Department of Finance

For information regarding the GRADUATE PROGRAM, click here.  

What is Finance?

Finance is the study of how individuals, businesses, and organizations acquire and utilize capital (i.e. money). Two basic elements of finance include the tradeoff between expected returns and risk and the importance of timing of future cash flows.

Opportunities in Finance

Areas: Banking, Corporate Financial Management, Marketing, Personal Financial Planning, Real Estate, Risk Management and Insurance, Securities

Employers: Corporations, Financial Institutions, Financial Planning Agencies, Government Agencies, Insurance Companies, Private Practice

B.S. in Finance

The Bachelor of Science in Finance is a 120-hour degree program with several learning objectives for students:

• Obtain a broad functional knowledge of basic theory and practice of finance
• Access and analyze financial statements to evaluate the financial health of the firm and the strategies it employs to create value for its shareholders
• Develop and apply financial modeling skills for the valuation of the firm and of individual capital assets, securities, and other investment vehicles
• Apply principles of asset allocation and diversification to formulate portfolio strategies through experiential learning
• Understand and apply various measures to evaluate portfolio performance
• Demonstrate effective skills in written and oral communication and in teamwork

Students majoring in finance have the opportunity to study under nationally renowned faculty and have access to the Securities Markets Analysis Research and Trading (SMART) Lab, a classroom modeled after an investment company’s trading room. The SMART Lab provides state-of-the-art software, including Bloomberg, and data fees for financial analysis.

Admission to a curriculum in the Department of Finance requires that a student be admissible to the E. J. Ourso College of Business and meet the following GPA requirements at the time of application for admission:

• A minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA
• A minimum 2.5 LSU GPA
• A minimum 2.5 business GPA
• A minimum 2.5 LSU business GPA

In the Department of Finance, the second digit of the course number denotes the subject area of the course, as follows: 2–Business law; 3–Real estate; 4–Risk and insurance; 6–Finance (capital markets and financial institutions); 7–Finance (financial management); 8–Finance (investment analysis/portfolio theory); 9–General courses.

Prerequisites for any finance course may be waived in exceptional cases with consent of the instructor and approval of the department chair.

Programs

• Finance, B.S.

• Personal Investing Minor