomberg terminals, the Applied Portfolio Management course, and internship opportunities. The program is a CFA Institute University Affiliate Program and is accredited by AACSB.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Finance, B.S. program at Saint Louis University's Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business prepares students for successful careers in finance in the increasingly global economy. The program is nationally ranked and offers students the opportunity to pursue a financial analysis concentration or a real estate finance concentration. The program's objectives are to:

• Equip graduates with a comprehensive understanding of essential business concepts and the interconnectedness of various business functional areas.
• Foster graduates' knowledge of ethical concepts and corporate social responsibility, enabling them to evaluate business problems from multiple ethical perspectives.
• Enhance graduates' written communication skills.
• Cultivate graduates' understanding of how cultures, politics, laws, ethics, and economies influence and impact business, equipping them to analyze and formulate international business strategies.
• Empower graduates to gather data and perform the analysis necessary to value any real or financial asset.
• Provide graduates with a solid understanding of the value, tools, and techniques for implementing risk-management strategies.

Outline:

The Finance, B.S. program offers three tracks: Standard Track, Financial Analysis Concentration, and Real Estate Finance Concentration.

Standard Track:

• University Undergraduate Core: 32-35 credits
• Business Major Requirements:
• Program Requirements:
15 credits in Business Common Body of Knowledge (CBK)
• Major-Specific Finance Requirements:
48 credits
• FIN 3330 Fixed Income Securities and Markets (3 credits)
• FIN 3630 Equity Securities and Markets (3 credits)
• FIN 4230 Financial Management (3 credits)
• FIN 4650 Derivative Securities and Markets (3 credits)
• Major-Specific Finance Electives:
6 credits (select two from the following):
• FIN 3140 Insurance (3 credits)
• FIN 4130 Real Estate (3 credits)
• FIN 4160 Commercial Real Estate (3 credits)
• FIN 4250 International Financial Management (3 credits)
• FIN 4330 Financial Modeling and Analysis (3 credits)
• FIN 4440 Personal Financial Planning (3 credits)
• FIN 4630 Applied Portfolio Management (3 credits)
• FIN 4810 Introduction to Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (3 credits)
• General Electives: 18-21 credits

Financial Analysis Concentration:

• University Undergraduate Core: 32-35 credits
• Business Major Requirements:
• Program Requirements:
15 credits in Business Common Body of Knowledge (CBK)
• Major-Specific Finance Requirements:
48 credits
• FIN 3330 Fixed Income Securities and Markets (3 credits)
• FIN 3630 Equity Securities and Markets (3 credits)
• FIN 4230 Financial Management (3 credits)
• FIN 4630 Applied Portfolio Management (3 credits)
• FIN 4650 Derivative Securities and Markets (3 credits)
• ACCT 3110 Financial Reporting I (3 credits)
• ACCT 4110 Financial Reporting II (3 credits)
• General Electives: 15-18 credits

Real Estate Finance Concentration:

• University Undergraduate Core: 32-35 credits
• Business Major Requirements:
• Program Requirements:
15 credits in Business Common Body of Knowledge (CBK)
• Major Requirements:
48 credits
• FIN 3330 Fixed Income Securities and Markets (3 credits)
• FIN 3630 Equity Securities and Markets (3 credits)
• FIN 4130 Real Estate (3 credits)
• FIN 4160 Commercial Real Estate (3 credits)
• FIN 4230 Financial Management (3 credits)
• FIN 4650 Derivative Securities and Markets (3 credits)

Teaching:

• Students monitor and analyze real-time financial data with industry-standard Bloomberg terminals in the state-of-the-art Edward Jones Data Analytics Lab.
• Senior-level students can gain additional hands-on experience in evaluating common stocks as investments and the fiduciary management of investment assets through the management of $2+ million in University endowment funds through the innovative Applied Portfolio Management course.
• APM students also receive one-on-one mentoring from industry practitioners as part of this experiential learning opportunity.

Careers:

Possible career paths with a degree in finance include:

• Public finance
• Commercial loan officer
• Corporate finance officer
• Financial analyst
• Financial planner
• Procurement analyst
• Real estate lender
• Securities broker
SLU graduates have been highly successful on the Series 7 exam and on other professional exams that are necessary for specific career paths in finance. In a survey of SLU's class of 2023 finance graduates, 100% reported they were either employed or attending graduate school within six months of their graduation date. Graduates join a global network of nearly 20,000 alumni from the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business.

Other:

• The Department of Finance has launched the Billiken Asset Management (BAM) Investment Fund, an initiative to be led by the SLU Finance Club's Executive Board.
• Finance Club students will manage fund assets on a semi-active basis using a sector rotation strategy.
• Participating students will gain meaningful experiences in asset management and benefit from mentorship interactions with professional money managers who will advise the fund.
• St. Louis’ metropolitan location provides many year-round internship opportunities, which allow students to gain practical, career-related work experience while applying classroom experiences to practice.
Most internships are paid, and students may opt to complete one for academic credit. Finance students from the Class of 2023 interned with:
• Investment firms
• Financial institutions
• Consulting firms
• Fortune 500 companies like Boeing, Centene, and Wells Fargo
• Nonprofits
• Regulatory agencies

CFA Institute University Affiliation Program:

• The program is a relationship between the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute and select colleges and universities worldwide that have embedded a significant percentage (70%) of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge into their degree programs.
• Only 277 U.S. finance programs are CFA University Affiliated Programs.
• Affiliated institutions have committed to covering CFA Institute's ethical and professional standards in these degree programs.
• Recognition as a CFA University Affiliate signals to potential students, current students, and the marketplace that the university curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and is well suited to preparing students to sit for the CFA exams.

Accreditation:

• The Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the world’s largest business education alliance and accrediting body of business schools, ensuring continuous quality improvement in terms of curriculum, instructional resources, student selection, career placement, and intellectual contributions and qualifications of the faculty.
• Approximately 5% of business schools worldwide have achieved AACSB accreditation.