A professor teaches class while walking between tables of students.

Program Overview

Finance Minor

Where economics and business intersect.

Photo credit: Tanya Rosen-Jones ’97

A Foundation for a Variety of Careers

The finance minor provides students with a solid foundation in financial economics, including corporate finance, financial markets and institutions, and investments. It complements a variety of majors, including mathematics, economics, and computer science, as well as other fields that are more closely related than you might think.

Within the financial services industry, employers are looking for non-financial specialists, such as mathematicians or programmers, who can demonstrate a solid foundational understanding of finance. In addition, a knowledge of finance principles is often a critical toolset for career specializations outside of finance, including the arts and non-profit management.

BUSI 116

Financial Analysis for Leaders

This course equips students with the essential knowledge and skills necessary to become informed users of financial information and make effective business decisions. By examining the core financial statements and exploring methods for evaluating project investments, participants will develop a strong foundation in financial analysis that can be directly applied to business operations and objectives.

Taught by: Eric Lin

ECON 211

Money, the Financial System, and the Economy

The course deals with the linkages between financial markets, financial institutions, monetary policy, and the economy. Topics include the function of money in the economy, the determination of interest rates and exchange rates, the origin and evolution of financial intermediation, and the role of the financial system in the transmission of monetary policy.

Taught by: John V. Duca

ECON 206

Principles of Finance

This course provides a thorough foundation in financial economics with applications to investment decisions and the management of business enterprises. Topics include capital budgeting, financial statement analysis, interest and risk calculations, principles of market valuation, the capital asset pricing model, financial funding decisions, dividend and cash flow analysis, and taxation.

Taught by: M. Udara Peiris

ECON 341

Advanced Asset Pricing and Risk Management

The course explores the pricing of securities and derivatives, and the management of portfolio risk. Topics include decision-making under uncertainty, pricing through no-arbitrage and equilibrium, complete vs. incomplete markets, risk-neutral pricing, the valuation of securities and derivatives, the term structure of interest rates, market efficiency and regulation, and modern approaches to portfolio risk management.