Skip to main content

Undergraduate spring application deadline is December 1 for spring term.

Finance BS

About The Program

Finance affects all aspects of an organization, and financial considerations play a role in almost every decision.

The finance major provides courses that offer students solid academic grounding in areas such as investments, financing and risk management, and prepares students for careers in corporate finance, financial institutions and personal investment services. finance involves application of tools and concepts from mathematics, statistics, and economics to financial decision making. Strong oral and written communication skills are also important for a successful career in this field. The finance program is designed to not only help students gain proficiency in financial theory and application, but also enhance their quantitative, critical thinking, and communication skills.

As a convenience, the finance major BS degree can be completed on campus, online or by combining on campus and online courses. Program requirements are the same, regardless of the delivery mode.

Student outcomes

After finishing the finance major BS degree, graduates will be able to:

  • Price financial assets such as stocks, bonds, and derivatives.
  • Design an optimal portfolio of financial assets.
  • Apply financial theory to carry out analyses to support business decision making and corporate financial decision making.

Related minors

Study finance from anywhere

Complete the finance major BS degree at Metro State, where you can take courses in person at our inclusive, urban campus, or online from anywhere! With more than 50 programs and 10,500 students, Metro State offers a range of in-demand programs taught by award-winning faculty who are committed to your academic success.

How to enroll

Current students: Declare this program

Once you’re admitted as an undergraduate student and have met any further admission requirements your chosen program may have, you may declare a major or declare an optional minor.

Future students: Apply now

Apply to Metropolitan State: Start the journey toward your Finance BS now. Learn about the steps to enroll or, if you have questions about what Metropolitan State can offer you, request information, visit campus or chat with an admissions counselor.

Get started on your Finance BS

More ways to earn your degree: Metropolitan State offers the flexibility you need to finish your degree. Through programs at our partner institutions, you can find a path to getting your Finance BS that works best for you.

About your enrollment options

Program eligibility requirements

Students must complete major program courses with a grade of C- or better. The CBM Foundation Courses are prerequisites for many upper division College of Business and Management courses. Completing these courses early in your program will help you succeed and have the most valuable experience in other College of Business and Management courses.

Courses and Requirements

SKIP TO COURSE REQUIREMENTS

At least 20 credits from among the Business Core Courses, Major Required Courses, Major Electives and Capstone must be completed at Metropolitan State. See also the CBM policies page for requirements that are common to all programs.

Requirements (120 credits)

+ College of Business and Management Foundation (22 credits)

This course is the first information technology foundation course in the College of Management. It focuses on the technology literacy, managerial and business problem solving dimensions of computer based information systems. It provides students with an introduction to the fundamental terminology of the hardware, software and the people involved with computer based information systems. The course includes hands on computer lab time to introduce students to word processing, database, spread sheet, and Internet microcomputer applications. This course is designed specifically to prepare students for information technology competence as needed in College of Management courses.

Full course description for Fundamentals of Information Technology in Organizations

This course develops the fundamental concepts of algebra with an emphasis on the classification and analysis of linear, quadratic, polynomial, exponential and logarithmic functions. Applications to the natural and social sciences are given throughout. It aims to provide insights into the nature and utility of mathematics, and helps students develop mathematical reasoning skills.

Full course description for College Algebra

This course covers the basic principles and methods of statistics. It emphasizes techniques and applications in real-world problem solving and decision making. Topics include frequency distributions, measures of location and variation, probability, sampling, design of experiments, sampling distributions, interval estimation, hypothesis testing, correlation and regression.

Full course description for Statistics I

This course focuses on the economy as a whole and studies how government can affect the economy. After starting with principles of markets, the price system and supply and demand, the course covers national income accounting, business cycles, inflation, unemployment, fiscal policy, monetary policy and the Federal Reserve System, different approaches to economic growth, and the foundations of international trade.

Full course description for Macroeconomics

This course focuses on the interactions between the consumer and the producer. It begins with the theory of markets, supply and demand, and the price system. Then it covers demand elasticity, the costs of production including the various factor inputs, the four major market structures (pure competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly), and ways to increase the competition in markets.

Full course description for Microeconomics

This course in financial accounting acquaints students with the "language of business" and the concepts and practices of accounting in order to understand, interpret, and analyze the financial accounting reports of economic entities. Topics include: economic context of accounting; introduction to basic financial statements with emphasis on the statement of cash flows; measurement fundamentals; analysis of financial statements; cash; receivables; inventories; investments in equity and debt securities including Consolidations; long-lived assets; current and long-term liabilities; stockholders' equity; and time value of money concepts and computations for decision making: international accounting practices are incorporated into every topic. This is not a bookkeeping course.

Full course description for Financial Accounting

+ College of Business and Management Business Core (20 credits)

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the fundamental concepts and techniques of production and operations management for both service and manufacturing organizations. It will address the role of operations in relation to other functions and the methods to increase organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Topics covered include: product and service design, capacity planning, design of work systems, location planning and analysis, material requirements planning, supply-chain management, enterprise resource planning, inventory management, total quality management, Six Sigma, lean enterprise and kaizen approaches, aggregate planning, just-in-time systems, scheduling, and project planning. Also included are tools and processes used in operations decisions such as forecasting, breakeven analysis, and critical path method using available software.

Full course description for Introduction to Operations Management

This course introduces the application to financial decision-making of mathematics, statistics, economic theory, and accounting procedures. The two central ideas are time value of money and the relationship between expected return and risk, and how these ideas are used to value bonds, stocks, and other financial securities, and to make capital investment decisions.

Full course description for Principles of Finance

This course is designed to define the role of information systems in organizations, and in particular the roles of IS staff and end-users in developing and maintaining computer systems. The managerial aspects and implications of databases, telecommunications, hardware, software and e-commerce are included. Special attention is given to management information systems theories in the organizational setting including: infrastructure, transaction processing, operational reporting, decision support systems and executive information systems. Also included are all phases of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) as well as alternative development methodologies. The course prototypically includes analysis of real world business cases and post-implementation audit report of a recently completed management information system. All students taking this class must have completed as a prerequisite the MIS 100 Fundamentals of Information Technology in Organizations course or its approved…

Full course description for Principles of Management Information Systems

This course surveys factors that marketing managers take into account when creating a marketing plan, including consumer behavior principles, market segmentation, product life cycle, packaging, branding, pricing, advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, product distribution methods and key laws affecting marketing practices. The course takes a practical approach to explaining how to identify marketing objectives and determine strategies for reaching them. It is useful to general business students, students who plan marketing management or marketing communications careers and those who wish to be better informed consumers. This course is also offered online. Prerequisite: Goal 1 writing requirement plus 30 credits must be satisfied.

Full course description for Marketing Principles

+ Required (8 credits)

This course (formerly designated FIN 590) builds on work done in FIN 390 Principles of Finance to develop understanding of corporate financial decision making. Topics include cost of capital, capital structure policy, dividend policy, options, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, and leasing.

Full course description for Corporate Finance

This course is designed to give students a solid understanding of the investment environment and the modern theory of portfolio management and its applications. The major topics to be covered are: 1. The institutional environment of investment, the financial products available and how they are traded; 2. Techniques used in pricing these products: fixed income, equity, and derivative securities; 3. How to design of a portfolio of many assets and the trade-off between risk and return.

Full course description for Investment and Portfolio Analysis

+ Electives (16 credits)

This course is the first in a two course sequence (Intermediate Accounting I and Intermediate Accounting II) that provides for the preparation and understanding of financial information. Topics include accounting theory and practice, the conceptual framework of United States (U.S.) generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), recognition of economic transactions, the preparation and analysis of financial statements and the related disclosures. Intermediate Accounting I focuses on the role of accounting as an information system and the measurement, recognition, presentation, and disclosure of economic transactions focusing on the following: basic financial statements, time value of money, cash and receivables, inventories, property, plant, and equipment, depreciation and impairment, and current liabilities and contingencies.

Full course description for Intermediate Accounting I

This course is intended to advance the analytical and quantitative skills of students who have completed introductory level micro- and macroeconomics. Topics include: economic methodology, economic optimization, static and dynamic modeling, game theory and its application, basic econometrics, and economic data. Successful completion of this course will help students to continue their study in upper-division economics courses.

Full course description for Analytical and Quantitative Methods for Economists

Financial crises, either that we are currently in one or about to be in one or some other country is in one, are all the rage in popular media today. More often than not financial crises are the result of bubbles in certain assets classes or can be linked to a specific form of financial innovation. This course will explore theoretical and policy perspective of modern global financial crises in the world. We will review the conflicting evidence about the extent of the harm caused by financial collapses. This course will also provide the students with a good economic and behavioral understanding on the effects of financial crises on the US and global economy. The primary goal of this class is to educate the students to understand the causes of past crises in an economic point of view and to develop a conceptual and policy framework in minimizing the risks of future crises and helping students make informed decisions.

Full course description for Global Economic and Financial Crises: Theory and Policy

This course covers the analysis of consumption behavior and demand using the theory of utility and indifference, the theory of production and costs, and analysis of the firm and industries under the four market structures. Factor pricing and general equilibrium using comparative static analysis techniques are also covered. Selected topics include: market failure, price ceilings and floors under different market structures, subsidies, regulations, price discrimination, and consumer and producer surplus.

Full course description for Intermediate Microeconomics

This course is designed for business and economics students interested in acquiring a broader view of the financial system and its markets. The material is divided into three sections: historical, theoretical and institutional. The historical section covers the evolution of money, money creation, inflation, the economy, and the development of banking. The theoretical part covers methods to trace the impact of money on the economy including classical, Keynesian, monetarist and rational expectation approaches. The institutional portion deals with financial intermediaries and financial instruments.

Full course description for Money, Banking and Financial Institutions

This course prepares students for the task of analyzing primary and secondary economic data in order to assist decision makers in profit, nonprofit and public organizations. It also provides an introduction to econometrics: regression models, serial correlation, forecasting, simultaneous equation estimation, model building, time series and simulations. Students work on a major project during the course.

Full course description for Economic Research and Forecasting

The course will focus on financial derivatives, and their applications to the management of investment portfolios and business risk. Emphasis will be placed on the role of derivatives markets in the financial system, the principles of derivative pricing, applications of derivatives in risk management, and some of the main causes of the recent global financial crisis. The course also addresses the rationale for regulation in this market.

Full course description for Financial Derivatives

This course is an introduction to the international dimensions of corporate financing, investment, and risk management decisions. Topics include foreign exchange markets, international financial systems, foreign exchange rate determination, currency risk, spot and forward rates, hedging, international monetary and trade flows, multinational capital budgeting, and cost of capital in emerging economies. Overlap: IBUS 550 International Financial Management.

Full course description for International Finance

This course provides an overview of financial markets and institutions. Topics include the workings of various financial markets, the functions of different types of financial institutions, and the regulatory framework for the financial sector. The course concludes with an introduction to the types of risks faced by institutions and the basic tools and concepts to manage these risks. Further, the course will include topics of current interest.

Full course description for Financial Markets and Institutions

This is an introductory course in real analysis. Starting with a rigorous look at the laws of logic and how these laws are used in structuring mathematical arguments, this course develops the topological structure of real numbers. Topics include limits, sequences, series and continuity. The main goal of the course is to teach students how to read and write mathematical proofs.

Full course description for Introduction to Analysis

Mathematical modeling is the investigation of real world phenomena using mathematical tools. This course includes topics such as dynamic and stochastic modeling (differential equations and discrete-time equations), as well as optimization modeling. Applications will include problems from such areas as the physical and biological sciences, business, and industry.

Full course description for Mathematical Modeling

The field of Operations Research studies the mathematical methods developed for solving problems in business, industry, and management science. Following a modeling approach, this course introduces selected topics such as linear programming, integer programming, game theory, Markov chains, and queuing theory.

Full course description for Operations Research

The course explores the risk management issues facing firms and individuals and examines how to protect firm value and personal wealth. It covers the areas of the general risk management process, property and liability insurance, life and health insurance, annuities and employee benefits. The insurance industry and regulatory concerns are also addressed. In addition, the course touches on some of the new products emerging in the risk management arena and how the insurance industry responds to them.

Full course description for Risk Management and Insurance

This course introduces the fundamental concepts, principles, and analytic techniques applied in the field of real estate. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the real estate and real estate market, the course will cover topics including real estate law, urban economics, market valuation, real estate finance and investment. The goal of the course is to expose students to the world of real estate and prepare them for more advanced real estate courses.

Full course description for Principles of Real Estate

+ College of Business and Management Capstone (4 credits)

This advanced course uses the case study approach to develop systems and techniques for analyzing the internal strengths and weaknesses of diverse organizations and the external environments in which they operate. Students craft strategies and develop implementation plans that apply organizational resources to opportunities and threats in its external environment. This course should be taken during the last semester of a student's program.

Full course description for Case Studies in Strategic Management