The option in Insurance and Financial Services is specifically designed to prepare students for a career in the areas of the financial services industry–investments, insurance, securities and personal financial planning. Because many firms in the financial services industry are engaged in all of these areas, the option covers theoretical and practical knowledge of the various segments.

Admission to the Insurance and Financial Services Option

Insurance and Financial Services is an impacted program. Students seeking a major in Insurance and Financial Services may initially declare a major in Pre-Insurance and Financial Services while working to satisfy supplemental criteria, which requires completion of at least 60 units and a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.6. Students must qualify by the time they earn 90 units. Additionally, a grade of “C” or higher in FIN 303 is a prerequisite for all 400-level Finance (FIN) courses and selected 300-level Finance courses.

Business Majors

A Business major is any student majoring in Accountancy; Finance; Information Systems; Management; Marketing; or Business Administration with an option in either Business Law, Global Supply Chain Management, Insurance and Financial Services, Real Estate or Systems and Operations Management. Accountancy, Finance, and Insurance and Financial Services are impacted majors with additional admission requirements. All Business majors share 27 units of common Lower Division core courses and 19 units of common Upper Division core courses.

Double Major Requirements

Students seeking a double major in the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics must have at least a 3.0 overall GPA and be able to complete both majors within a maximum of 140 units.

Transfer Course Requirements

Students should be aware that no grade lower than “C” will be accepted on transfer from another institution to satisfy Department or David Nazarian College of Business and Economics requirements.

Residency Requirement

At least 50 percent of the business and economics course credit units and 50 percent of the specialized major credit units required for the Bachelor of Science degrees in Accountancy, Business Administration, Finance, Information Systems, Management, Marketing and the Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics must be completed in residence at CSUN.

Course Requirements

Check course descriptions for prerequisite courses. Prerequisites must be completed prior to enrolling in the course.

1. Common Lower Division Business Core (27 units)

ACCT 220 Introduction to Financial Accounting (3)
ACCT 230 Introduction to Managerial Accounting (3)
BLAW 280 Business Law I (3)
COMP 100 Computers: Their Impact and Use (3)
ECON 160 Principles of Microeconomics (3)
ECON 161 Principles of Macroeconomics (3)
ENGL 205 Business Communication in its Rhetorical Contexts (3)
MATH 103 Mathematical Methods for Business (3)*
SOM 120 Basic Business Statistics (3)**

*MATH 103 or MATH 150A or MATH 255A (Calculus) must be completed with a grade of “C” or better.
**The 4-unit MATH 140 course also satisfies this requirement.

2. Common Upper Division Business Core (19 units)

BUS 302 Gateway Experience (3)
BUS 302L Gateway Experience Laboratory (1)
FIN 303 Financial Management (3)
MGT 360 Management and Organizational Behavior (3)
MKT 304 Marketing Management (3)
SOM 306 Operations Management (3)
BUS 497 Capstone (3)

3. Required Upper Division Courses for the Option in Insurance and Financial Services (6 units)

BLAW 308 Business Law II (3)

Communication Course, select 3 units from the following:

COMS 323 Group Communication (3)
COMS 443 Rhetoric of Business (3)
ENGL 305 Intermediate Expository Writing (3)
ENGL 306 Report Writing (3)
ENGL 407 Composition and the Professions (3)
PHIL 305 Business Ethics and Public Policy (3)

In addition to the courses shown above, the student must complete an additional 18 units of required option specific courses.

4. Upper Division Required Courses (9 units)

Note: Students who select the Insurance and Financial Services option may not also select the Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance.

FIN 336 Principles of Insurance (3)
FIN 352 Investments I (3)
FIN 442 Theory and Practice of Financial Planning (3)

5. Insurance and Financial Services Option Elective Courses (9 units)

Select three of the following:

ACCT 440 Income Tax I (3)***
ACCT 441 Income Tax II (3)***
BLAW 409 Wills, Estates and Trusts (3)
ECON 311 Money, Banking and the Federal Reserve (3)
FIN 338 Real Estate Principles (3)
FIN 431 Risk Management (3)
FIN 433 Real Estate Finance (3)
FIN 434 Life and Health Insurance (3)
FIN 438 Management of Financial Institutions (3)
FIN 440 Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits (3)
IS 312 Information Systems for Business (3)

***ACCT 440 and 441 have additional prerequisites beyond the required courses shown below.

General Education

3 units of the mathematics requirement satisfy the Basic Skills, Mathematics requirement. BLAW 280 satisfies 3 units of the Lifelong Learning requirement. ECON 160 and 161 satisfy 6 units of the Social Sciences requirement. COMP 100 satisfies 1 additional unit.