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2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Finance, B.B.A.

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Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance

The B.B.A. degree with a major in finance requires a minimum of 120 credit hours of undergraduate course work. Fifty percent of this work, or 60 credit hours, must be taken outside of the College of Business . In counting the 60 credit hours of non-business courses, students may include all hours taken in General Education , up to a total of nine hours in economics  (ECON courses must be counted as economics), and three hours of COB 191. Business Analytics I . The remaining hours, to bring the total to 60, must be taken from any department outside the College of Business . Students should carefully select these non-business electives to help them gain additional knowledge and expertise for their careers and personal lives.

Students enrolled at James Madison University who wish to change their major to finance should go to the Student Center in MyMadison to submit a request. Students must be in good academic standing to change their major to finance and, if they have taken any FIN prefix courses at the time of the change request, must meet the prerequisites for the required courses in the finance major.

Students who plan to major in finance and earn a score on the Math Placement Exam sufficient for placement into MATH 235  are strongly encouraged to enroll in MATH 235 .

Required major courses provide finance majors with a foundation in financial management, investments and institutions. Electives within the major permit students to obtain an additional emphasis and explore other areas within the field of finance.

Transfer Credit

Each program in the CoB will accept no more than two courses of transfer credit toward the major except in extraordinary circumstances. The major is defined as the course work required by a major field of study in addition to the lower and upper-level BBA core courses. For a course to be considered for acceptance in the student’s major, it must have been completed in an AACSB International-accredited business program, or a similarly accredited program, at a four-year university. 

In general, all finance course work must be completed at JMU. Transfer credit for finance courses is awarded only in certain circumstances. In no case will transfer credit be awarded for FIN 488. Advanced Financial Policy . Contact the department head for more information on transfer credit.

Degree Requirements

Courses

  • B.B.A. core courses 45-46 Credit Hours 1
  • Finance major requirements 24 Credit Hours
  • Free elective 3 Credit Hours 2
  • General Education  courses 41 Credit Hours 3
  • Electives 6-7 Credit Hours 2

Total: 120 Credit Hours

Footnotes

1 Up to seven hours of core requirements in economics and calculus may also be taken for General Education  credit.

2 Any course taught by the university outside the College of Business .

3 The General Education  program contains a set of requirements each student must fulfill. The number of credit hours necessary to fulfill these requirements may vary.

B.B.A. Core Component

B.B.A. Lower-Level Core Component

B.B.A. majors must complete all of the B.B.A. core components as part of their degree program. The following courses comprise the B.B.A. Lower-Level Core Component:

B.B.A. Upper-Level Core Component

The following courses comprise the B.B.A. Upper-Level Core Component:

Footnotes

1 MATH 220  may be substituted for COB 191 .
2 COB 191  or equivalent and MATH 205  or equivalent are prerequisites for COB 291 .
3 Calculus is required but not used in calculating the B.B.A. core GPA. MATH 235  is preferred for Finance majors. 
4 COB 241  must be taken before COB 242 .
5 COB 242  is a prerequisite for COB 300 but is not used in calculating the B.B.A. core GPA.
6 All four COB 300 courses must be taken during the same semester.
7 COB 300 is a prerequisite or corequisite for COB 318 . COB 318  is a prerequisite for COB 487 .
8 COB 487  must be taken during the senior year.

Major Requirements

Finance Major Core Courses

Additional Information

In addition to these core courses, the student majoring in finance must successfully complete 12 credit hours of finance elective courses. Finance electives include any 300-level or 400-level finance course other than FIN 301 , FIN 345 , FIN 499  and the finance major core courses.

A student may choose up to one of the following courses to satisfy the finance elective credit hours: ACTG 313 , ACTG 343 , ACTG 344 , ACTG 377 , BLAW 360 , BLAW 470 ,BLAW 480 , BLAW 494 , BLAW 495 , BLAW 496 , BLAW 497 , BLAW 498 , CIS 304 , CIS 330 , CIS 393 , CIS 463  and BSAN 393 . A finance major cannot take more than 10 credit hours of FIN prefix courses in any one semester.

Recommended Schedule for Majors

First Two Years

Students planning to major in finance must complete the 30-31 hour, lower-division B.B.A. core curriculum prior to enrolling in upper-division core courses, normally taken in the first semester of the junior year. It is expected that the lower-division core curriculum will be completed during the first two years of study along with most of the university General Education  curriculum. Failing to complete all lower-division B.B.A. core requirements on time will delay enrollment in upper-division core and major courses.

Third and Fourth Years

Finance majors will follow the course schedule below to complete the final two years of their program. It is possible to deviate from this program, but care must be taken to ensure that all course prerequisites are met. Finance majors are encouraged to enroll in FIN 360  during the same semester as COB 300 or during the semester following completion of COB 300. Note that students taking FIN 360  concurrently with COB 300 will have more choices in finance electives in subsequent semesters because FIN 360  is a prerequisite for most finance courses. It is anticipated that students will complete the finance requirements in three semesters following COB 300.

Third Year

First Semester

Second Semester

Fourth Year

COB 487  is required during a student’s senior year but may be taken either semester.

First Semester

  • Finance electives 6 Credit Hours

Second Semester

Concentrations

Though not required, finance majors may elect a concentration. The concentrations are financial analysis, financial technology and analytics, and risk management. Students electing these concentrations will be taking specific electives in place of the required four electives for the major. Finance majors who wish to declare a concentration may do so once accepted into COB 300 or during any semester following. A student must earn a 2.0 in the courses designated for a concentration in order to have successfully completed the concentration.

Financial Analysis Concentration

Many James Madison University finance graduates go on to careers in financial analysis, and the need for financial analysts remains strong. The financial analysis concentration helps prepare students for these careers and also Levels I and II of the Chartered Financial Analyst exam.

Students wishing to declare and complete the financial analysis concentration must have a minimum of a “B” in COB 241  and COB 242 .

Required Courses

Choose one of the following: 3 Credit Hours
Total: 12 Credit Hours

Financial Technology and Analytics Concentration

The changing landscape of finance requires increased knowledge of technology. The financial technology and analytics concentration will prepare the students to be agile in financial information systems and expose them to various analytical and visualization tools.

Required Courses

Choose one of the following: 3 Credit Hours

Total: 12 Credit Hours

Risk Management Concentration

A focus in risk management is designed for finance majors pursuing a more in-depth review of the issues facing organizations and the tools needed to address those uncertainties. In the risk management concentration, students focus on the theory of risk management, risk identification, risk measurement and applications in the form of risk modeling techniques such as Value-at-Risk and Monte Carlo simulations.

Required Courses

Total: 12 Credit Hours

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