By focusing on managing current and future figures of a business or organization, finance professionals are often responsible for predicting and analyzing the potential for profit and growth, assessing resources, utilizing statistics and reports. Finance can be a good choice for people who are inquisitive, ambitious problem solvers. A bachelor’s degree in finance is a great starting point for careers in financial services, across business, banking and consultancy sectors.

Requirements for the Major in Business Administration, Finance, B.S.

Students seeking the Bachelor of Science degree in Finance must complete a minimum of 120 credits including the following requirements:

General Education Requirements

In order to graduate on-schedule without taking additional courses, it is highly recommended that students meet with an Undergraduate Academic Adviser concerning the selection of all of their general education courses.

Each candidate for an Oakland University baccalaureate will need to satisfactorily complete approved courses in each of the following areas: Foundation, Exploration, Integration, Writing, U.S. Diversity, and Capstone. For details, refer to the General Education Requirements section of the catalog.

Business Pre-Core Required Courses

• course Financial Accounting (4)

• course Managerial and Cost Accounting I (4)

• course Public Speaking (4)
  or course Group Dynamics and Communication (4)
  or course Communication in Organizations (4)
  or course Interpersonal Conflict (4)

• course Principles of Global Macroeconomics (4)
  or course Principles of Macroeconomics (4)

• course Principles of Microeconomics (4)

• course Business Problem Solving with Information Technology (3)

• course Linear Programming Elementary Functions (4)
  or course Precalculus (4)
  or course College Algebra (4) 
  or course Calculus for the Social Sciences (4) 
  or course Calculus I (4) *

• course Statistical Methods for Business I (3)
  or course Introduction to Statistical Concepts and Reasoning (4)
  or course Applied Probability and Statistics (4)

• course Statistical Methods for Business II (3)

• course ACHIEVE I (0)

• course ACHIEVE II (0)

*If a student places into and completes course or course with the required minimum grade, course or course or course is not required.

Business Core Required Courses

• course Managerial Economics (3)

• course Managerial Finance I (3)

• course Legal Environment of Business (3)

• course Management Strategies and Policies (3)

• course Management Information Systems (3)

• course Marketing (3)

• course Introduction to Organizational Behavior (3)

• course Introduction to the Management of Human Resources (3)

• course Operations Management (3)

• course Business Writing (4)
  or course Advanced Critical Writing (4)

Finance (FIN) Required Courses

• course Financial Reporting and Analysis (3) *

• course Investment Analysis (3)

• course Financial Modeling (3)

• course Managerial Finance II (3)

• course ACHIEVE III - Finance (0)

*In lieu of course (3), students may substitute both ((course (3) and course (3)) or (course (3) and course (3)).

Complete 3 Finance Elective Courses

• course Financial Markets and Institutions (3)

• course International Financial Management (3)

• course Real Estate Investment Analysis (3)

• course Financial Derivatives (3)

• course Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Restructuring (3)

• course Managing Investment Funds (3)

• course Investment Portfolio Management (3)

• course Special Topics in Finance (3)

*course (3) or course (3) or course (3) or course (3) may be substituted for 1 finance elective.

Additional Requirements

Students must complete the core program and the requirements of 1 of the business majors in the SBA with a minimum grade of C in each of the pre-core, core, major courses, and major-dependent concentration courses. Once admitted to the business program as a pre-business or undecided business student or major, a student must complete all of the remaining business core, major and business minor coursework for the degree at Oakland University.

Students must complete at least 31 credits of courses offered by the School of Business Administration, excluding course, course or course, course, course and course and course. Of these 31 credits, at least 12 credits must be in the student’s major.

Students earning an additional major are permitted to do so in all areas except general management. No more than 4 credits of independent study (4996) courses may be used to meet the major elective requirement. Courses numbered 3800 and 4900 may be repeated for up to 8 credits provided the topics are different. All major courses require a 2.6 GPA or better or major standing to take these courses (excludes Economics and non-SBA major courses).

If an Actuarial Science student wants to switch to a Finance major, they can use course to satisfy the course requirement, but will still need to take course. If a Finance major student wants to switch to an Actuarial Science major, they will need to use both course and course to satisfy the course requirement.

Optional Concentration in Wealth Management

Increase your scope of knowledge by adding the Wealth Management Concentration to your degree. This concentration focuses on preparing graduates to offer financial services in the growing area of high-net-worth individuals, including capital gains planning, estate planning and risk management. The Wealth Management concentrations is only available to students enrolled in the Finance, B.S. program. The concentration will be noted on the student’s transcript.

To earn a Bachelor of Science in Finance with a concentration in Wealth Management, students must fulfill all requirements of the Finance major and the concentration. The concentration requirements below will satisfy the corresponding requirement area in the Finance major requirements.

Finance (FIN) required courses

• course Financial Reporting and Analysis (3)*

• course Principles of Taxation (3)

• course Investment Analysis (3)

• course Financial Modeling (3)

• course Managerial Finance II (3)

• course ACHIEVE III - Finance (0)

• course Wealth Management & Tax Planning (3)

* In lieu of ACC 3010 (3), students may substitute ((ACC 3100 (3) and ACC 3110 (3)) or (ACC 4001 (3) and ACC 4002 (3))

Complete One Finance (FIN) elective course

• course Financial Markets and Institutions (3)

• course Financial Derivatives (3)

• course Managing Investment Funds (3)

• course Investment Portfolio Management (3)

• course Special Topics in Finance (3)

Applicable Minors

All Minors are applicable to this major with the exception of the following Minor(s): Business, Child Welfare, Finance, International Orientation for EGR/CS, and Sustainability Engineering.