The study of Finance consists of three interrelated areas:

1. Capital markets, which deals with securities markets and financial intermediaries;
2. Investments, which concerns the decisions of individual and business investors; and
3. Financial Management, which focuses on the actual management of firms. The major in Finance emphasizes both theoretical and practical approaches to these areas. As part of the curriculum, the Department offers elective courses in futures and options, real estate, insurance, risk management, international finance and an honors section of FIN 437, The Student Portfolio Management Class, where a small number of students manage a stock portfolio for the University Corporation.

Admission to the Finance Major

Finance is an impacted program. Students seeking a major in Finance may initially declare a major in Pre-Finance 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 Finance (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 (18 units)

FIN 352 Investments I (3)
FIN 355 Corporate Finance I (3)

Finance Electives

Select 12 units of Finance courses (does not include FIN 102 or 302).

May include 3 units from the following:

ACCT 440 Income Tax I (3)
ACCT 450 Advanced Financial Accounting (3)
BLAW 481 Real Estate Law (3)
ECON 310 Price Theory and Applications (3)
IS 312 Information Systems for Business (3)

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.