Finance, Financial Planning, and Insurance

The department offers a B.S. in Business Administration (BSBA) with three options:

1. Financial Analysis, which provides a general education in financial theory and practice.
2. Financial Planning, which prepares students for careers as personal financial planners.
3. Risk Management and Insurance, which prepares students for careers in risk management and insurance.

As part of the curriculum, the department offers elective courses in investment analysis, fixed income, financial modeling, business valuation, futures and options, insurance, risk management, international finance and an honors section of FIN 491, the Student Portfolio Management class, where a small number of students manage a stock portfolio for The University Corporation.

Admission to the BSBA Option in Financial Analysis

The BSBA option in Financial Analysis is an impacted program. Students seeking an option in Financial Analysis may initially declare an option 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; Information Systems; or Business Administration with an option in either Business Analytics, Business Law, Financial Analysis, Financial Planning, Global Supply Chain Management, Management, Marketing, Real Estate, Risk Management and Insurance, or Systems and Operations Management. The following are impacted majors with additional admission requirements: the B.S. in Accountancy and the B.S. in Business Administration with options in Financial Analysis, Financial Planning, and Risk Management and Insurance. 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 be in good standing (2.0 overall and 2.0 CSUN 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 a “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, or Information Systems 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 (27-28 units)

ACCT 220 Introduction to Financial Accounting (3)
ACCT 230 Introduction to Managerial Accounting (3)
BLAW 280 Business Law I (3)
ECON 160 Principles of Microeconomics (3)
ECON 161 Principles of Macroeconomics (3)
ENGL 205 Business Communication in Its Rhetorical Contexts (3)
IS 212 Information Systems for Business Users (3)
MATH 103 Mathematical Methods for Business (3)*
SOM 120 Basic Business Statistics (3)**

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

2. Common Upper Division Business Core (19 units)

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

3. Finance Core (6 units)

FIN 352 Investment Management (3)

Communication Course

Select 3 units from the following:

BLAW 308 Business Law II (3)
BLAW 368 Law, Business and Ethics (3)
COMS 323 Group Communication (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)

4. Financial Analysis Option (18 units)

Required Course (6 units)

FIN 355 Corporate Finance (3)
FIN 359 Quantitative Finance (3)

Electives (12 units)

Select 12 units of Finance elective courses (does not include FIN 102, 338, 433 or 439; FIN 302 can be double counted toward GE).

May include 3 units from the following:

ACCT 440 Income Tax I (3)***
ACCT 450 Advanced Financial Accounting (3)***
ECON 310 Price Theory and Applications (3)
ECON 409 Introduction to Econometrics (3)***

***ACCT 440, ACCT 450 and ECON 409 have additional prerequisites beyond the required courses shown above.

5. General Education (48 units)

Undergraduate students must complete 48 units of General Education as described in this Catalog, including 3 units of coursework meeting the Ethnic Studies (ES) graduation requirement.

15 units are satisfied by the following courses in the major: MATH 103 satisfies Basic Skills B4 Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning; FIN 303 satisfies B5 Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning; ECON 160 and ECON 161 satisfy D1 Social Sciences; and IS 212 satisfies E Lifelong Learning and fulfills the Information Competence requirement.

If taken, COMS 323 or ECON 310 satisfies upper division D1 Social Sciences.

Total Units in the Major/Option: 70-71

General Education Units: 33

Additional Units: 16-17

Total Units Required for the B.S. Degree: 120